New Chubb Liability Insurance Responds to Needs of Life Sciences Firms

WARREN, N.J., Feb. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- New errors and omissions (E&O) and general liability insurance policies from the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies help address the complex and unique risks faced by life sciences companies.

Chubb's general liability policy, Extended General Liability for Life Sciences, offers three enhanced coverage triggers that extend the period when injury or damage can occur, in order to address the complex sequence of events and potentially long time frames between when a product is developed and when an insurance claim is filed.

"As the drug and medical device industries continue to mature, it becomes increasingly challenging for these companies to determine when and if a claim is addressed by their product liability policy," said Stephen B. Harris , a vice president of Chubb and life sciences casualty manager. "Chubb's new Extended General Liability policy helps our customers know how their policy will address complex claims situations, such as when hundreds of patients who took a contaminated drug subsequently become sick during different policy periods. The new policies also include leading-edge endorsements that enable policyholders to customize their insurance program to suit their coverage and cost needs."

The Extended General Liability policy also includes new features such as time-element pollution insurance, "blanket" additional insured status where required by contract, broadened clinical trial provisions and scalable medical expense limits.  Policy limits are structured so that clients can purchase a single policy that provides both premises and products liability coverages that are usually bought separately by these companies. In addition, several optional endorsements are available to customize coverage and help manage costs, including one that responds to successor liability issues associated with mergers and acquisitions.

Chubb's INTegrity+ is a claims-made E&O policy that comes with endorsements and language tailored to the needs of life sciences companies.  The endorsements can broaden or narrow insurance for performance delay, cost of contract and choice of counsel.

Both new policies provide worldwide coverage and language that seamlessly dove-tail with Chubb and affiliate policies in other countries.  All policies and endorsements are being filed in most states, and therefore, will provide the consistency and security that admitted insurance affords.

"These new contracts are next-generation insurance products that reflect Chubb's life sciences industry leadership and experience, and round out our property and casualty solutions for this growing market," said Harris.

The member insurers of the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies form a multi-billion dollar organization providing property and casualty insurance for personal and commercial customers worldwide through 8,500 independent agents and brokers. Chubb's global network includes branches and affiliates in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia.

SOURCE Chubb Group of Insurance Companies