Environmental liability insurance should be a standard insurance portfolio item for New Jersey businesses, whether your company works with hazardous substances or owns commercial property. The state has the highest number of Superfund sites in the country, increasing the likelihood that your property was previously contaminated. That being said, you might be held liable for clean-up costs and other claims as the current owner.
SCC Legal has been serving NJ communities and businesses for more than forty years and offers services including business law, real estate law, and environmental law. When you need an environmental lawyer in NJ, we are ready to help.
We provide a general overview of environmental liability insurance in this article and share how the SCC legal team can assist your business.
What Does Environmental Liability Insurance Cover?
General business liability insurance offers limited coverage for environmental risks, and companies purchase additional pollution insurance to cover potential damages. This type of insurance is essential when your business faces long-term risks due to historic contamination from another company’s operations.
What does environmental liability insurance cover? Every insurance company has coverage specifications, but generally covers first and third-party claims including, bodily injuries, property damage, pollution cleaning costs, and business interruption. It also covers legal expenses resulting from contamination or pollution incidents.
SCC Legal has successfully negotiated favorable settlements for environmental remediation costs and third-party liability claims under comprehensive general liability policies.
Common Environmental Risks and Exposures
Companies face greater public scrutiny around environmental risks and their impact on the surrounding communities. Environmental liability insurance might be required to cover viral and biological risks, air and water pollution, oil and chemical spills, toxic disposal sites and brownfields. Employees and members of the public might sue for exposure to lead paint, contaminated water lines, mold, and other contaminants.
Historic hazardous sites could still contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), asbestos, chemicals used in precious metal recovery or manufacturing of chemical and pharmaceutical products.
Understanding Environmental Policy Coverage and Exclusions
Environmental liability insurance can cover incidents that are sudden, accidental, or gradual. Policy coverage is generally written on a claims-made basis, covering claims presented during the terms of the policy or a specified time frame after the policy expires. It limits the insurer’s exposure to undetermined future liabilities.
Insurance companies will add exclusions to policies. Businesses should more narrowly define the conditions they want to include in their policy coverage during negotiations. Have you been unable to prevent exclusions? SCC Legal has successfully represented numerous policyholders in their efforts to obtain insurance coverage for environmental liabilities.
Who Needs Environmental Insurance?
Every company should include this type of insurance as part of their risk management strategy. However, it is vital for businesses that handle or store potentially toxic materials, including metal manufacturers, commercial builders, medical offices, gas stations, and clothing and apparel manufacturers.
For more information on environmental law, or if you want assistance with environmental liability insurance matters in NJ, please contact our team at SCC Legal today or visit us at: https://www.scclegal.com/