environmental Strategist®, between the lines: For years we have been talking about problems with aging tanks. I believe, since tank insurance is a low premium / low commission insurance product it does not get the attention it deserves from tank owners or insurance professionals.
The link below updates what is taking place in the tank market, such as state tank funds drying up.
For a little background, under Federal law, regulated UST’s (Underground Storage Tanks) must evidence financial assurance should there be a release from the UST system. Besides your obvious gas stations, financial assurance impacts businesses with UST’s such as backup generators for Municipalities, Waste Water Treatment Plants, Hospitals, Colleges, Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Assisted Living Facilities…. Other businesses with storage tanks can include Transportation companies, Contractors, Cement & Asphalt Manufacturers, Ski Areas, Hotel & Conference Facilities….
The problem facing UST owners today is the age of their tanks. Back in the 1990’s the Federal Government established financial assurance requirements but never consulted with the insurance industry to find out what the insurability of a 20 or 30 year old tank system would be. Now we have aging UST’s in the United States and for the most part, tank owners have not budgeted to replace their systems and find themselves caught.
If you have insureds with tanks over 20 years old you need to coach them up on replacing their tanks. Once a tank reaches 25 years old there are just a couple of insurance carriers that will offer coverage and the premiums and deductibles go up drastically and retro dates are shortened. For tanks over 30 years old it is a crap shoot if any insurance carrier will offer coverage.
As your environmental team member, ERMI is ready to assist you and your insureds with their UST financial assurance needs. Contact our tank specialist Angie Marsman @ angie@ermi.us or by phone 269-792-1070.
http://riskandinsurance.com/tight-rules-low-funding-challenge-tank-operators/