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The world of environmental insurance

For someone who is in the real estate market looking to make some profit by obtaining or purchasing real estate property for commercial uses, it is always advisable for them to check their property for possible pollution or toxic waste of any kind. The source of the contamination could be from the polluted soil or land, underground or the construction itself. Besides causing harm to its owners, it might be causing health problems and more to properties that are located near it. If the stated problems do exist, then the property owner will be looking at clean-up costs that could build up to quite a large amount, sometimes exceeding the value of the property itself! Worse still, the property owners might be paying even more for unseen payments to the relevant authorities that are related to the environmental laws and decree.

As the owner (or former owner), you could be responsible for contaminants that migrate to the neighboring properties. This includes personal injury and property damage that is caused by the release of pollutants (including emissions). So how do you ensure that your company is protected?

Most of the local, state or even federal environmental laws are still new and are constantly reviewed and changed. As new environmental laws are passed, it can be a challenge for current property owners or future buyers to keep track of the laws and regulations. But rest assured that only a few of the laws matter when it comes to developing a comprehensive understanding of environmental liabilities.

The two most well known of these laws are CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980), and the amendment, SARA (Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986). These are a federal funds set up to aid the clean-up of abandoned sites that have been polluted and to recover costs from potentially responsible parties.

If you have checked the premiums for insurance policies covering environmental risks of commercial properties, and you think that it might be too expensive or it might make you initial investments in purchasing the building seem too large of an amount, then you can go check the current Commercial General Liability, or CGL, policy that you have been keeping and paying for. Some of the CGL policies do cover for such incidents of environmental lawsuits though it was not openly declared. However, in recent years, due to the escalating lawsuits involving the very same area and insurance companies ended up paying for liabilities as a result of pollution, the insurance companies have since readjusted their clauses to not cover for such incidents.

After the insurance companies have tried taking out environmental and pollution coverage from their CGL policies, they then tried to market their new product which is designed to provide protection to policy holders related to pollution and environmental problems. Some important specifications of the new policies include coverage for possible occurrence of site clean-ups of the harmful materials, damage to the related properties, damages incurred by third party's properties or physical damages or harm, any costs or payments incurred for the cleaning up of third party's property that is not considered as policy protected site and payments for cleaning up costs that is not owned by the policy holder, and any third-party claims for payments of transportation of products or toxic and chemical waste which are causing the pollution problems.

If you are thinking of purchasing and developing a brownfield site, which means the commercial site that has been left undeveloped because of its excessive pollution problems, take note that there are insurance companies willing to offer you coverage for these areas. If there is no insurance coverage offered for these sites, this land may be left undeveloped since the risks of incurring clean-up costs and the further financial payments in penalties is too high.

In order to cut down the risks involved, check with the local authorities regarding the laws and regulations regarding the pollution and environment concerning commercially run estates. Take note on your potential accountability in financial terms and also the legal requirements if something should happen to the buildings and estates near your property. If you find the law decree hard to understand always seek help from a lawyer who is well versed in the field of environmental laws. By acquiring the necessary knowledge, you can then decide if you need to purchase an environmental insurance for your property.

Article Source: http://www.topicinfo.com

Garris Thorntenson works in the construction industry and always go formconstruction contractors insurance, specifically the environmental insurance. He highly recommends residents in California, Washington, Arizona, Utah or Nevada to look for the experts at J6 insurance as they are highly knowledgeable in this area.

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