If you are an environmental professional, you know all about the various risk exposures. Thanks to them, insurance companies offer specialized coverage, tailored for the industry, and for the owner and the lender who finances homes and buildings and commercial properties. This brief summary of related hedging forms has been compiled to provide related parties with an easy-to-read glossary on the subject.
Safe for the environmental professional:
• Coverage of errors and omissions by environmental consultants
This insurance coverage protects the environmental consultant from lawsuits related to alleged faulty instructions and guidance that lead to financial damages. Coverage of attorneys’ fees is also included in the benefits of this type of professional liability policy.
• Bonds from environmental contractors
Contractors who clean up pollution and pollution can purchase a bid and performance bond through an insurer that provides special forms of compensation to enhance industry-related liability coverage.
• Liability coverage for environmental deterioration
Environmental liability impairment insurance is intended to cover what is excluded for the professional in their commercial general liability policy or form. This coverage can be purchased from a specialized insurance company and includes compensation for damage suffered as a result of environmental degradation and cleaning costs. It is important to review the current commercial liability coverage to ensure that it does not overlap, as well as to ensure that there are no gaps in the protective coverage, in case the commercial liability policy has an absolute exclusion of contamination in the form .
• Coverage of environmental remediation contractors
Environmental remediation contractors are relied upon to clean up contamination from properties. Related liability risks include: insufficient or incomplete remediation, spread of contaminated soil during remediation or excavation, atmospheric emissions from aquifers, ruptured pipes or underground utilities, spills or leaks from contractor’s tanks, mixing of incompatible material or waste resulting from fire, explosion, emission of dangerous vapors and improperly installed tanks.
Real Estate Buyer and Mortgage Lender Insurance:
• Environmental assessment coverage of the site
This type of evaluation is actually an inspection service provided by an independent, underwriter-approved engineering firm. The site environmental assessment must accompany the review and application for a lender’s environmental cost or property transfer liability insurance policy. Both the buyer and the lender of real estate need this insurance to protect them from Superfund-type liabilities that can come from contamination in a property that was not discovered before its sale. This coverage can protect the insured from unforeseen costs related to cleaning up contamination discovered after purchase.
For a more in-depth discussion of environmental insurance, speak with an independent insurance professional.