Clean-up costs · own site or third parties · gap in the AVB
Environmental damage insurance through Chubb
Contamination of soil, groundwater or air is precisely the type of loss your public and employers' liability insurance does not deal with. Environmental insurance fills that gap, but only if you choose the right version.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Milieuverzekering via Chubb.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Finass Advies acts as a broker and compares the offerings of several insurers objectively. Chubb is one of them, and is used among other things for the environmental risks of businesses storing hazardous substances, production sites or work carried out at third-party premises. The choice of insurer follows from the cover you need and from the conditions, not from the name on the policy schedule.
The sticking point is almost always the same. An public and employers' liability insurance covers third-party injury and property damage. Clean-up costs are not property damage: the ground is not broken, it is contaminated, and the bill comes from the competent authority or from the owner of the site. That is why AVB policies exclude environmental damage, apart from a limited section for sudden and unforeseen emissions. Gradual contamination, the classic leaking pipework or the tank that drips for years, falls outside that by definition.
Two lines run through this subject. The first is who suffers the loss: a environmental damage insurance pays clean-up costs as first-party cover, including on your own land, whereas an environmental liability policy pays out when a third party holds you liable. The second is where it happens: at your own site or while working at a client's premises. Those two situations are set out on environmental liability on your own site and work at third-party premises.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal liability insurance (AVP).
What to look out for
Four points that lead to discussion more often with environmental cover than the level of the sum insured.
Strict liability: fault is not required
Anyone who uses or has custody of a hazardous substance in the course of their business is liable under Article 6:175 of the Dutch Civil Code for damage if that substance causes harm, even without fault. For landfill sites, Article 6:176 of the Dutch Civil Code applies and for boreholes Article 6:177 DCC. Working carefully therefore does not rule out liability. It only reduces the likelihood.
What was already there is not insured
Contamination that was already present or known when the policy started is excluded. Insurers therefore ask for a baseline soil survey or earlier soil survey. Without that record it is impossible, when a later claim arises, to establish whether the contamination dates from your insured period, and that works against you.
Asbestos, fines and your own installation
Three items recur as exclusions on virtually every environmental policy: asbestos, administrative fines and penalty payments and the cost of replacing or improving the installation that caused the leak. The latter is maintenance, not damage. Contamination caused intentionally also stays outside the cover under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Business interruption during the clean-up
A clean-up means fencing, drilling and sometimes months of standstill. Loss of turnover is a separate section and is not automatically included in an environmental policy. Your neighbours' business interruption loss, for example a restaurant that becomes inaccessible, is also consequential loss that must be arranged separately. Look here at how this ties in with your business interruption insurance.
What does your premium depend on?
- Nature of the activities: storage, production, processing or services
- Hazardous substances on site: type, quantity and method of storage
- Number and location of sites: groundwater levels and proximity to water extraction count
- Available soil survey: a recent baseline survey reduces the uncertainty
- Work at third-party premises: digging, drilling and tank work call for a separate section
- Sum insured and excess: per event and capped per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | First-party environmental damage | Environmental liability |
|---|---|---|
| An underground tank on your own site turns out to have been leaking for years | Yes | No |
| That contamination spreads and reaches the neighbour's plot | Yes | Yes |
| The competent authority orders you to carry out a clean-up without anyone holding you liable | Yes | No |
| While digging on a client's site you strike a diesel pipeline | Provided that | Yes |
| Wash water ends up in the ditch and the water authority claims the clean-up costs | Yes | Yes |
| An employee falls ill after years of exposure to solvents | No | No |
The last row belongs under the employers' liability section. An environmental policy is about the ground, not about people.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Why does my AVB not cover soil remediation?
Because the AVB is built around injury and property damage. Clean-up costs are of a different order: the competent authority or the landowner requires the soil quality to be restored, and that is not damaged property. Most AVB policies have at most a limited section for sudden and unforeseen emissions. For the rest you need an environmental policy.
What is the difference between environmental damage insurance and environmental liability insurance?
Environmental damage insurance pays on the basis of the clean-up costs themselves, even if no one holds you liable and even if the contamination is on your own land. Environmental liability insurance only comes into play once a third party holds you liable and you are liable for it. When it comes to it many businesses need both elements; which combination it becomes depends on your sites and activities.
Does cover also apply to contamination at the neighbours'?
If the contamination migrates from your site to an adjoining plot, it is a third party's loss. That part falls under the liability component, provided it is included and the cause lies within the insured period. Report such a situation straight away: Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report as soon as you are reasonably aware of it, and delay costs cover.
Do I have to disclose contamination when I apply?
Yes. The duty of disclosure of Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to disclose what you know about the condition of the soil, earlier incidents and ongoing investigations. If you conceal it, the insurer may reduce or refuse the payout under Article 7:930 DCC. Known contamination is, moreover, excluded as standard, even if you do disclose it.
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