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B. Tendering to Insurance Carriers and IndemnitorsPerhaps you have a significant self-insured retention. Or, you think a claim is meritless,or not covered by insurance. Nevertheless, in the wake of a disaster it is no time to be“penny wise and pound foolish” by simply hoping a claim will not be pursued. Any“circumstance” or “occurrence” that might lead to a claim, even if the possibility isremote, should be reported immediately to your broker and all potential carriers. Thisincludes tendering to your indemnitors and A/I carriers. When in doubt, you shouldreport the potential claim. If you have questions, consult an insurance coverageattorney immediately.There is no limit on court decisions highlighting the terribly adverse consequences of aninsured’s late reporting of a claim. 15Moreover, insurance carriers prefer to receivenotice of a claim as early as possible, for obvious reasons.Many policies also offer “pre-claims assistance” to insureds who may need legal advicebefore formal claims are asserted. This is an excellent resource for a company to drawupon after a dramatic event, without the worry of having to limit the scope of thelawyer’s services or pay a large legal bill.After reporting the event to all potentially involved carriers, follow-up efforts are critical.Set up a series of scheduled conference calls with the claims professionals to ask andanswer each other’s questions, and to develop a game plan for exchanging key15 “Circumstance” is a term used in claims-made insurance policies as an alternative to “occurrence.” A“notice of circumstance” provision is often included in these policies to extend coverage for events thatmay later produce a claim, so long as the circumstance is timely reported. Please see, IRMI Online:Glossary of Insurance & Risk Management Terms, available at http://www.irmi.com/online/insuranceglossary/terms/c/circumstance.aspx(last visited January 7, 2015).