News Releases

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than 10 million commercial and residential properties remain unoccupied in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau. These vacant buildings and land pose a host of potential financial, legal, and safety risk exposures that many owners in the small business marketplace are unaware of or unable to mitigate due to existing insurance policy limitations. Amid this backdrop, ACE Commercial Risk Services, which focuses on insuring the risks that face small businesses, today launched its Vacant Building and Vacant Land insurance products.

The Vacant Building and Vacant Land product is a new area of focus that serves the property and casualty package specialty lines market for select small businesses, and deepens ACE’s growing product portfolio for the small commercial market. ACE Commercial Risk Services will continue to launch new products for small businesses (with 20 or fewer employees) in the fourth quarter of 2014 and through 2015.

These Vacant Building and Vacant Land insurance products include specific options for small business owners that were previously unavailable to this segment. Specifically, policyholders have the ability to consider Replacement Cost and Special Cause of Loss for qualified properties and obtain coverage for both vacant and certain partially vacant commercial and residential properties, condo units and rental space, with or without renovation work.

“National vacancy rates are declining, but owners of lots or property that are vacant still need to effectively mitigate their potential exposures. Insurance coverage for vacant property is typically excluded from traditional business owner policies, and many owners wrongly assume their existing policies will provide coverage should a property become vacant,” said David Charlton, Division President, Property & Casualty and Micro-business Division, ACE Commercial Risk Services.

He continues, “Until now, many property owners have not had access to an insurance carrier that provides specific coverage options for vacant buildings and vacant land. This lack of protection has left property owners vulnerable and financially liable in the event of third-party bodily injury on site, even if access to the premises was unauthorized or unknown to the owner. Our Vacant Building and Vacant Land insurance products address these exposures.”

Online Underwriting Platform: Five-Minute Quoting and Binding Now Available

Beyond the valuable coverage options for vacant buildings and land, ACE Commercial Risk Services gives insurance brokers access to an intuitive and easy-to-use online underwriting platform to quickly quote, bind, and issue specific coverages in as little as five minutes, a feature unique in the industry. ACE’s new Vacant Building and Vacant Land products advance the division’s commitment to small commercial accounts with specialized insurance needs, while helping brokers maximize their success and create a better experience for the small businesses that they insure.

Key features and limits available in the ACE Commercial Risk Services Vacant Building and Vacant Land products include:

• Vacant Building:
  • Up to $5,000,000 in total Property values, and General Liability limits of up to $1,000,000 per occurrence, and up to $3,000,000 in the aggregate
  • Ability to consider Special Form Cause of Loss and Replacement Cost coverage
  • No length of vacancy restrictions
  • Ability to consider locations undergoing renovation
  • Shorter policy terms of three, six or nine months also available
• Vacant Land:
  • General Liability limits of up to $1,000,000 per occurrence, and up to $3,000,000 in the aggregate
  • No length of vacancy restrictions
  • Shorter policy terms of three, six or nine months also available
  • Ability to consider an exposure of two lakes or ponds on premises

The product information above is a summary only and is only intended for general marketing purposes and information. The insurance policy actually issued contains the terms and conditions of the contract. ACE Commercial Risk Services is dedicated to providing insurance products that offer solutions for small business insurance needs in North America. ACE Commercial Risk Services offers its products through retail agents and brokers, wholesale brokers and wholesale producers, program agents and other alternative distribution models. All products may not be available in all states. Surplus lines insurance is sold only through surplus lines producers. For more information, please visit www.acecrs.com.

ACE Group is one of the world’s largest multiline property and casualty insurers. With operations in 54 countries, ACE provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance, and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. ACE Limited, the parent company of ACE Group, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACE) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Additional information can be found at www.acegroup.com, or follow ACE on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ACEGroupNA.

Contact: