Insurance of environmental damage and environmental risks

In many operating activities, you can also cause environmental damage in addition to damage to third parties. In such a case, there may be an obligation to incur costs to remedy any environmental damage. The insurance will protect you against the financial impact of environmental damage on your business and can also meet the requirement for financial security under the Act on the prevention of environmental damage.

In particular, environmental damage insurance covers the following costs:

• restoration of the damage to the environment
• preventive measures implementation
• legal representation
• investigation, elimination, cleaning and monitoring of the environmental damage

Thanks to the environmental damage insurance you can protect yourself from the following consequences:

• environmental damage due to long-term gradual pollution
• damage to fauna or flora caused by operational activities

Eurovalley specialists will be happy to recommend a suitable range of environmental risk insurance, including sufficient limits, and present a specific quote that reflects your individual needs and covers the risks that may be endangered by your activities.

What is environmental harm?

Environmental harm means an unfavorable measurable change in a natural resource or a measurable deterioration in functions of:

• Protected wildlife species
• Wild plants or natural habitats
• Ground or surface waters
• Soil

What does the Environmental Harm Act say?

• The law is based on the „polluter pays“ principle.
• Liability for environmental damage is an objective responsibility

What obligations does the law prescribe?

• Subjects defined in Annex 1 to the Environmental Harm Act are obliged to prepare an environmental risk assessment.
• Such a subject always carries out a basic risk assessment.
• Under certain conditions, a detailed risk assessment is also to be carried out.
• Based on the results of the risk assessment, the subject is obliged to provide financial security to cover the costs of restore the outcome of the environmental damage.
• The subject is not obliged to provide financial security, which, based on the results of a detailed risk assessment, proves that the operational activity may cause environmental damage, which will require costs lower than CZK 20,000,000 to remedy.
• Any subject registered in the EMAS Program or certified in accordance with ČSN EN ISO 14 000 is not obliged to provide financial security and only performs basic risk assessment.
• Subjects who are subject to exemptions from the financial security obligation, however, are always responsible for the possible occurrence of environmental damage and must bear the costs.
• Subjects are obliged to take corrective actions, including preventive corrective actions in the event of environmental damage.