Home Envirosearch Insurance, a new environmental insurance product for householders, has been developed by AIG Europe, Aon and Landmark Information Group.
It offers protection from undetected contamination from the date of purchase of the property. The policy costs between £50 and £65 for ten years' cover, which includes liability cover up to £350,000 for cleaning up contaminations that were undetected in the land when the property was bought. It also covers third-party injury liabilities and up to £100,000 loss of value to the property caused by remediation works when house owners sell their property within the cover period.
AIG Europe environmental liability manager Richard Davies said: "Traditional local authority searches will not reveal many potential hazards, such as how the land was used in the past or the presence of landfill sites."
