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WHEATON, Ill., July 25, 2005—The American
Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has filed three new commercial
lines endorsements that will allow insurers to exclude coverage for
liability claims arising from asbestos, silica, and violations of
federal restrictions on unsolicited electronic communications.
AAIS is a national insurance advisory organization
that develops policy forms and rating information used by more than 600
property/casualty insurers throughout the U.S. The new endorsements were
recently filed countrywide under the AAIS Artisans, Businessowners,
Commercial Liability, and Commercial Umbrella programs.
The endorsements addressing asbestos and silica are
similar in that they exclude coverage for claims of bodily injury and
property damage arising from two substances that have been linked to
diseases in people exposed to them.
"The health hazards and liability exposures
associated with asbestos have been recognized for years," says
Janice Nieman, AAIS manager of commercial liability. "Lately,
however, there has been a renewed concern about the size of the
exposure, and some of our member companies are reporting that their
reinsurers are demanding asbestos exclusions in policies with commercial
liability coverage."
Concern over silica is more recent and the extent of
injury is not expected to be as widespread as with asbestos, but there
was a surge in silica-related litigation in recent years, and requests
from carriers for an exclusion option.
The exclusion for claims arising from unsolicited
electronic communications applies to violations of two federal acts:
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The 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act,
which restricts the use of automatic dialing systems, artificial or
prerecorded voice messages, and fax machines to send unsolicited
advertisements; and
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The 2003 "CAN-SPAM" Act (for
"Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and
Marketing" Act), which specifies requirements for the sending
of commercial e-mail messages.
The new exclusions were filed together as optional
endorsements with a proposed effective date of Oct. 1, 2005.
For information on affiliating with AAIS for use of
its commercial lines programs, contact Rick Maka, director of marketing,
at rickm@AAISonline.com or by calling 800/564-AAIS.
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