To some extend the name environmental protection insurance gives a clue as to what this type of insurance is, but actually it’s a little more complex. It to some extent is a cover all policy. Instead of being specific; for example a contractor’s pollution policy covers contractors, it covers all types of companies involved in environmental issues.

These could be environmental specialists, companies on field work, contractors and subcontractors. The other important aspect is that environmental insurance protection also covers errors and omissions; something most regular pollution polices don’t include in the policy wording.

The concept of an environmental insurance protection policy is it encompasses all type of insurance that you may purchase separately and therefore covers any gaps you may have. Importantly, this type of policy can be much more cost effective as it negates the requirement to buy two three or more separate policies. From an administrative point of view, you only need to pay one premium to one insurer, which again assists with cost cutting.

Purchase an environmental protection policy and you can expect to be covered for combined pollution legal liability plus regular professional liability. The policy will adequately include cover for contractors, subcontractors and consultants. Additionally, it can extend to include cover for other companies that you may get to do work on your behalf, without the need for them to be separately assessed.

A typical environmental policy includes continuation cover. Continuation cover is when your actual policy may have expired, but a pollution incident becomes known and is traced to a period when your policy was in force. For example, your policy expired at the end of March 2009 and you have just been advised of a pollution incident. You have also been informed that the pollution actually occurred before 2009. This would mean that despite several years passing since the policy was in force, you can still make a claim on the insurance.

You can also expect worldwide coverage, imperative if your company operates overseas. It will generally include terrorism, but you do need to check as each policy differs.

Another area often not covered is something called natural resource cover. For example, the pollution may have affected a river or stream, so the insurance policy paid for the cleaning. However, the river is now devoid of fish. Many pollution insurances don’t cover re-stocking of natural resources, but a full environmental protection insurance will. This is important, because if your company caused the pollution, you are responsible for returning the area to the same state as it was before the incident; and this includes plants, wildlife and fish.

Finally, expect an environmental protection policy to include the ability for you to revise certain aspects of the policy should you need to. For example, you may need to increase or decrease the policy limits during the period of the policy.

There are many areas of environmental work where this type of policy has become a mandatory requirement. For example the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will only allow tenders from those with adequate insurance protection.

Dave Taylor writes on business issues and recommends Beacon Hill Associates for environmental protection solutions. Click here for detailed information on Contractors Pollution Liability insurance.

Dave Taylor writes on business issues and recommends Beacon Hill Associates (http://www.b-h-a.com) for environmental protection solutions. Visit http://www.b-h-a.com/cpl for detailed information on Contractors Pollution Liability insurance.

Author Bio: Dave Taylor writes on business issues and recommends Beacon Hill Associates for environmental protection solutions. Click here for detailed information on Contractors Pollution Liability insurance.

Category: Business
Keywords: environment, business, finance, law