POLLUTION LIABILITY
The Growing Importance
Of Pollution Liability
Coverage
O
ver the last few decades, the
environment has become
more and more of a hot
button issue. So much so,
in fact, that companies are
being increasingly held liable for damage
they cause to the environment, regardless
of whether it is done on purpose or not.
Given that, it may come as a surprise
that the general market penetration of
environmental insurance products is
under 10 percent. What may be even more
surprising is that the poor penetration of
these policies is not a result of excessive
price or lack of availability. Rather, it is due
to a poor understanding of the policies and
their purpose on both sides of the table. Water Act. As an example of how this
could affect a business, consider a farm
that has a connection to a local waterway.
Now that farm will need to be concerned
with runoff and other environmental
factors that it may not have had to
seriously consider before.
The issue on the table is twofold: The best way to find out whether you
will need a separate policy is to contact
your insurance professional and have a
frank discussion with them. They will
not only know more about your potential
liabilities than you probably do but they
will also have a thorough knowledge of
the emerging environmental insurance
market from which to pull policies. In
this way, you can both ensure that your
company is covered.
1. The risks for businesses are
expanding when it comes to the
environment.
New environmental laws are hitting the
books almost every year. Not only are
individual states putting the environment
first, but so is the federal government, most
recently with the expansion of the Clean
2. Environmental damage is quickly
being removed from traditional
policies.
As a result of expanding “contamination”
losses, many insurance companies are
stripping this type of coverage out of
standard policies and creating separate
products for them.
BY: DAN LYNCH
NESBIT AGENCIES
One exam