Chubb Broadens Global Kidnap & Ransom, Extortion Coverage

The Chubb Group announced that it has “enhanced its Kidnap/Ransom and Extortion Insurance policy,” reflecting “global realities.”

Greg Bangs, who manages Chubb’s K&R-extortion unit, explained: “Even a small company that is just exploring a foreign business venture needs to be aware that some countries average four to five kidnappings a day. In today’s global business world, a company may not wish to abandon those plans, but it can help protect its employees and operations from kidnappers and extortionists.”

Chubb noted that the Company has long been a leader in this field by “providing the insurance, which helps pay for ransoms, negotiators, security and other related expenses. It offers kidnap/ransom and extortion coverage as part of its specialty commercial lines packages for privately owned companies, publicly held companies, financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations and health care organizations. Chubb also offers this coverage through its personal lines Masterpiece policy for high-net-worth homeowners.”

Chubb said the enhancements include the following:
— offering unlimited insurance for the fees and expenses of The Ackerman Group, a preeminent security consulting and negotiation firm;
— broadening business income insurance to include all perils insured under the policy, such as cyber extortion;
— extending insurance for relatives to domestic partners;
— reducing the business income waiting period to six hours from 72 hours and eliminating the requirement that a civil authority must shut down the insured’s operation;
— extending the maximum period for security guard insurance for the insured’s residence or business to 90 days from 15 days;
— eliminating the 25% co-insurance requirement for security guard expenses;
— extending hijacking insurance to incidents on trains in addition to current insurance for incidents on airplanes and ships;
— reducing the waiting period for wrongful detention insurance (i.e., when an individual is held against his or her will without a monetary demand for release) from 24 hours to four hours;
— adding insurance for a parent’s cost of hiring a private investigator or obtaining psychological counseling in the event of a corporate child abduction, in addition to existing insurance for expenses paid by the insured’s business; and
— revising threat response expense insurance to include reimbursement for expenses incurred as a result of a threat made directly against an individual (previously, the policy only provided reimbursement for threats made against the insured’s business).

“A company never knows when it could be the target of a kidnapping or extortion attempt,” Bangs indicated. “Our enhanced policy provides some of the broadest kidnap/ransom and extortion protection available in the market. In addition, the policy helps pay for security specialists who are essential to helping secure the safe release of any victim. That always is the most important objective.”

Topics Chubb