If your association is faced with a pollution claim, are you covered?
In response to a dramatic increase in pollution claims, many insurance
companies have completely removed pollution coverage from their policies.
This valuable protection is available from CAU. Environmental
Impairment Liability provides protection against the following risks of
financial loss:
- Bodily injury caused by pollution conditions;
-
Property damage, including damage to tangible property, the loss
of use of such property that has not been physically injured or
destroyed, and the diminished market value of a third party’s
property;
-
Remediation expenses, including investigating the extent and nature
of the pollutant, monitoring, removing and disposing of the pollutant;
and
-
Defense costs incurred in the investigation, adjustment settlement and
defense of a claim.
You may not believe your association has an exposure to pollution
liability claims. Consider these claims situations:
-
While excavating to make pipe repairs, a previously unknown
underground storage tank is discovered. Investigation reveals that
the oil leaking from this tank has contaminated the soil and
groundwater onsite and has migrated to a neighboring community. The
preliminary studies to determine the extent of contamination cost
over $30,000. The clean up cost exceeds $175,000.
-
An association routinely applies phosphorous rich fertilizer to the
community’s lawns. During a heavy rain, the phosphorous is washed
into a pond on a neighboring property. This overdose of phosphorous
nutrients in the pond causes an algae bloom and severely harms aquatic
life. Property damage and clean up costs exceed $55,000.
-
Residents of a group of association buildings exhibit an unusually high
rate of cancer related symptoms. It is discovered, for the first time,
that their buildings are on the site of a former lighting fixture
manufacturer that used polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a suspected
carcinogen. Large quantities of PCBs are found in the soil under and
around the affected buildings. Clean up costs will top $200,000 and many
lawsuits are now pending from the affected parties. Bodily injury awards
may exceed $1 million.
-
In one community, high levels of lead are found during routine blood tests
in children. Investigation of the matter reveals that these children have
all regularly participated in activities in the community playroom. Tests
showed the presence of lead based paint in the community recreation building.
Lawsuits for bodily injury are filed against the association. Settlements
with the claimants will exceed $2,000,000.
We offer this unique protection on a claims made policy form. There are
only a few carriers providing environmental impairment liability and
unlike most of them, we include coverage for prior acts, providing, of
course, you had no knowledge of the pollutants when coverage was placed
into effect. Let CAU help you secure protection against these types of
pollution conditions.