Insurer won't cover fracking losses

Does your insurance policy explicitly list fracking damages among the things it covers? If not, you're probably not covered, and especially if your insurer is Nationwide. And if your drinking water catches on fire, that's probably not even considered damage to your property. Remember, natural gas through fracking (plus nuclear) is what Southern Company and Georgia Power (and therefore all the smaller electric utilities in Georgia) are moving to instead of coal.

The River Reporter reported Wednesday, Nationwide insurance: no fracking way

National Casualty (Insurance) Company, part of the Nationwide group of insurance companies, has announced that hydraulic fracturing operations are prohibited in relation to properties it insures.

The company has determined that the exposures presented by hydraulic fracturing are too great to ignore. Risks involved with hydraulic fracturing are now prohibited for General Liability, Commercial Auto, Motor Truck Cargo, Auto Physical Damage and Public Auto (insurance) coverage. The company said it would not bind risks with this exposure, and any policies currently written with the exposure would be non-renewed (following state requirements).

Among the prohibited risks involved in fracking operations listed by the company are contractors involved in fracking operations, landowners whose land has been leased to lessees with fracking operations, frack sand and frack liquid haulers and site prep (dump trucks, bulldozers) or leasing of tanks.

On Thursday they posted (part of) Nationwide's response:

Nationwide has not changed our policies or guidelines. Fracking related losses have never been a covered loss under a personal or commercial lines policy.

Nationwide's personal and commercial lines insurance policies were not designed to provide coverage for any fracking-related risks. However, Nationwide will investigate all claims submitted by our customers that they believe are the result of damage from fracking. Every Nationwide claim is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Insurance works when a carrier can accurately price the coverage to match the risks. When information and claims experience are not available to fully understand the scope of a given risk, carriers aren't able to price protection that would be fair to both the customer and the company. From an underwriting standpoint, we do not have a comfort level with the unique risks associated with the fracking process to provide coverage at a reasonable price.

Insurance is a contract and it is designed to cover certain risks. Risks like flooding and mining or drilling are not part of our contracts, and the customer should seek out an insurer that handles these customized types of insurance.

-Joe Case, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

And all that means your insurer probably doesn't cover fracking losses, either.

-jsq