Pollution Liability Insurance for Small Business in Florida
What is Environmental & Pollution Liability Insurance?
Do You Need Pollution Liability Insurance?
Pollution liability insurance isn’t needed or required by all professions and businesses. The idea is that it covers bodily injury claims, damage to property, and clean up costs that are needed when contamination by elements used in production occurs. Businesses focused on oil, construction, and those that involve things like asbestos and waste are the major ones that should be interested in getting pollution liability insurance.
Before the 1990s, pollution liability was considered part of commercial general liability insurance. So businesses would get general liability insurance and not have to worry about the rest. With time, insurance companies started making pollution liability insurance its own separate entity. Perhaps this has something to do with increased awareness towards the hazards of pollution and environmental issues.
Whether you’re an independent contractor or a business owner, if your work carries a risk of pollution or harm to people or the environment, you’ll need to consider pollution liability insurance. Keep in mind that this isn’t a luxury to protect yourself or your business from a lawsuit worth millions of dollars, most of the time, you won’t even be allowed to begin work without providing proof of insurance.
This type of insurance is valuable even if you’re an owner of an industrial site that won’t be involved in any kind of toxic waste. The reason is that underlying hazardous waste might be missed during preliminary inspection only to be discovered years later. If that happens, the insurance will come in handy.
People whose work involves the release of emissions like farms or truck stops should get pollution liability insurance as well. A lawsuit may emerge where people might claim that the emissions released from your farm caused them bodily injury in which case you’ll want coverage.
What’s so great about pollution liability insurance is that its protection lasts a long time. Yes, it’ll protect you from third-party claims regarding physical harm or toxic waste materials while you work, but it extends beyond that. Your completed jobs will also be covered by the insurance meaning that even if something happens down the line after you’re done working, you’ll have nothing to worry about.
Make sure that the insurance you get covers all potential hazards that might be encountered. Some insurance policies may exclude hazards like mold, asbestos, and lead because they’re commonly present in old buildings. By getting an incomplete policy you run the risk of being exposed and having to pay out of your own pocket for damages. You can always call your insurance company to buy additional coverage if you’re about to work on a job that requires it.
Working in construction or any other kind of business that carries the risk of pollution or hazardous materials without pollution liability insurance can be a huge mistake. The main advantage of this type of insurance is that it usually covers completed work as well which makes sense since pollution and waste take years to manifest themselves. So make sure that you get pollution liability insurance and that your policy covers all the hazardous materials involved in your job.