About This Policy
This is an environmental liability policy. It has two sections.
The Contractors Pollution Liability clause covers claims and clean-up costs arising from pollution caused by the work you carry out at other people's sites.
The Site Pollution Legal Liability clause covers claims and clean-up costs arising from pollution on, at, under or migrating from the locations shown in the schedule. It applies only if the schedule shows it.
This policy is written on a claims-made and notified basis. It covers claims first made against you, and pollution conditions first discovered by you, during the policy period and notified to us during the policy period or any extended reporting period, for pollution conditions that began after the retroactive date.
This policy covers gradual pollution and the clean-up costs that environmental law requires, which public liability policies usually exclude. The Relationship With Public Liability Insurance clause explains how it works together with your public and products liability policy.
This policy, together with your schedule and any endorsements shown in it, forms your contract of insurance with us. Where the schedule and this wording differ, the schedule applies. Words with special meanings are listed in the Definitions section.
This wording is written for businesses. It is not itself a Product Disclosure Statement. [WP REVIEW: confirm that environmental liability insurance is not a retail general insurance product under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) s.761G and the Corporations Regulations, so that no PDS or TMD is required.]
Version and Document History
This document is version-controlled. The version and date shown on the cover page and in the footer of each page govern this text. The version stated in your schedule as current at inception applies for the life of your policy period, unless your schedule or an endorsement states otherwise.
Schedule
(Completed separately for each policy. It contains your specific details.)
The schedule shows:
- The named insured and ABN, and the business
- The policy period, start and end dates
- The sections that apply
- For Contractors Pollution Liability, the covered operations
- For Site Pollution Legal Liability, each covered location, by address and use
- The limit of liability for each pollution condition and in the aggregate, and any sub-limit
- The excess for each pollution condition
- The retroactive date
- The premium, the minimum premium, stamp duty and GST
- The state or territory whose law governs this policy (see the Governing Law condition)
- The endorsements that apply, by code, with their variables
Definitions
| Business | The business described in the schedule. |
| Claim | A written demand, notice, order, direction or proceeding against you, by any person or by a government authority, seeking compensation, clean-up costs or natural resource damage, or requiring you to carry out clean-up. |
| Clean-up Costs | Reasonable and necessary costs to investigate, test, monitor, contain, remove, treat, neutralise or dispose of pollutants, and to restore property damaged by doing so to substantially its condition before the pollution condition, where:
They do not include costs to improve property beyond its condition before the pollution condition, your own salaries, overheads or internal costs, or the costs of complying with a licence, approval or permit in the ordinary course of your business. |
| Compensation | Money you are legally liable to pay to a claimant as damages, under a judgment, an award or a settlement we have agreed to, including the claimant's costs and expenses awarded against you. |
| Control Group | The chief executive officer, chief financial officer, general counsel, head of environment, health and safety, head of risk or insurance, and directors of a company that is an insured, or a person performing an equivalent role. |
| Covered Location | A location shown in the schedule under Site Pollution Legal Liability, including the land, buildings, structures, tanks and groundwater beneath it. |
| Covered Operations | The operations described in the schedule that you, or a subcontractor on your behalf, carry out at a job site, including completed operations. They do not include operations at a covered location, or the transport of anything beyond the boundary of a job site unless the E02 Transported Cargo endorsement applies. |
| Defence Costs | Reasonable legal, expert and investigation costs and expenses incurred by us, or by you with our written consent, in investigating, defending, settling or appealing a claim. We will not unreasonably withhold or delay consent. Defence costs do not include your own salaries, overheads or internal costs. |
| Emergency Response Costs | Reasonable and necessary costs incurred by you, within 72 hours after you discover a pollution condition, to contain or remove pollutants where there is an imminent and substantial threat to human health or the environment and there is no time to obtain our consent. |
| Employee | A person employed by you under a contract of service or apprenticeship, or who is your worker under any workers compensation law. It does not include an independent contractor or the employee of an independent contractor. |
