A Note from Leadership: Navigating Social Inflation: What You Need to Know - Greg Kelder, Divisional Senior Vice President, Claims

Navigating Social Inflation: What You Need to Know - Greg Kelder, Divisional Senior Vice President, Claims

Social inflation has been a buzzworthy topic within the insurance industry as of late, with concerns over the issue continuing to increase in recent years. In environmental insurance, several highly publicized cases of pollution exposures have led to overall public awareness and calls to pay for clean-up and medical costs.

What is Social Inflation?

Social inflation refers to the phenomenon of claims costs rising higher than typical inflation rates account for. This can happen for a number of reasons, but the most common are a general public consensus that larger corporations should pay for catastrophic pollution events, desensitization to large settlements due to media exposure, erosion of previous tort reforms, and new attorney tactics and litigation funding. This can result in large defense costs, very large verdicts, and a generally more plaintiff-friendly environment.

Social Inflation and Environmental Insurance

Unfortunately, specialty insurance, including environmental, is not immune to social inflation. As we’ve discussed earlier this year, there are a plethora of other smaller industry trends we’re keeping an eye on that could affect your clients and what they pay. Not only could any of these scenarios potentially be expensive, but because of social inflation, costs for litigation could rise higher than they need to. What could this mean for customers and your clients right now? Higher premiums. Luckily, we have a skilled and experienced panel of environmental counsel who are familiar with the changing litigation landscape due to social inflation.

Great American Environmental: Dedication to Great Service

In addition to industry-leading coverage provided to our policy holders, our added services and staff of insurance professionals, who are experts in the field and claims resolution, truly distinguishes us within the industry. Our claims team understands what potentially costly claims and lawsuits can mean to an insured and the threat an environmental incident can pose to profitability when your clients are faced with a claim or lawsuit. If an insured is sued, we work with our insured and their defense counsel to develop a litigation plan to combat the impact of social inflation and to achieve a favorable outcome. We have an exclusive in-house team of claim attorneys with an average of 25+ years of experience working in environmental and insurance claims and law. They will provide prompt and professional service every step of the way toward a desired result. Services we also provide include:

Highly skilled network of experienced environmental defense counsel and consultants who are proud to provide the technical expertise and responsiveness every client deserves.

Relationship-focused, cost effective and personal attention to each claim situation. A designated claims professional will automatically be assigned to your client throughout the entirety of their policy term – allowing us to develop a hands-on relationship and positive rapport with our insureds.

Legal Support Services (LSS): We provide a specialized litigation support service which is a secured portal used for supporting legal management throughout the litigation process. Services include coordinating invoices, fees and expenses, ensuring they are limited to what is reasonable and necessary and according to pre-approved budgets.

Recovery & Subrogation: Subrogation allows an insurer to recoup costs incurred for a claim from a negligent third party, thereby preserving your insurance asset.

Navigating Tomorrow: Proactive Insurance Innovation

At the heart of our philosophy is a rejection of one-size-fits-all solutions. We recognize that environmental insurance needs vary widely from client to client, and we embrace the challenge of tailoring our services to address their unique and evolving needs. Innovation is our driving force, and we are always on the lookout for new and inventive ways to craft insurance solutions that not only protect our clients but also empower them to thrive in an ever-changing environmental landscape.

Our commitment to innovation extends beyond the present. We constantly seek to anticipate and adapt to emerging risks and opportunities in the environmental sector. Our goal is not just to provide insurance but to become trusted partners who proactively assist our clients in navigating the challenges and seizing the opportunities that lie ahead. This forward-thinking approach ensures that we remain agile and responsive, ready to address the environmental insurance needs of today and tomorrow.

Learn more about our claims team and their services here!

Our claims professionals are prepared to provide the resources and tools needed to mitigate a financial loss. We stand ready to help – with quality service and experienced legal representation at appropriate rates from our approved panel counsel list.

To learn more about the professionals behind the claim, read our Claims Meet-the-Team brochure!

Read Here

Greg Kelder, Divisional Senior Vice President, Head of Claims
Great American Environmental Division

Greg Kelder is a Divisional Senior Vice President with Great American Environmental and serves as Head of Claims. He has more than 30 years of environmental claim experience. Greg brings specialized environmental claim support and training to our division and is based out of the Exton, Pennsylvania office.

Sources:
https://content.naic.org/insurance-topics/social-inflation
https://www.travelers.com/resources/business-topics/insuring/4-factors-causing-social-inflation