When do you need environmental insurance

If you are currently pursuing some commercial real estate properties, or you plan to buy one soon, you should go and check the property for any signs of toxic pollution or contamination. The environmental problem could have been caused by toxic waste from the polluted earth, the water from the ground or the building structure itself. If left as is, it might affect not just the source building, but also the properties near the estate. If that does happen, the property owner might face lawsuits and claims for damages and the clean-up costs for clearing up the toxic waste and pollutants. The total costs of the clean-up involved could be staggering and might even go beyond the value of the property itself. If there is contamination, the relevant authorities might take action and you may be faced with penalties in relation to the laws governing the environment.
Being the owner or the past owner of the property could mean that you will be held responsible for the toxin and poisons spreading to buildings nearby. Possible charges against you would include personal injury lawsuits or property damage. In such cases, how do you protect you and your company from getting into trouble?
Many local, state, and federal environmental laws are in their infancy, most less than 20 years old. As the new laws are passed the old laws are continually amended. This will sometimes overwhelm a potential buyer: Don t let this happen to you. With the hundred of laws out there, only a few are vital to improving your understanding of environmental liabilities.
Among the existing environmental regulations, the two most important and well known are the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) enacted in 1980, and the improved and revised version, Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, otherwise known as SARA, which was enacted in the year 1986. In order to tackle the rising costs of clearing up the contaminated and abandoned properties several departments and organizations have set up central funds to help in the cleaning process and to help the related parties recover their losses.
Perhaps you feel that purchasing a new policy again would be hurtful towards your financial position. If that is the case, remember to review and read through your current Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy. Some references can be found in past court cases that the statements found in Commercial General Liability policies covers charges regarding environmental problems or toxic harm, even though it was not openly made known by the insurance salesman. This trend of court cases has caused insurance companies to review and change the terms and conditions of their CGL policies so that it won t cover charges and payments regarding environmental problems and pollution.
Recently, insurance companies decided to launch new insurance policies specially designed to cover for environmental risks of commercial properties. Some of the newly launched policies would include coverage in areas regarding risks of payments for property clean-up of pollutants, damages suffered to the properties of a third party or physical harm, claims from third party for the clean-up payments because of pollution caused by the policy owner s property which is not within the insured site and also risks for clean-up of properties which are not owned by anyone, and any payments accrued from third party s claim for payment of transportation costs of products which caused the pollution problems in their area.
The insurance firms have also developed special insurance policies for companies which are thinking of investing in brownfield sites. The term "brownfield" refers to commercial estates which are not developed even though they are considered commercial sites because of excessive contamination and pollution in the area. Without such policies, these sites will go undeveloped as developers may not necessarily want to take such high risks which may result in lawsuits relating to environmental issues.
To prevent from taking on too much business risk, go over your country and local state s law regarding pollution and environment. Take into account the amount you might have to pay and the general responsibility if you are found guilty of causing pollution harm and damage to the estates and properties located near you. If the laws are written in terms that you find hard to understand, you should look for help from lawyers who are knowledgeable in the field of environmental and pollution laws. You will then be able to decide if you need environmental insurance policies to help you in case of lawsuits in these areas.
About the Author: Garris Thorntenson is a general contractor and knows the importance of getting good protection with contractors insurance. One of the policies which he recommends is the environmental liability insurance and he recommends the experts at J6 insurance for their expertise in this very field.



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