Environmental damage insurance through Klaverblad
On a farm the source of soil contamination is rarely hidden: a diesel tank behind the shed, a slurry pit, a filling and washing bay and a roof of corrugated sheeting. The policy treats those four very differently.
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In brief
Finass Advies acts as an intermediary and compares the market objectively across several insurers. Klaverblad is one of the companies we approach for agricultural and horticultural businesses. The wider package for that sector can be found under Klaverblad's agricultural insurance and on the sector page environmental and agricultural. Which company it becomes follows from your cover requirements and the conditions.
What goes wrong on a farmyard is reasonably predictable. A slurry silo or pit that overflows or gives way, after which the flow reaches a watercourse. An above-ground diesel tank that empties into the sand after a collision or through corrosion. Residues of crop protection products ending up beside the liquid-tight slab while the sprayer is being filled or rinsed. In all those cases the soil or the surface water is the injured party, and that is exactly what environmental damage insurance exists for: it pays for investigation, clean-up and reinstatement on your own land, without anyone having to make a claim against you.
For the part that does affect a third party, something different applies. If you contaminate the ditch and the water authority recovers the cost of removing dead fish and flushing through the watercourse, that is liability. For hazardous substances there is in addition the strict liability of Article 6:175 of the Dutch Civil Code: as the party using or storing the substance in the course of a business, you are liable even without having done anything wrong. Your public and employers' liability insurance largely excludes environmental damage, so that route runs through an environmental liability section.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Environmental damage insurance.
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Environmental damage insurance
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We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
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We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four points that on a farm regularly turn out differently from what the owner expects.
Manure: sudden failure or a slow leak
A pit or silo that gives way under pressure is a sudden and unforeseen event and fits within the cover. A pit wall that has become porous through years of attack, letting slurry liquid seep into the groundwater, is gradual pollution and falls outside it. Age reports and inspections of pits and silos are therefore often a condition of acceptance.
Asbestos roofs fall outside
Asbestos is excluded under this policy. That means that cleaning up fibres after a storm or fire is not automatically included, and that the routine removal of an asbestos roof is never insured: that is maintenance, not damage. For a shed with corrugated sheeting, have it recorded in advance what does happen if the roof is left open after an insured event.
The filling and washing bay is the weak point
With crop protection products the risk lies not in spraying but in filling, rinsing and storing. Insurers therefore set requirements for a liquid-tight filling bay with containment. If it is missing, a clause or an exclusion follows. Spray drift damaging the neighbour's crop, incidentally, is not environmental damage but property damage to a third party; that runs through liability.
Fines, existing pollution and deliberate breach
Three items remain where you would rather they did not. Administrative fines and penalty payments imposed by the environmental agency or the NVWA are never insured. Contamination from before the start date is excluded, which on a farmyard taken over calls for a baseline measurement. And loss caused by deliberate breach of usage and spreading rules falls outside. In cases of intent Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code also applies.
What does your premium depend on?
- Sector: dairy farming, arable farming, glasshouse horticulture and contracting differ widely
- Storage capacity for manure and fuel: volume and age of pits, silos and tanks
- Soil protection measures: liquid-tight floors, filling bay and containment facilities
- Distance to watercourses: a ditch alongside the plot increases the chance of consequential loss
- Use of crop protection products: type of product, storage and the method of filling and cleaning
- Sum insured and excess: set per event and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Environmental damage | Environmental liability |
|---|---|---|
| A slurry silo gives way and the soil around the yard becomes contaminated | Yes | No |
| An above-ground diesel tank empties into the sand behind the shed after a collision | Yes | No |
| The water authority recovers the cost of fish deaths in the ditch alongside your plot | No | Yes |
| Rinsing water containing crop protection product runs into the ground beside the filling bay | Provided that | No |
| A porous pit wall has been letting slurry liquid through to the groundwater for years | No | No |
| The environmental agency imposes a penalty payment after an inspection | No | No |
A clean-up on your own land and a claim by an injured third party are two different covers. You usually need both.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The water authority is sending me the bill after fish deaths. Who pays for that?
That is a third party's loss and therefore a liability question, not your own clean-up costs. For hazardous substances the strict liability of Article 6:175 of the Dutch Civil Code applies, so fault does not have to be proved. Such a claim belongs on an environmental liability section; ordinary public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) expressly excludes environmental damage. So have it stated expressly that contamination of surface water is included.
Does my asbestos roof have to come off before I can take out this insurance?
That depends on the company and on the condition of the roof. Asbestos is excluded as a type of loss in any event, but its presence also matters for acceptance of the fire and buildings cover. A damaged or broken roof is more likely to lead to a clause. Ask in advance what requirements are set for the roof and for the storage beneath it.
Is damage to the neighbour's crop covered under this?
No. Damaged crops are property damage to a third party and that is a liability question under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, or under Article 6:175 DCC where a hazardous substance is involved. Environmental damage insurance pays for clearing contaminated soil and reinstating your own site. Both covers are needed if you work with products that can drift.
I lease the land. Who is responsible for the clean-up?
The authorities in principle address whoever caused the contamination, while the lessor can in addition hold you to the lease. Both routes can run alongside each other. Record the soil quality at the start of the lease and state on the application that you are the lessee and not the owner, so that the policy shows the correct capacity.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare environmental damage insuranceThe main page
- Environmental damage insurance for real estateClean-up, your own site, third-party site
- Environmental damage insurance for propertyClean-up costs, tenants, baseline situation
- Environmental damage in propertyHistorical contamination, tenants, baseline survey