What You Need Before A Spill

Aug 19, 2021, 1:02 PM

Pollution is something no one ever really wants to think about. It’s dangerous to the air, water, soil, human health, and so much more. Entire industries are devoted to preventing pollution and cleaning it up for years, even decades, after it affects some part of the world.

But it happens. We’re all familiar with enormous pollution incidents — Deepwater Horizon, Bhopal in India — and the pollution we see every day from car exhaust and other sources. Pollution is also a result of farming, where fertilizers and pesticides that are applied to the land turn into runoff that gets into nearby water. Another cause is overspray, when an area of land is accidentally given more chemical treatment than it should receive, and the excess spray drains away from the soil.

Hastings Mutual’s Farmowners policy has some coverage for sudden and accidental pollution causing bodily injury and/or property damage. There’s more in our additional, optional coverage for pollution liability, which can be part of a Farmowners policy.

Pollutant Clean-up and Removal

This has a limit of $10,000 to start and can be increased up to an additional $25,000. It applies to nearly everything affected by a pollution spill or other impact: human health, property damage, environmental harm.

Sudden and Accidental Pollution Liability 

The coverage in your Farmowners policy can be boosted above its base $25,000 limit. It can increase all the way to $1 million in claims-made coverage. This is most likely useful for a large facility.

As a farm owner, you’ll need to map out your property, including where pollutants (chemicals, animal waste, etc.) are located, and where sources of water cross your land. You probably already know a lot of that information but having additional pollution coverage can take your insurance a step further — and protect you from times when something goes really wrong.

What’s a good prevention technique for keeping pollutants under control on your farm or property?

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