Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine September 2026

HVACR NewsMagazine September 2026

State National Chapter News

don’t know exactly how much PFA is required to cause a medical condition; but, there are folks that will suddenly have a “symptom” of some nature. I want to thank the Arkansas Insurance Commissioner, Jimmy Harris and Jessie Parsons with Parson Insurance, for helping research this problem. According to Commissioner Harris, general liability insurance was never designed to cover pollution claims. A claim for a PFA related medical condition is an environmental / pollution claim. That means, you may want to consider Contractor’s Pollution Coverage. Included in this article is information provided by Parson Insurance. It is informative and worth reading. Because cost is always our first concern, they provided the following range of prices based on policy limits and very conservative to more realistic premium estimates. Of course, none of this is binding and you will want to consult your commercial insurance provider. The estimates are based on your annual sales; installation, retrofit, service--everything in thousands of dollars. A minimum premium applies so you need to consult your insurance provider. Annual Revenue in Millions Estimated Rate per $1000 Revenue Estimated Annual Premium 1 $0.25 - $0.45 $750 - $1,500 5 $0.25 - $0.45 $1,250 -$2,250 10 $0.25 - $0.45 $2,500 - $4,500 15 $0.25 - $0.45 $3,750 - $6,750

Low Insurance Estimate $0.25/M

Higher Insurance Estimate $0.45/M

Revenue Source

Average

Install Service

$10,000

$2.50 $0.20

$4.50 $0.36

$800

Not much when you look at it from that perspective; however, you can’t eat even those few dollars. Multiply those estimates by your number of installations and service calls and we’re talking about a cost that you must recuperate. We all need to re-evaluate our cost of doing business and be sure that we are pricing correctly. A silver lining to Contractor’s Pollution Coverage is that it MAY cover mold. It is important you ask your insurance provider for specifics. Be very specific. What does it cover. In all this discussion and fear mongering, it would be wise for everyone to take a breath and read the following: R-134a and R-1234yf break down in the air into TFA (trifluoroacetic acid). TFA does not build up in the body like some PFAS forever chemicals. TFA is easily removed from the body by its natural processes. EPA and international researchers have not found any health risks from TFA at the levels seen in the environment. HFC refrigerants ae not the same as forever chemicals. They do not pollute water, and their breakdown products are not known to harm people. (This last paragraph is a summary of an article from HARDI Advocacy Updates.) If you research this subject, you may also find articles that are more concerned than HARDI. The Association has been working on this issue since a member

To see how that affects your costs, look at the following table.