Travelers Introduces Green Insurance for Small Businesses

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HARTFORD, Conn. -- Travelers Insurance is providing eco-friendly coverage to small businesses that enables them to repair, rebuild, replace or upgrade to green building elements and appliances in the event of a covered loss.

The company's Green Endorsement Enhancements became widely available across the country last month to small business insurance policy holders of a Travelers coverage suite known as Master Pac — and to small business owners seeking new coverage under the Master Pac program.

"We decided to do something a little innovative," John O'Connor, the vice president of product and underwriting for Travelers Select Accounts told GreenerBuildings on Friday. "We decided to embed (the Green Endorsement Enhancements) in the property contract.

"As of October anybody with a renewal or seeking new small business Master Pac coverage automatically gets it (the green enhancements package) without having to ask for it and at no additional charge."

Key to the enhancements are provisions that permit policy holders to pursue eco-friendly alternatives after a covered loss and are designed to help pay for the extra costs associated with building to green standards and buying green appliances and other goods. In most cases, the coverage limit for the extra costs related to each provision is up to $25,000 in additional expenses or 5 percent of the total loss.

The enhancements include a provision addressing the re-engineering and recertification expense to help small business owners work toward re-attaining the green certification their property held before a covered loss.

The enhancements also recognize that sometimes it takes longer to obtain green material, machinery or appliances.  A provision helps cover as much as 30 days of lost business income resulting from the extra time it takes to bring in green goods or finish green building after a covered loss.

Travelers announced its new Green Endorsement Enhancements for small businesses last week. In May, it rolled a similar program for mid-sized businesses. The company’s other efforts to encourage energy efficiency and climate change through its products include offering a 10 percent auto insurance discount to hybrid vehicle owners in 2006. Travelers said its nationwide hybrid insurance discount program was the first of its kind and that its green enhancements for small business are similarly unique.

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