| Endorsement | A change to this policy shown by its code in the schedule and set out in the Endorsement Library. |
| Environmental Law | Any Commonwealth, state, territory or local law, regulation or legally binding order that regulates pollutants or the protection of land, water, air or living things, including the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW), the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic), the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld), the Contaminated Sites Act 2003 (WA) and the Environment Protection Act 1993 (SA), as amended or replaced. |
| Excess | The amount shown in the schedule as the excess, which you bear for each pollution condition, as set out in the Excess provision. |
| Extended Reporting Period | The period after the end of the policy period described in the Extended Reporting Period clause. |
| Final Adjudication | A judgment, decision or determination of a court, tribunal or arbitrator that is final because any appeal has been decided or the time to appeal has passed. |
| Government Authority | A Commonwealth, state, territory or local government body, or a body established by law, that has power under environmental law to direct or order clean-up or to impose penalties, including a state or territory environment protection authority. |
| Job Site | A location where you carry out covered operations that is not owned, leased, rented or occupied by you. |
| Limit of Liability | The amount shown in the schedule as the limit of liability. The Limit of Liability provision says how it applies to each pollution condition and in the aggregate. |
| Loss | Compensation, clean-up costs, natural resource damage, emergency response costs and defence costs covered by this policy. |
| Named Insured | The person or entity named in the schedule as the insured. |
| Natural Resource Damage | Physical injury to, or destruction of, land, fish, wildlife, plants, air, water, groundwater or other natural resources, including the reasonable costs of assessing the damage and of restoring the resources, that a government authority is entitled to recover under environmental law. |
| Personal Injury | Bodily injury, sickness, disease, mental injury or death, including medical monitoring that a court orders. |
| Policy Period | The period shown in the schedule. |
| Pollutant | Any solid, liquid, gaseous, biological, radiological or thermal irritant or contaminant, including smoke, vapour, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals, fuel, hydrocarbons, sewage, waste, and electromagnetic fields. Waste includes material to be recycled, reconditioned or reclaimed. Pollutant does not include asbestos, mould or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, which are dealt with by the exclusions. |
| Pollution Condition | The discharge, dispersal, release, seepage, migration or escape of a pollutant into or upon land, water, air or any structure, whether sudden or gradual, and whether or not accidental. |
| Property Damage | Physical loss of, damage to, or destruction of tangible property of a third party, including the resulting loss of use of that property, and diminution in its value caused by a pollution condition. |
| Retroactive Date | The date shown in the schedule as the retroactive date for a section. If none is shown, it is the start of the first policy period in which we insured you under that section without interruption. |
| Subcontractor | A person or entity, other than an employee, that carries out covered operations for you under a contract with you. |
| Subsidiary | An entity that is a subsidiary of the named insured under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) at the start of the policy period. |
| USA and Canada | The United States of America and Canada, and any territory or possession under the jurisdiction of either country. |
| We, Us, Our | The insurer named in the schedule as the insurer. |
| You, Your |
|
What Is Covered
Contractors Pollution Liability
We will pay loss that you become legally liable to pay because of personal injury, property damage, natural resource damage or clean-up costs resulting from a pollution condition that:
- is caused by covered operations;
- began on or after the retroactive date; and
- results in a claim first made against you during the policy period and notified to us during the policy period or any extended reporting period, as the Claims Made and Notified clause sets out.
Site Pollution Legal Liability
This section applies only if the schedule shows it.
We will pay loss that you become legally liable to pay because of personal injury, property damage, natural resource damage or clean-up costs resulting from a pollution condition on, at, under or migrating from a covered location that began on or after the retroactive date, where:
- a claim is first made against you during the policy period; or
- you first discover the pollution condition during the policy period and environmental law requires clean-up costs for it,
and in either case you notify us during the policy period or any extended reporting period. A pollution condition that began before the retroactive date is covered only if the E01 Pre-existing Conditions endorsement applies.
