Over 1.5 billion tons of hazardous materials are transported throughout the United States annually, according to the US Department of Transportation and Commerce. Are you capable of sustaining a loss resulting in environmental damage? While uncommon, accidents happen, and the time to protect yourself from a financial loss is before it occurs. With the right coverage in place, you can continue your running your farm with fewer financial setbacks.

Most farms use chemicals in their operations. These chemicals often need to be transported from one location to another. Enter the Pollution Liability – Broadened Coverage for Covered Autos endorsement.

Although a mouthful, this invaluable coverage, when added to your farm’s commercial auto policy provides adequate protection for you and your operation when pollutants are involved in an auto accident.

In the case of your insurance plan, pollutants are defined as any irritant or contaminant. This can include soot, smoke, vapor, fumes, chemicals, waste, acids, or alkalis. For example, you’re in an accident while transporting hazardous substances used on your farm from one location to another. Because of this upset, thousands of gallons on anhydrous ammonia have escaped the storage tank and has caused environmental damage at the site, and burning vegetation downwind from the vapor cloud.

As in the example above, the likelihood of a farmer having an exposure to one or more of these contaminants is high. Although excluded from a standard commercial auto policy, the Broadened Coverage for Covered Autos endorsement will cover the risk you face if you are involved in an accident and are liable for environmental contamination.

It is true that your standard commercial auto policy will cover pollution liability due to contaminants necessary to operating the vehicle, such as break fluid, hydraulic fluid, or engine fluids when involved in an accident. However, when transporting pollutants from location to location, without this endorsement, you will not have coverage for discharge, dispersion, seepage migration, release or escape, therefore may find yourself responsible for the entirety of a defense and judgments related to such an occurrence.

This endorsement, when added to your typical farm commercial auto policy, provides you with coverage related to testing, monitoring, cleanup, removal from, and detoxifying the site of the accident. Imagine how costly that could be for you without a plan in place. Should you experience a similar situation, you’ll be glad you protected yourself in advance.

Do you transport chemicals to and from different locations as part of your farming operation? Before doing so this year, contact your Richey-Barrett insurance agents to help determine what coverage gaps you may have in your farm’s commercial auto coverage. It’s better to know now and address it, than after when you’re facing a pollution liability lawsuit.