Environmental Claims examples
Chubb Commercial Insurance
With an environmental liability policy you are insured for the clean-up costs of pollution incidents. In all the instances
below, you will be covered with an environmental policy from Chubb.
Oil leak
A company was fined as oil was found to be leaking into a stream. The cause was corrosion of an underground pipe, arising
from water from a collapsed field drain that hadn’t been checked for seven years. The incident cost the company £100,000 to
clean-up the mess, a fine of £2,000 and costs of £1,245.
Clean-up costs: £100,000
Water pollution
A massive fire at a chemicals packaging site led to a serious water pollution incident after contaminated firewater entered
a local warehouse. During the blaze, people within a 100 metre radius were evacuated due to the thick acrid smoke. The fire
was put out with foam and water – contaminated water entered the local water course that fed into the main river. The clean-up
costs of £500,000 would not have been covered under a normal public liability as most policies exclude demands by regulators
to pay for clean-up and, a property policy would not have covered cleaning up the site where contamination occurred.
Clean-up costs: £500,000
Major spillages
A company was fined £15,000 and paid £1,530 costs following a major spillage of diesel that threatened a local water supply
borehole. The spillage occurred on the company’s site due to a leak on a fuel pipeline between a 4,000 litre storage tank
and an associated generator – oil had contaminated the underlying groundwater. The company spent in excess of £1,200,000
cleaning up the contaminated soil and groundwater. Only specific environmental policies would cover you against a loss like
this.
Clean-up costs: £1,200,000
Chemical fire and no insurance protection
A chemical company had a massive fire on their premises which were totally destroyed. During the course of the fire, water
used for fire fighting became contaminated and entered a nearby river. The Environmental Agency undertook emergency work
and claimed their costs from the chemical company, who they also required to undertake additional remedial works on another
river. They had a public liability policy and the total costs were in the region of £800,000, but when a claim was put in
to their insurers it was denied. The insurer’s position was upheld in court. It is likely that in a similar event where
the insured had the benefit of a pollution policy, their liabilities would have been covered.
Clean-up costs: £1,000,000
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