Emergency Response Costs
We will pay emergency response costs for a pollution condition that would be covered by a section of this policy that applies, up to the sub-limit shown in the schedule, which is part of and not in addition to the limit of liability. You must tell us within seven days after you incur them.
Defence Costs
We have the right and duty to defend any claim covered by this policy, even if it is groundless. We pay defence costs as they are incurred. Defence costs are part of, and reduce, the limit of liability and the aggregate.
Claims Made and Notified
This policy covers only claims first made against you, and pollution conditions first discovered by you, during the policy period, and notified to us in writing during the policy period or within the extended reporting period under the Extended Reporting Period clause.
If, during the policy period, you become aware of facts that might give rise to a claim and you notify us of them in writing as soon as reasonably practicable and before the policy period ends, a claim later made arising from those facts is treated as made during the policy period. This has the effect provided in s.40(3) of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth).
All claims and all clean-up costs arising from the same pollution condition, or from related pollution conditions, are treated as one claim first made when the first of them was made or the pollution condition was first discovered, as the Related Pollution Conditions provision sets out.
Extended Reporting Period
If this policy is cancelled or not renewed, for any reason other than non-payment of premium, and you have not replaced it with similar insurance, you have an automatic extended reporting period of 90 days after the end of the policy period. During it you may notify claims first made against you during that period, and pollution conditions first discovered during it, that arise from covered operations completed, or pollution conditions that began, before the end of the policy period.
You may buy a longer extended reporting period of up to three years by asking us in writing within 30 days after the end of the policy period and paying the additional premium shown in the schedule for it. An extended reporting period does not increase or reinstate the limit of liability.
Relationship With Public Liability Insurance
Most public liability policies, including the Meridian Public and Products Liability wording, exclude pollution unless it is caused by a sudden, identifiable, unintended and unexpected event, and exclude clean-up of your own site and gradual pollution.
This policy is written to fill that gap. It applies as primary insurance for gradual pollution conditions, for clean-up costs and for natural resource damage. For personal injury and property damage caused by a sudden and accidental pollution condition that your public liability insurance also covers, this policy applies in excess of that insurance, as the Other Insurance provision sets out.
What Is Not Covered
Asbestos
Personal injury, property damage, natural resource damage, clean-up costs or any other loss arising from asbestos or any material containing asbestos in any form, unless the E05 Asbestos Abatement endorsement applies.
Contractual Liability
Liability you assume under a contract or agreement, unless you would have had that liability without it, or the contract is one that requires you to include another person as an insured under the definition of You, Your.
Deliberate Non-compliance
A pollution condition arising from your deliberate or intentional failure to comply with environmental law, a licence or a direction of a government authority, by or with the knowledge of a member of your control group. This exclusion applies only after a final adjudication or a written admission establishes the deliberate or intentional failure.
Employers' Liability
Personal injury to an employee arising out of and in the course of their employment by you, or any obligation under any workers compensation or similar law.
Fines and Penalties
Any fine, penalty, punitive, exemplary or aggravated damages, or civil pecuniary penalty, including a penalty under environmental law. This exclusion does not apply to clean-up costs or natural resource damage that environmental law requires you to pay, even where the same law also imposes a penalty.
We do not pay any amount that the law does not allow to be insured. [WP REVIEW: confirm, state by state, that clean-up costs recoverable by an environment protection authority (for example under a NSW clean-up notice or a Victorian environmental action notice) are compensatory and insurable, as distinct from penalties.]
Known Conditions
A pollution condition that a member of your control group knew about, or could reasonably have been expected to know about, before the start of the first policy period in which we insured you without interruption under the section concerned, unless it was disclosed to us in writing and accepted in the schedule.
Landfill and Waste Facilities
A pollution condition at or from a landfill, waste treatment, storage or disposal facility that you own, lease, operate or manage, or that you have owned, leased, operated or managed.
