Chubb Executive Risk Introduces Internet Liability Insurance

Chubb Executive Risk has launched a new internet liability insurance product, called Safety'Net. The product offers companies a media liability insurance policy specifically designed to cover the exposures that arise out of their web sites, emails, and other communications.

``As more companies disseminate information to the public via web sites and other media, the distinction between media organizations and other commercial companies is becoming less clear," said Leib Dodell, media and intellectual property underwriting manager, Chubb Executive Risk, a subsidiary of the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies. "Commercial businesses now have the same liability exposures once reserved only for book publishers, broadcasters, and advertising agencies.''

With more and more companies venturing onto the World Wide Web, commercial organizations are now faced with myriad liability exposures that are not covered under traditional general liability (GL) policies.

Safety'Net is designed to fill the gaps left by GL policies. With its ``all-risk'' insuring agreement, it offers comprehensive coverage for on-line exposures that arise out of the dissemination of content on the policyholder's web site, or the transaction of business over the site.

Chubb says that while other policies may be limited to a specified list of ``named perils,'' Safety'Net's insuring agreement offers coverage that insures all modes of communication.

``Given the uncertainty of the legal rules governing the Internet and the types of legal claims that will be generated by Internet activities, an insurance policy that is limited to specified 'named perils' is a risky proposition,'' said Dodell.

Safety'Net offers the optional feature of protecting against domain name infringement by others, should some other party use a policyholder's trademark in its domain name.

``Safety'Net is an important element in Chubb's response to the risks associated with E-commerce, and we will continue to provide our insureds with state-of-the-art coverage solutions in this challenging new area," says Sean Fitzpatrick, chief underwriting officer of Chubb Executive Risk,.''