Marsh in contamination insurance launch

Marsh has launched a specialist contamination insurance product for water utility firms globally.

It comes as utilities companies move to strengthen their resilience to risks as a result of tightening regulation and the heightened threat of terrorism, Marsh said.

Marsh claims the product is "the first of its kind" to offer coverage for drinking water contamination, including losses associated with a terrorist attack, extortion costs and goodwill payments to customers.

It can provide cover of up to £10m for accidental contamination, malicious contamination or extortion relating to the water supply.

This includes payments to domestic and business customers affected by the contamination and those suffering from injury or illness caused by consuming the contaminated water.

Andrew Ainscough, senior vice president in Marsh’s construction, power and utilities practice, said: “Water contamination incidents can have serious regulatory, financial and reputational implications for a water utility. The costs associated with clean-up, providing bottled water, customer communications and subsequent compensation can be substantial.

“Traditional property and liability policies often provide no protection against serious contamination incidents. There is a great deal of interest already in this product from water utilities in the UK, USA, Australia and the Far East.”