Mould
Personal injury, property damage, clean-up costs or any other loss arising from mould, fungi or their spores, mycotoxins or by-products.
Non-owned Disposal Sites
A pollution condition at or from a site, not owned or operated by you, to which waste from your covered operations was sent for treatment, storage or disposal, unless the E03 Non-owned Disposal Sites endorsement applies.
PFAS
Personal injury, property damage, natural resource damage, clean-up costs or any other loss arising from per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), or any product or material containing them, including firefighting foam.
Prior Claims and Circumstances
A claim made, or a pollution condition or circumstance notified, under any policy in force before this policy, or any proceeding pending against you before the retroactive date.
Your Products
A pollution condition arising from goods you manufactured, sold, supplied or distributed, after they have left your possession, other than materials installed or used by you in covered operations.
Professional Services
Your giving of, or failure to give, professional advice or services for a fee, including environmental consulting, testing, assessment, design or engineering, other than as part of covered operations you physically carry out.
Property You Own or Occupy
Property damage to property owned, leased, rented or occupied by you, or in your care, custody or control. This exclusion does not apply to clean-up costs at a covered location under the Site Pollution Legal Liability clause, or to clean-up costs at a job site that environmental law requires.
Transport
A pollution condition arising from the transport of any pollutant, product, waste or cargo by you or on your behalf beyond the boundary of a job site or covered location, including loading and unloading, unless the E02 Transported Cargo endorsement applies.
Underground Storage Tanks
A pollution condition from an underground storage tank at a covered location that you own or operate, unless the tank is shown in the schedule.
USA and Canada
A pollution condition in, or a claim brought in, the USA and Canada, or covered operations carried out there.
War, Terrorism and Nuclear
Any loss arising directly or indirectly from:
- war, invasion, act of foreign enemy, hostilities or warlike operations (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, or military or usurped power;
- an act of terrorism, meaning an act, or the threat of an act, that involves the use of force or violence, or harm to life, property or infrastructure, by any person or group, done or threatened for political, religious, ideological or similar purposes, including to influence a government or to put the public or any section of it in fear; or
- ionising radiation or contamination by radioactivity from any nuclear fuel or nuclear waste, or the radioactive, toxic, explosive or other hazardous properties of any nuclear assembly or component.
How the Exclusions Apply
We do not cover loss arising directly or indirectly from any of the matters in this section. The knowledge or conduct of one insured is not imputed to another insured for the purpose of any exclusion, as the Individual Treatment of Insureds condition sets out. Where an endorsement shown in the schedule writes back cover for a matter excluded here, the endorsement applies to the extent it says.
How We Pay
Limit of Liability
The most we will pay for all loss arising from any one pollution condition, under all sections together, including defence costs, emergency response costs and any sub-limit, is the limit of liability for each pollution condition shown in the schedule.
The most we will pay for all loss in the policy period and any extended reporting period, under all sections together, is the aggregate limit of liability shown in the schedule. Each sub-limit is part of, and not in addition to, these limits.
Related Pollution Conditions
All pollution conditions that arise from the same, similar or related causes, or that are continuous or repeated releases from the same source, are one pollution condition, however many claims are made or locations affected.
One pollution condition that gives rise to claims or clean-up costs over more than one policy period is treated as first made or first discovered in the policy period in which the first claim was made or the pollution condition was first discovered, and the limit of liability, excess and terms of that policy period apply to all of it.
Excess
You bear the excess for each pollution condition, which applies to all loss together, including defence costs. Where one pollution condition is covered under more than one section, you bear only the highest applicable excess once.
Other Insurance
For personal injury and property damage caused by a sudden and accidental pollution condition that is also covered by your public liability insurance, this policy is excess of that insurance and pays only after its limits have been paid.
