Hurricane Sandy Cleanup Advisory Offered to Restoration & Environmental Professionals

Hurricane Sandy has provided environmental consultants and restoration contractors with the opportunity to help communities rebuild while generating business income. Legends Environmental Insurance Services provides the necessary coverage for many of these firms that offer these critical services.
 
Brian Mcfarland, Vice President of Legends, offered the following advice to consultants and contractors helping to rebuild. It is important that as these professionals respond, they heed the lessons learned from previous large scale floods like Hurricane Katrina or Ivan.  Important issues include:

• Flood Insurance: Many homeowners & businesses do not carry flood/wind insurance.  This coverage may not have been available to them or they opted to not carry the coverage. Either way, there will be insurance carriers who will not pay the assessment or restoration work performed as a result of Hurricane Sandy.  Even when flood/wind insurance is purchased by the homeowner or business, it is often a sublimit on their policy with very strict coverage and limits. Environmental professionals should be sure to identify who will be paying for their work and predetermine payment terms before starting any work. 
  
• Health Concerns: Flooding can cause the release of known and previously unidentified contaminants in a given area. When Katrina hit, many contractors and residents became sick from high levels of pesticides, heavy metals, fuels, and of course microbial contaminants. Proper PPE is essential for all professionals responding to flooding. They should assume the worst case scenario for every location and prepare PPE accordingly. 
  
• Contractor Insurance: All General Liability policies have a pollution exclusion. This exclusion applies to the assessment, cleanup or restoration of all pollution events. A pollution event is identified by most insurance policies as any release, or threatened release, of any solid, liquid or gas. Contractors Pollution Liability (CPL) is available to fill the gap in General Liability insurance coverage created by the introduction of pollution exclusions. If a contractor does not carry CPL insurance, they should be weary of performing any work associated with flood damage. If the contractor subcontracts work to others, they should be aware that most CPL insurance policies exclude subcontracted work. This means that if subcontractors are not carrying CPL coverage, the contractor’s CPL coverage is likely void. Lastly, traditional insurance policies do not provide coverage for work upon floating vessels. Whether the vessel is at sea, or washed on shore, it is important to check with an insurance agent to determine if a policy provides coverage before work commences.

Contact Information

Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

Contact via E-mail