As the "year of the contagion" sparks a higher level of inquiries about specialty insurance products designed to cover the business side effects of flu pandemics, well-informed agents can seize an opportunity, according to a specialty broker.

"Right now, with the market being as competitive as it is in the general liability and other property-casualty arenas, this is an area where agents can differentiate or define themselves," said Patricia Roth, a senior vice president of S.H. Smith & Company, a Hartford-based wholesale broker.

Ms. Roth made the comment as she described her efforts in placing Outbreak Extra Expense Coverage, a business interruption product developed by specialty insurer Markel that is triggered, in part, by a disease epidemic like the current Swine flu outbreak.