In every other case, this policy is primary. If a loss covered by this policy is also covered by another environmental or pollution liability policy, we contribute with the other insurer in the proportion that our limit of liability bears to the total limits for that loss.
[WP REVIEW: confirm that the excess-of-public-liability paragraph operates as a true excess-layer provision preserved by ICA s.45.]
Recoveries
We may take over and conduct, in your name, any right of recovery you have for a loss we pay, including against a person responsible for the pollution condition. Any amount recovered, after the reasonable costs of the recovery, is applied first to us up to what we paid, and then to you, including for the excess. You must not give up any right of recovery after a pollution condition begins without our written consent.
Your Obligations
Tell Us About Claims and Pollution Conditions
You must tell us in writing as soon as reasonably practicable after you receive a claim, or after a member of your control group discovers a pollution condition that may give rise to a claim or to clean-up costs, and in any case within the policy period or the extended reporting period. You must send us copies of every demand, notice, order, direction or document you receive about it.
You must also tell any government authority about a pollution condition when environmental law requires you to.
Clean-up Consent
Except for emergency response costs, you must not incur clean-up costs without our written consent, which we will not unreasonably withhold or delay. We may appoint, or approve, the consultants and contractors who carry out the clean-up, and you must give them reasonable access.
Cooperate With Us
You must give us the information, documents and help that we reasonably ask for about any claim or pollution condition, including access to covered locations and job sites you control.
Settlement Consent
You must not admit liability for, settle, or agree to any judgment on, a claim without our written consent. We will not unreasonably withhold or delay our consent.
Reasonable Precautions
You must take reasonable precautions to prevent pollution conditions, comply with environmental law and the licences that apply to your business, and keep any environmental management system you told us about in place.
Tell Us About Changes
You must tell us as soon as reasonably practicable if you begin a kind of covered operation not described in the schedule, if a covered location changes use, or if a government authority issues a notice, direction or order to you under environmental law.
General Conditions
Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth)
Nothing in this policy excludes, restricts or modifies the operation of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth). Where this policy is inconsistent with the Act, the Act prevails.
If this policy would otherwise let us refuse to pay a claim, in whole or in part, because of something you did or did not do after this policy was entered into, section 54 of the Act applies. We may not refuse to pay the claim only because of that act or omission. Our liability is reduced by the amount that fairly represents the extent to which our interests were prejudiced. Where the act or omission could reasonably be regarded as capable of causing or contributing to the loss, we may refuse to pay only the part of the claim that the act or omission caused or contributed to. We may not refuse any part that you prove the act or omission did not cause. This applies to every condition, exclusion, limit and obligation in this policy, not only to the claims conditions.
Your Duty of Disclosure
This is a contract of insurance for a business. It is not a consumer insurance contract. Before you enter into this policy with us, you have the duty of disclosure in section 21 of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth): you must tell us every matter that you know, or that a reasonable person in the circumstances could be expected to know, is relevant to our decision whether to accept the risk of the insurance and, if so, on what terms. You have the same duty before you renew, extend, vary or reinstate this policy. For a company that is an insured, what it knows is what a member of its control group knows (see the definition of Control Group).
You do not need to tell us anything that reduces the risk we insure you for, that is common knowledge, that we know or should know as an insurer, or that we waive your duty to tell us about.
If you do not tell us something you are required to, we may reduce the amount we will pay you if you make a claim, or cancel this policy, or both, only as the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) allows. If your failure is fraudulent, we may refuse to pay a claim and treat this policy as if it never existed. Disclosure is assessed separately for each insured, as the Individual Treatment of Insureds condition sets out.
Cancellation
You may cancel this policy at any time by telling us. We refund the premium for the unexpired period of insurance on a pro-rata basis, less any non-refundable government charges.
We may cancel this policy only as the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) allows, by giving you written notice as that Act requires. We refund the premium for the unexpired period on a pro-rata basis.
