Originally published on The Nano Newswire
As a result of the growing use of nanotechnology in various industries, the Insurance Services Office, Inc. ("ISO") recently announced that it has created new general liability classifications for nanotechnology. Those new classifications are Nanomaterial Distributors and Nanomaterial Manufacturing. The new classifications will begin being implemented by the ISO on September 1, 2011.
The Nanomaterial Distributor classification will apply to all risks involving the sale of nanomaterials. The Nanomaterial Manufacturing classification will apply to all risks associated with the manufacturing or engineering of nanomaterials. These classifications will allow the ISO to collect data and information to better evaluate risks associated with nanotechnology. We anticipate that with the introduction of nanomaterial classifications, the ISO will likely begin to create some standardized nanotechnology policy provisions, and perhaps even policy forms, in the near future.
Insurers and reinsurers who are already active in these market classes will want to compare their existing policy language with any future standardized provisions. Insurers and reinsurers who have remained undecided on whether to underwrite nanotechnology classes of insurance, may finally decide to enter the marketplace once the standardized text is available. As the demand for nanomaterials increases, so will the marketplace for nano-specific insurance coverage. We will continue to monitor this very important development in nanotechnology risk management and risk transference.
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