For someone who is in the real estate market looking to make some profit by obtaining or purchasing real estate property for commercial uses, it is always advisable for them to check their property for possible pollution or toxic waste of any kind. The source of the contamination could be from the polluted soil or land, underground or the construction itself. Besides causing harm to its owners, it might be causing health problems and more to properties that are located near it. If the stated problems do exist, then the property owner will be looking at clean-up costs that could build up to quite a large amount, sometimes exceeding the value of the property itself! Worse still, the property owners might be paying even more for unseen payments to the relevant authorities that are related to the environmental laws and decree.
As the owner (or former owner), you could be responsible for contaminants that migrate to the neighboring properties. This includes personal injury and property damage that is caused by the release of pollutants (including emissions). So how do you ensure that your company is protected?
Many local, state, and federal environmental laws are in their infancy, most less than 20 years old. As the new laws are passed the “old” laws are continually amended. This will sometimes overwhelm a potential buyer: Don't let this happen to you. With the hundred of laws out there, only a few are vital to improving your understanding of environmental liabilities.
One of the most well-known and important laws is CERCLA, which stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, where it is passed as an official law in the year 1980. Another revised and improved version of CERCLA is SARA, which stands for Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act) where it was authorized in the year 1986. There are currently a few active funds in the world today where the money is intended to help pay for the clean-up costs of deserted commercial sites that are too contaminated to be used and to cover the liability costs of the owner of the property.
If you have checked the premiums for insurance policies covering environmental risks of commercial properties, and you think that it might be too expensive or it might make you initial investments in purchasing the building seem too large of an amount, then you can go check the current Commercial General Liability, or CGL, policy that you have been keeping and paying for. Some of the CGL policies do cover for such incidents of environmental lawsuits though it was not openly declared. However, in recent years, due to the escalating lawsuits involving the very same area and insurance companies ended up paying for liabilities as a result of pollution, the insurance companies have since readjusted their clauses to not cover for such incidents.
Within the last few years, insurance companies have begun developing policies specifically designed to provide environmental coverage in regards to pollution or contamination. Some of these policies include: Providing coverage for certain types of on-site clean-ups, Property damage to personal property of third parties and bodily injuries, Clean-up costs for third party claims beyond the boundaries of the insured site and coverage for non-owned site cleanup costs, and third party claims arising from transportation of product or waste by vendors causing pollution conditions.
There are even policies currently offered to those companies wanting to develop brownfields: these are most often under-used or abandoned contaminated sites. Without proper insurance coverage these sites would sit undeveloped due to the high liability and cost associated with the environmental clean-up or the risk that such clean-ups may later require.
To minimize your personal risk, before you decide to purchase a commercial real estate property, make sure you research your local pollution and environmental laws. take note of liability amounts and potential liability to neighboring areas if your property is deemed polluted. If you are confused by the laws consult a professional environmental lawyer. Armed with this knowledge you can determine if purchasing pollution/environmental insurance is for you.
Article Source: http://www.superfeature.com
Garris Thorntenson is a general contractor and knows the importance of getting good protection with contractors insurance. One of the policies which he recommends is the environmental liability insurance and he recommends the experts at J6 insurance for their expertise in this very field
สมัครสมาชิก:
ส่งความคิดเห็น (Atom)
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น