Sanctions
We do not provide cover, pay any claim or provide any benefit under this policy to the extent that doing so would expose us to any sanction, prohibition or restriction under:
- the Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 (Cth), the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 (Cth), or regulations made under either Act; or
- the trade or economic sanctions laws of the United Kingdom, the United States of America or the European Union, to the extent they apply to us.
[WP REVIEW: confirm that naming the UK, US and EU regimes is appropriate for Australian capacity; this is a deliberate library-wide scope choice.]
Governing Law
This policy is governed by the law of the state or territory of Australia shown in the schedule for this purpose. If none is shown, it is governed by the law of the state or territory of the named insured's address shown in the schedule at the start of the policy period.
Jurisdiction
You and we submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the state or territory whose law governs this policy under the Governing Law condition, and the courts that hear appeals from those courts.
GST
Tell us the extent of any input tax credit you are entitled to claim for the premium. If you do not, we will assume you are entitled to a full input tax credit. When we pay a claim, we will reduce our payment by any input tax credit you are entitled to for that payment, as required by the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth).
Assignment
You cannot transfer this policy to another person or entity without our prior written consent.
Headings and References
Clauses in this policy are identified by their headings, not by numbers. A reference in this policy, the schedule, or an endorsement to a clause by its heading is a reference to the clause with that heading in the version of this policy that applies to you. Headings do not otherwise limit or extend the meaning of the clause they introduce.
Disputes and Complaints
If you are unhappy with a decision, please contact us. We will follow our internal dispute resolution process and try to resolve the matter within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied, you can refer the matter to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA): www.afca.org.au, info@afca.org.au, 1800 931 678. AFCA provides a free and independent dispute resolution service. Time limits may apply.
Privacy
We collect your personal information to assess your application, administer your policy and handle claims, in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Our Privacy Policy is available on our website and on request.
Individual Treatment of Insureds
Each insured is treated as having a separate policy for every provision of this policy that depends on what an insured knew, intended, did or failed to do, including the Your Duty of Disclosure condition, the Deliberate Non-compliance exclusion and the Known Conditions exclusion.
The knowledge, conduct or failure of one insured is not imputed to any other insured. The one exception is that the knowledge or conduct of a member of the control group of an entity is imputed to that entity. Including more than one insured does not increase the limit of liability.
How to Make a Claim
Tell us as soon as reasonably practicable, using the contact details in the schedule, and in any case within the policy period or the extended reporting period, as the Tell Us About Claims and Pollution Conditions obligation sets out. If there is an imminent threat to human health or the environment, act to contain it first: emergency response costs are covered without our prior consent.
How Environmental Liability Cover Works
This guide explains this policy. It does not change its terms.
Public liability policies usually cover pollution only when it is sudden and accidental, and do not pay to clean up contamination that environmental law requires. This policy covers those gaps for the work you do at other people's sites and, if the schedule shows it, for your own sites.
For example:
- a drainage contractor's pipe joint fails slowly over three months and contaminates a neighbour's soil; the neighbour sues and the environment protection authority issues a clean-up notice. Both the claim and the clean-up costs are covered under Contractors Pollution Liability;
- a truck operated by your earthmoving business leaks hydraulic fluid into a creek at a job site; you call in a spill response contractor straight away. Those emergency response costs are covered without our prior consent, up to the sub-limit;
- an old underground fuel tank at your own depot is found to have leaked before you bought the site. That is a pre-existing condition, covered only if Endorsement E01 is shown.
The policy is claims-made: tell us as soon as you know of a claim or a pollution condition, during the policy period.
