A Note from Leadership – Barry Geisler, Divisional Senior Vice President

How Good Became GREAT

For 150 years, Great American Insurance Company has grown with each generation and has risen to the challenge through wars, weather, and worries. With our deep expertise and financial strength, we have laid a foundation of success that has stood the test of time.

More than 6,500 employees in nearly 120 worldwide locations work to make Great American a specialty property and casualty insurance leader. Our journey is far from over and our commitment to providing quality products and services to our customers is steadfast – from yesterday through today and into tomorrow. Because our history tells an important story about our future, we invite you to see how Great American has grown from our first policy to become a global company.

On behalf of Great American Insurance Company, we appreciate your contributions and thank you for trusting us with your business now and throughout the years.

Great American Environmental Division’s Celebration of Success

While the celebration of Great American’s 150th anniversary marks a major milestone, the Environmental Division is proud to celebrate 14 years of stability– one of the few insurance carriers serving the environmental industry with such longevity since we wrote our first policy in 2008.

This past spring, our senior leaders Eric McCabe and Greg Kelder attended Great American's annual P&C Group Management Meeting in Pebble Beach, CA. Held in person for the first time since the pandemic, this meeting brought together corporate leadership and business unit executives to review the previous year's results, reconnect old friends, establish new relationships, celebrate individual and business unit accomplishments and bridge the gap to a promising 2022 and beyond.

Participants enjoyed guest speakers Mike Zaremski, research analyst at Wolfe Research, and James Clear, author of New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits. In addition, attendees had the pleasure of hearing from company representatives and CO-CEOs Carl H. Lindner III and Craig Lindner followed by a presentation from world renowned photographer, Platon.

I am proud to announce that the Environmental Division was recognized by the executive management team for our outstanding performance and profitable results which contribute directly to the overall success of Great American.

This is the 12^th consecutive year our division has received such a notable recognition – a recognition which would not be made possible without the dedication of our employees and continued support of our brokers and agents. I want to personally thank our brokers, clients and business associates. Without your support, achieving such results simply would not be possible. 

I also want to personally thank all of our team members, whose dedication to the Division has been unwavering through the pandemic and whose ongoing commitment to service the needs of our broker partners and to finding innovated solutions to their clients' environmental risks, through very challenging market conditions, is the foundation of our success.

To recognize our continued growth, our interactive timeline has been updated to showcases last year’s achievements such as the launch of our new TankAssure® Pollution Program and upcoming developments as we continue forth in 2022. We encourage you to check it out and learn more about the key products, services, and enhancements that have been implemented to benefit you and your clients!

Service Excellence – What Sets Us Apart

The articles in this edition of the Environmental Insider demonstrate how we believe in putting the needs of our business clients first. Tailored to fit the changing dynamic of today’s marketplace, our top priority will always be to provide the best service, educational resources and products to our brokers and their clients.

We are proud of the added services and industry leading staff of industry professionals who are experts in underwriting, technical industry topics, risk management and claims resolution. Our steadfast commitment to customer service truly distinguishes us apart from the industry.

Underwriting Services

• Our strategy remains unchanged as we continue to embrace our truly collaborative underwriting process that has been the cornerstone of the Environmental Division since day one. Great American offers a comprehensive portfolio of customize products to address exposures unique to the environmental sector. Our interactive Riskopolis Series recognize the challenges that professionals of all kinds face in various lines of work. Our latest resource – Agriculture Riskopolis– showcases some of the pollution concerns surrounding agricultural operations and how these exposures could be detrimental to your clients’ businesses. In addition to producing valuable products, we continue to heighten the importance developing internal talent as well as continuing to support the growth of our brokers.

Claims Handling

• Let’s face it – accidents can happen where potentially costly claims and lawsuits may follow. Our claims team understands what this can mean to an insured and the threat an environmental incident can pose to profitability when your clients are faced with a claim or lawsuit. Check out our latest industry-trend claims scenarios which provide examples of these potential exposures that may be financially threatening to clients’ business operations. Our claims professionals are prepared to provide the resources and tools needed to mitigate a financial loss. We stand ready to help – with quality service and experienced legal representation at appropriate rates from our approved panel counsel list.

Risk Engineering

• We offer value-added risk control services to current and prospective insureds through our in-house risk engineering team alongside a network of specialty vendors, representing diverse capabilities and experience in a variety of environmental areas. This edition of the Environmental Insider includes our latest technical whitepaper discussing the lurking environmental dangers of manufactured gas plants.

Marketing Resources

• With a long-standing commitment to provide the support and service you deserve, it’s our priority to offer expert guidance and helpful marketing resources to assist you in best serving your clients. Don’t forget to check out the newest resources added to our Broker Toolkit which was developed as a one-stop shop for our brokers to access all the latest environmental educational tools and resources. In addition, our new Environmental Training Corner offers quarterly educational webinars featuring information on our latest products, programs, or tools for our brokers to gain knowledge on all Great American Environmental Division has to offer.

Barry is a Divisional Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer for the Great American Environmental Division, leading our Executive Underwriting team. He has been with the Environmental Division for the past 13 years. Barry’s prior experience includes serving as contracts counsel with the environmental insurance space as well as working on complex commercial and defense litigation. He is based out of our Exton, PA office.