Standard commercial insurance products offer little or no cover against environmental risks, to which all businesses may be exposed as legislation becomes more onerous. These risks can only be fully addressed by environmental insurance.
Bridge is acknowledged in the Environmental Law handbook as the only specialist environmental insurance broker outside London and the South East. With over eight years’ experience, we have facilitated major corporate and land deals, PFI projects and industrial operations.
You may not realise that your existing insurances would probably not address the following eventualities:
- Clean-up of your site following a spillage of oil or other hazardous material.
- Treatment of groundwater following polluting material escaping from your site through surface drains.
- Migration of contaminated material under your site to the surface or onto adjoining land.
- Discovery of contaminants from your site during the development of a nearby plot of land.
- Clean-up of a water course following the entry of fire retardant chemicals as the result of a fire at your premises.
- Legal defence costs if any of the above were to occur
Can your balance sheet take the risk?
The situation is not getting any better. The case of Bartoline Ltd. V (1) Royal and Sun Alliance plc (2) Heath Lambert Limited (2006) established that standard Public Liability policies do not cover all sudden and unforeseen environmental losses. In March 2009, The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations came into effect, significantly increasing the uninsured risk exposures of UK businesses.
Our Offering
- Long term assignable policies to cover historic liabilities for all parties, including funders, in business and land transactions.
- Annually renewable cover for ongoing operational risks; premiums from £650.
- Specialist Pollution Liability products for contractors.
- General advice on environmental risks and insurance programme design.
For further advice on how we can assist please contact David Brierley in our Environmental Risks team:
David Brierley M.A. (Oxon) Cert CII, Environmental Risks Manager david.brierley@bridgeinsurance.co.uk