Endorsement Library
An endorsement applies only if its code is shown in the schedule. Each endorsement changes this policy only as it states, and is read together with the variables shown for it in the schedule. Where an endorsement and the rest of this policy conflict, the endorsement applies to the extent of the conflict. If a variable an endorsement needs is not shown in the schedule, the default stated in the endorsement applies; if it has no default, the endorsement does not apply until we show the variable in the schedule. These endorsements are for use with this wording at version 1.0.x.
| Code | Endorsement | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| E01 | Pre-existing Conditions | Covers pollution conditions at a covered location that began before the retroactive date, to a sub-limit |
| E02 | Transported Cargo | Covers pollution conditions from cargo you transport, beyond the job site |
| E03 | Non-owned Disposal Sites | Covers pollution conditions at disposal sites you sent waste to |
| E04 | Project Term | Insures one named project for its own term and limit |
| E05 | Asbestos Abatement | Writes back cover for asbestos abatement work, to a sub-limit |
| E06 | Prior Acts | Sets an earlier retroactive date where you had continuous prior cover |
| E07 | Business Interruption | Covers your loss of income while a covered location is closed for clean-up |
E01 Pre-existing Conditions
The Site Pollution Legal Liability clause also covers pollution conditions at the covered locations shown in the schedule for this endorsement that began before the retroactive date, as long as no member of your control group knew of them before the start of the policy period, other than conditions disclosed to us in writing and accepted in the schedule. The most we will pay under this endorsement is the sub-limit shown in the schedule for it, which is part of and not in addition to the limit of liability.
Schedule variables: the covered locations; the sub-limit; any disclosed conditions accepted.
Questions
- Do you want cover for pollution at those sites that began before the retroactive date?
qs.env.site.pre_existing_requested
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.site.pre_existing_requested == true: Refer to the underwriter, with the endorsement pre-selected
Underwriter responses (on a referral or suggestion): Attach; Attach with amended sub-limit; Attach with special excess; Attach with premium loading; Do not attach
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Referred because you asked for cover for pollution that began at your site before the retroactive date.
E02 Transported Cargo
The Transport exclusion does not apply to a pollution condition arising from cargo transported by you or on your behalf by road in connection with covered operations, including loading and unloading, beyond the boundary of a job site, within Australia. The most we will pay under this endorsement is the sub-limit shown in the schedule for it, which is part of and not in addition to the limit of liability.
Schedule variables: the sub-limit; whether bulk fuel or chemicals are covered.
Questions
- Does the insured transport dangerous goods or pollutants by road for its work?
qs.env.ops.transports_dangerous_goods - Does the insured transport fuel or chemicals in bulk?
qs.env.ops.bulk_fuel_or_chemicals
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.ops.bulk_fuel_or_chemicals == true: Refer to the underwriter, with the endorsement pre-selected - When
qs.env.ops.transports_dangerous_goods == true: Suggest to the underwriter (quote not held)
Underwriter responses (on a referral or suggestion): Attach; Attach with amended sub-limit; Attach with premium loading; Do not attach
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Applies because you transport dangerous goods or pollutants by road for your work.
E03 Non-owned Disposal Sites
The Non-owned Disposal Sites exclusion does not apply to a pollution condition at a disposal site in Australia that held every licence required by environmental law at the time your waste was sent to it, and that is not owned or operated by you. The most we will pay under this endorsement is the sub-limit shown in the schedule for it, which is part of and not in addition to the limit of liability.
Schedule variables: the sub-limit; any named sites excluded.
Questions
- Does the insured choose or arrange the sites where waste from its work is disposed of?
qs.env.ops.arranges_waste_disposal
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.ops.arranges_waste_disposal == true: Suggest to the underwriter (quote not held)
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Suggested because you choose or arrange the sites where waste from your work is disposed of.
E04 Project Term
For the project named in the schedule for this endorsement, the Contractors Pollution Liability clause applies with its own limit of liability, aggregate and policy period, as shown for the project, and claims arising from the project do not reduce the limits for your other covered operations. The project's policy period ends on the earlier of the date shown for it and three years after its start.
Schedule variables: the project and job site; the project limit and aggregate; the project policy period; the project premium.
