Environmental Liability Insurance

In order to understand your environmental exposures we need to explore your liabilities under environmental legislation.

In Australia there is a complex matrix of federal, state and local government environmental legislation which is constantly evolving.

Many clients are surprised to discover the following:

• Landowners, license holders, landlords, tenants, mortgagees/lenders and future purchasers can be made liable for pollution they didn’t cause.
• Directors and Officers can be made personally liable for ‘clean up’ orders. This is irrespective of company closure or liquidation.
• The majority of clean-up costs occurs at your own site, which is not insured under Third Party Liability insurance policies.

Environmental Impairment Liability insurance policies generally provide coverage associated with pollution conditions at, under or migrating from covered locations.

Coverage features can include:

• Clean up costs, both on-site and off-site, from unknown pre- existing conditions, new conditions or reopeners of previously remediated conditions.
• Personal liability for clean up made against Directors and Officers.
• Third party claims for bodily injury and property damage.
• Non-Owned Disposal Site liability associated with locations a which the waste was treated, stored or disposed.
• Transportation liability.
• Environmental Damage.
• Environmental civil fines and penalties (where allowable by law)
• Loss of income and extra expense arising from first party pollution conditions.
• Changes in environmental regulations.
• Legal Defence Costs.
• Broad pollution conditions, Sudden & Accidental, Gradual, Asbestos releases.