Environmental Damage and Environmental Risk Insurance
Mandatory and voluntary coverage for environmental damage remediation costs, protecting your company from the devastating consequences of the "polluter pays" principle.
Responsibility for nature without financial risk to your company
Environmental legislation is unforgiving. If your company causes soil or water pollution or damages protected species, you bear strict liability – you pay for remediation regardless of whether the error was due to negligence or an accident. Eurovalley's ecological damage insurance covers not only the remediation of accident consequences but also damage caused by gradual pollution, which standard liability policies often exclude. Furthermore, it helps you fulfill the legal obligation of financial security if it is deemed mandatory in your risk assessment.
Who does the Ecological Damage Act apply to?
The 'Polluter Pays' Principle
Act No. 167/2008 Coll. introduced a strict regime for selected operations (chemical industry, waste management, energy, transport of hazardous substances). They must carry out a risk assessment. If potential damage exceeds CZK 20 million, they are obliged to arrange financial security – most often insurance.
Not just for large chemical plants
Even if you don't fall into the mandatory group, you still bear responsibility for damages. A diesel leak from a punctured truck tank or an accident in a fertilizer warehouse can devastate even a smaller company. Environmental liability insurance is a safeguard against these "worst-case scenarios".
The difference from standard liability
Traditional business liability insurance covers damage to the health and property of third parties. However, ecological damage is harm to a "public good" (water, soil, species). A standard policy often isn't sufficient for this, or it's excluded.
When insurance can save a company
Chemical spill into a river
During a warehouse fire, firefighting water mixed with chemicals flowed into a nearby stream and poisoned fish. The company had to pay for the cleanup of the stream and the restocking of new fish. The insurance company covered millions of crowns for remediation.
Hidden pipeline leak
Oil leaked from an underground pipeline on the company's premises for several years. The contamination reached groundwater in the wider area. Because it was a gradual contamination, a standard policy did not cover it, but environmental insurance did.
Crashed truck carrying paints
A truck transporting paints overturned in a protected landscape area. Contaminated soil had to be excavated and transported to a special landfill. The costs of remediation and habitat restoration were borne by the carrier.
Damage to a protected habitat
During construction work, the company accidentally filled in a wetland where a protected amphibian lived. The state ordered the site to be restored to its original condition, which involved extensive earthworks paid for by the insurance company.
How Eurovalley can help you
Let's talk about environmental insurance
Environmental legislation is unforgiving. If your company causes soil or water pollution or damages protected species, you bear strict liability – you pay for remediation regardless of whether the error was due to negligence or an accident. Eurovalley's ecological damage insurance covers not only the remediation of accident consequences but also damage caused by gradual pollution, which standard liability policies often exclude. Furthermore, it helps you fulfill the legal obligation of financial security if it is deemed mandatory in your risk assessment.
