by Beth A. Slagle, Esquire
Most businesses believe that old insurance policies have no value or further use. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If a company needs to file a claim or has a claim filed against it for something that occurred years ago, the old policy may still cover it.
For example, it often takes years for environmental problems to emerge. Someone may file an environmental claim in 2007 against a company for something that happened 25 years ago, such as an oil spill or a leak of hazardous materials. It is the older policy that will most likely provide coverage -- assuming the business still has all the information about the old policy.
Not only that, but older insurance policies also tend to have fewer exclusions than their more modern counterparts, and often contain no aggregate limits on liability. That makes an old policy a potentially valuable asset.
Companies should make certain that they locate and save copies of all old insurance policies, including copies of insurance policies for companies they have acquired or merged with.
(You can find Beth's original article here in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)
