If you are considering the purchase of a commercial property, the first thing you should do is check if it shows any signs of contamination by pollutants or toxic waste. The pollution problems could be caused by contaminated soil, underground water or by the building itself. The worse case scenario causes problems and harm to the estates or properties nearby as well. If that happens, the property owners might find themselves having to pay for cleaning up of the pollutants which might add up to be much more than the market price of the property. The owners might also be facing penalties which they didn't know about earlier in compliance with environmental safety laws and rulings.
If you own the property or you used to, you will face the consequences of getting lawsuits from cases arising from property damage as well as personal injuries as a result of the pollutants that started from your property. Therefore, one must be prepared for this kind of situation.
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.
A way to protect yourself from taking on the risks is to purchase an insurance policy which covers these damages and claims. You might feel that getting another new policy is too expensive and not feasible. If that is the case, you need to check your old Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy to see if environmental damages are covered as some of them still do cover them. But take note that most CGL policies today do not cover for damages arising from pollution as a result of escalating lawsuits recently involving penalties for environmental issues.
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.
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.
Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Insurance" article category.
People interested in the above article "Environmental and Pollution Insurance - Do You Need It?" are also interested in the related articles listed below:
Accidents at work cannot be avoided no matter how much effort is made to avoid them. Companies that take the proper safety precautions to protect workers reduce the risk of potential problems. When accidents happen, accident claims can be submitted by workers looking for a way to get compensation for an injury. This article will discuss the potential accidents that may happen at work and how companies should properly prepare.
Payment Protection Insurance, commonly abbreviated as PPI, is an insurance coverage package, meant to cover outstanding loans, overdrafts and other forms of debt. This insurance cover is usually an add-on product that is included in the final computation of overdrafts and loans. The primary purpose of this product is to protect the borrower, from circumstances that are beyond their control, which may prevent them from servicing their debt. Such circumstances include loss of employment, ailments, accidents, or death.
Personal injury claims are usually made by people that have been injured in an accident. Accidents can happen in many places but the common one that people suffer from are usually at work or when driving. Potential problems are always waiting to happen, especially when we drive. There are a number of possible crash situations that we should always be aware of. This article will discuss the different causes of road accidents.
Insurance is a threat management technique. Auto insurance also called as vehicle insurance. The main purpose is to protect against financial protection against physical damage or bodily injuries which results from collisions. A personal accident insurance policy is an insurance contract that covers risk arising from accidents, be it at home, or outside. By investing in Accident Insurance, you can protect your family and yourself from the financial concerns such as loss of income and medical expenses that unforeseen accidents lead to. It is contracts that arise from accidents at home or at road. When investing in this plan anyone can protect his or family from the losses or medical expenses.
Landlords have to cope with a lot more than other property owners. Since they are responsible for the upkeep of their property, they share the fears of something going wrong that their own tenants do. But a specially designed insurance policy provides better cover. This article looks at the let property insurance policy and how it offers landlords the protection that they need.
The bereavement of one of the main participants in a wedding can cause a serious problem and even enforced cancellation. However unthinkable this may seem, you would be well advised to take out some form of wedding insurance to cover this eventuality.
Wedding insurance can protect you financially in case your wedding photos cannot be printed. Wedding photos are perhaps the most important memory you will have from your wedding day, so it is essential that your wedding photographs are protected by wedding insurance. Your wedding photographer may not be able to print your wedding photographs if the film, negatives or digital media used becomes damaged or lost. Whilst any reputable photographer should make back up copies of the photographs he or she takes at your wedding, you may find that you're unlucky enough to lose your precious wedding photographs.
