ECS/Distinguished Programs Announce Specialized Pollution Insurance Program to Protect Real Estate

The Distinguished Programs Insurance Group, New York, an insurance product development and distribution firm, and ECS Underwriting, one of the nation's leading environmental insurance providers, today unveiled a specialized environmental insurance program designed to cover the individual environmental risks of the 1,200 member companies of Distinguished Programs' Real Estate Umbrella Liability Purchasing Groups. Distinguished Programs' members include businesses involved in real estate management, development and investment.

"We're pleased to offer our members this exclusive environmental insurance program," said Carla Vel, executive vice president of Distinguished Programs. "This coverage will significantly help our members round out their insurance coverage and offer an additional cushion of protection against financial losses that can result from environmental conditions."

"For any business with real estate holdings, an underground storage tank, an indoor air quality claim, even the past use of the property, can pose financial threats to a business' profitability," said David Bennink, ECS Underwriting vice president of the company's Risk Management Business Unit. "General Liability policies offer little to no coverage for pollution conditions and leave businesses on their own to defend themselves against environmental claims or to pay for expensive environmental cleanup activities. This program gives Distinguished Programs' Purchasing Group members an affordable option that helps close a critical gap in their insurance coverage."

Key coverages available to the Purchasing Group members include:

• Pollution and Remediation Legal Liability (PARLL) with additional coverages available for underground storage tanks, lead and asbestos;

• Remediation Legal Liability which provides coverage for contamination that is discovered at insured locations;

• Pollution Legal Liability (PLL) insurance which protects companies from liability arising from pollution conditions that emanate from covered properties; and

• Business Interruption coverage for interruptions that may arise as a result of a pollution condition.

"The environmental insurance industry has long been recognized for its flexibility and its policies tailored to meet the coverage needs of individual industries," said Bennink. "With its members' best interests in mind, Distinguished Programs sought to develop an environmental insurance program that offered not only affordable, but effective, protection against environmental risks. ECS is pleased to deliver and service this program."

The Distinguished Program Insurance Group is comprised of four companies -- Distinguished Programs Risk Management LCC, Distinguished Programs Insurance Brokerage LLC, Saranac Insurance Company Limited, and Capital Risk Strategies, LLC. The companies are in the business of developing and distributing through retail insurance brokers new insurance products and programs that achieve broader coverages and lower pricing for targeted industries.

ECS Underwriting, an N/A, is a leading provider of environmental insurance combining underwriting, consulting and claims management. The ECS Companies, headquartered in Exton, PA, are leading providers of integrated environmental risk management solutions to business and industry worldwide. ECS is the 1998 recipient of the