Audubon: The Hartford dropped coverage over advocacy concerns
Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror
The Hartford Insurance building in Hartford on May 6, 2025.
One of Connecticut’s oldest and largest insurance firms is facing blowback this week after attempting to drop coverage for an Audubon Society chapter located in upstate New York due to its concerns that the group was engaging in environmental advocacy.
The Southern Adirondack Audubon Society says it received a letter from The Hartford — the company whose namesake is the city where it was founded in 1810 — in early April notifying the group that its business policy would not be renewed once it expires this summer.
The stated rationale for the decision, according to a copy of the letter shared with The Connecticut Mirror, was that the insurer had learned the Audubon chapter was operating as an “environmental protection organization.”
Rob Snell, the president of the chapter, said he was floored when he saw the letter and the company’s explanation.
“We don’t do any advocacy work,” Snell said in an interview. “We take people out bird watching … We have weekly programs that cover anything from being a beekeeper to the state of snapping turtles in upstate New York, to, you know, bluebirds. They’re all informational, educational. That’s what we do.”
The group took out the policy last year, Snell said, in order to insure an antenna being installed on the roof of a local college to track bird migrations. The group doesn’t own any other property or buildings and has not made any claims on the policy, he added.
After following up through their broker, Snell said the chapter received a longer written explanation stating that The Hartford is “not a market for associations who look to protect analyze, or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces.”
The company also pointed to language on the chapter’s website stating that its “primary goal is to protect the environment by preserving natural habitats and promoting environmental education,” as well as the political advocacy of the National Audubon Society, of which the chapter is a member.
The Hartford did not dispute any part of the chapter’s account but issued a statement through a spokesman on Tuesday stating that “underwriting decisions are based on an assessment of risk and are not informed by political and social viewpoints of any persuasion.”
The spokesman, Matthew Sturdevant, went on to say that environmental-protection organizations and other advocacy groups are “generally ineligible” for small business coverage but that exceptions are sometimes made for groups with a “lower risk profile.”
“We are reviewing the facts and circumstances of this policy and will address it with our customer and their agent directly,” Sturdevant said. “As a company, we continue to demonstrate our commitment to environmental stewardship in our day-to-day operations in a number of ways, such as reducing energy usage, using renewable energy sources, and reducing water usage and waste.”
On its corporate website, the The Hartford boasts of its concern for climate change and commitment to “responsible investing” with a focus on sustainability, natural resources, waste and pollution. In 2022, the company announced a plan to drastically reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.
News of the chapter’s issues with the insurance company was first reported over the weekend by the Albany Times-Union.
By the next day, the story grabbed the attention of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, which sent a letter to The Hartford chief executive Christopher J. Swift, demanding an explanation of the decision and any policies the company has to base underwriting decisions on the speech of its customers.
Tom Swan, the executive director of CCAG, pointed to a similar report last year of a Washington, D.C.-based community development nonprofit receiving a nonrenewal notice from its insurer, Travelers, which also has a large presence in Hartford. (Travelers told the magazine Shelterforce that the notice had been sent in error).
While Swan said he was not aware of any groups in Connecticut facing such issues, the notices have raised concerns among advocates that they could be targeted for speaking out on certain topics, regardless of whether their advocacy creates risk.
“I don’t think anyone would think of the Audubon being at the extreme of the environmental or any other movement,” Swan said, adding that he’s yet to receive a respond to CCAG’s letter.
A spokeswoman for the Audubon’s New York and Connecticut regional office, which includes the Southern Adirondack chapter, did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Swan’s group also sent a copy of its letter to Gov. Ned Lamont and Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais. In a statement Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Insurance Department confirmed receipt of the letter and said the agency has reached out to the company.
“We understand that The Hartford is reviewing the matter and expect the company to issue a public statement and determination regarding the policy shortly,” said the spokeswoman, Mary Quinn.
On Tuesday, several days after the story was first published, Snell said he received another notice from The Hartford stating that the company had reversed its decision and would allow the policy to renew.
While Snell said he’s yet to discuss the matter with his board, he’s hesitant to take the company up on its offer and will likely try to find another provider willing to work with the chapter. In the meantime, he said, the group has filed a complaint with the New York Department of Financial Services, which regulates insurers.
“Because of the way this whole thing evolved, it gives me a pretty strong indication of what their underlying feelings are towards the environment, wildlife in general,” Snell said.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments