Environmental Impairment Liability
The vast majority of liability policies include the following exclusion as standard
We will not indemnify You in respect of liability arising from:
Pollution or Contamination other than that caused by a sudden identifiable unintended and unexpected incident which takes place in its entirety at a specific time and place during any one Period of Insurance provided that:
(a) all Pollution or Contamination which arises out of any one incident shall be deemed to have occurred at the time such incident takes place.
(b) Our liability for all Compensation payable in respect of all Pollution or Contamination which is deemed to have occurred during any one Period of Insurance shall not exceed in the aggregate the Limit of Liability stated in the Schedule.
It is therefore important to note that in respect of pollution at or near to your business premises you are only covered for clean-up costs incurred by third parties (and not those incurred to clean up ground, water-courses, etc in the boundaries of your property) and only those that are caused by a sudden and unexpected incident. A long-term gradual leak from an oil tank, for example, would not be covered.
A solution that is available to you as a client of Cass-Stephens Insurances is a stand-alone environmental liability policy, specifically designed to cover the widest possible range of environmental liabilities such as
- Statutory or regulatory liabilities
- Liability arising from both gradual pollution and sudden, unforeseen pollution
- Liability for the clean-up costs at your own property as well as off-site clean-up costs
- Investigation, complementary and compulsory remediation costs
- No-pollutant related environmental damage, such as that caused by a fire or flood
- Remedial action made prior to a formal regulatory claims and before legal liability is officially established.
To find out more about this important protection please call us on 01452 300888