Questions
- What percentage of turnover comes from the largest single contract?
qs.env.exposure.largest_contract_pct - Does a contract require project-specific pollution cover?
qs.env.contracts.project_cover_required
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.contracts.project_cover_required == true: Offer as a priced option - When
qs.env.exposure.largest_contract_pct > 25: Offer as a priced option
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Offered because a single project is a large share of your turnover, or a contract requires project-specific cover.
E05 Asbestos Abatement
The Asbestos exclusion does not apply to property damage, natural resource damage or clean-up costs arising from the release of asbestos fibres during asbestos removal or abatement work that you carry out as covered operations, under a licence required by work health and safety law, at a job site. It still applies to personal injury. The most we will pay under this endorsement is the sub-limit shown in the schedule for it, which is part of and not in addition to the limit of liability.
Schedule variables: the sub-limit; the licence class held.
Questions
- What percentage of turnover comes from asbestos removal or abatement?
qs.env.ops.asbestos_pct
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.ops.asbestos_pct > 0: Refer to the underwriter, with the endorsement pre-selected
Underwriter responses (on a referral or suggestion): Attach; Attach with amended sub-limit; Attach with special excess; Attach with premium loading; Do not attach; Decline risk
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Referred because {qs.env.ops.asbestos_pct}% of your turnover comes from asbestos removal or abatement.
E06 Prior Acts
The retroactive date for the Contractors Pollution Liability clause is the date shown in the schedule for this endorsement, which is the start of your continuous prior contractors pollution cover. The Known Conditions exclusion and the Prior Claims and Circumstances exclusion still apply.
Schedule variables: the retroactive date; the prior insurer.
Questions
- Has the insured held contractors pollution liability insurance continuously before this policy?
qs.env.history.prior_cpl_continuous
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.history.prior_cpl_continuous == true: Offer as a priced option
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Offered because you have held continuous contractors pollution cover before this policy.
E07 Business Interruption
We will pay your loss of gross profit, and reasonable extra expense, while a covered location is wholly or partly closed because clean-up costs covered under the Site Pollution Legal Liability clause are being incurred, after the waiting period shown in the schedule and for no longer than the indemnity period shown. Once the waiting period is exceeded, loss is paid from the start of the closure. The most we will pay under this endorsement is the sub-limit shown in the schedule for it, which is part of and not in addition to the limit of liability.
Schedule variables: the covered locations; the sub-limit; the waiting period; the indemnity period.
Questions
- Do you want business interruption cover while a site is closed for clean-up?
qs.env.site.bi_requested
Default rules (the first rule that matches applies; agencies may set their own actions and thresholds)
- When
qs.env.site.bi_requested == true: Refer to the underwriter, with the endorsement pre-selected
Underwriter responses (on a referral or suggestion): Attach; Attach with amended sub-limit; Attach with premium loading; Do not attach
Reason shown on the quote and schedule: Referred because you asked for business interruption cover at your sites.
Licence and Trademark Notice
This wording's text is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The licence applies to the wording text only. It does not extend to, and no licence is granted in, the "Meridian" name, the Cuttleflow Systems name, logo, bearing mark, or any other trademark, trade dress, or brand asset, all of which remain the property of their respective owners and may not be used without separate permission.
An adopting agency's own schedule, endorsements, and other materials prepared for use with this wording are not required to be released under CC BY 4.0 merely because they are used together with this wording; CC BY 4.0 requires only that you attribute the wording text you use.
This wording is provided for general use and adaptation. Adopting agencies and their advisers are responsible for obtaining their own legal, regulatory, and reinsurance advice before use, and use of this wording requires the approval of the relevant capacity provider. Any Wording Partner review and sign-off letter issued in respect of this wording runs to Cuttleflow Pty Ltd t/a Cuttleflow Systems only and does not constitute legal advice to any adopting agency or insured.
Designed for the Australian market. Assumes application of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth). Users are responsible for their own legal review, regulatory compliance, and reinsurance alignment.
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