Frequently
Asked Questions
The
risk of an uninsured pollution event at your facility
is more of a possibility that you might think. Self-storage
insurance policies exclude most pollution exposures,
leaving you vulnerable to potentially paying out large
sums of money. Consider the following:
What’s
in those drums?
Upon taking possession of a unit you find it filled
with 55 gallon drums and they’re not empty!
Gasoline, oil, toxic or medical waste or just water,
it’s anybody’s guess. But what do you
do with them – take a chance and open them up?
Haul them away yourself? Not likely, nor prudent.
Assuming they contain hazardous materials, the PLUSS
program might provide coverage for the clean-up costs
that would be incurred for that unit as well as property
damage to other units that might have occurred from
vapors, fumes or liquids migrating from the drums.
Think a steel building
can’t suffer mold damage?
Think again. Mold adheres to metal and concrete and
must be cleaned up to prevent the creation of a toxic
environment. The PLUSS program can provide $50,000
coverage for Microbial Matter. This coverage does
not apply to property of others.
What do you do if you find a meth lab?
Call the authorities! Once they determine it is a
hazardous site and complete their investigation, you’ll
be left with the clean up. The PLUSS program can provide
coverage for clean up costs as well as bodily injury
or property damage caused by the toxic condition.
Do you have any idea
how much fuel is in those boats and RVs?
RVs and boats carry large quantities of diesel fuel,
gasoline and hydraulic fluids. You have inherited
a significant new risk to consider. A slow fuel leak
occurring over the term of a lease can seep into and
contaminate the property. The contaminant can also
migrate to nearby or adjacent units. The clean-up
costs and Property damage for your property, your
neighbors’ property and the personal property
of your tenants can be substantial. The PLUSS program
can provide coverage for on-site and off-site property
damage and clean-up of pollution conditions such as
this.
What is going into those
RV dump stations?
Hazardous materials, that’s what! Whether through
acts of vandalism, carelessness or deliberate actions
the dump station can contaminate the area. While you
have contracted with a legitimate waste haul and disposal
service to remove and dispose of the material at an
approved dump site, you could face governmental fines
and penalties should the dump site ever be declared
a hazardous waste site under the various definitions
of the EPA. In this case every party that contributed
waste to the site, whether the hauler or the owner
of the facility where the hauler picked up the material,
becomes known as a PRP – Potentially Responsible
Party. As such each party – meaning you - can
become partially financially responsible for the cleanup
and remediation of the site. This is another example
where the PLUSS program can provide coverage and peace
of mind.
Nearby water –
you’re exposed!
Suppose a sudden thunderstorm drops 6 inches of water
in several hours at your site. The surface water cannot
be absorbed fast enough and several inches of water
flow through the facility onto adjacent property and
into a stream, gully or pond – just as it always
does. Soon after nearby residents notice an oily substance
in and around the stream bed. The source of the contaminant
is traced back to your storage facility. It could
be leaking vehicles or a dump station or vehicle wash
station that had its drain backed up by the large
water volume passing over the facility. Regardless,
the waterway is now contaminated and you are responsible.
This is a Pollution Condition as defined by PLUSS
program and the policy can be called upon to the respond
to your legal liability for cleanup and restoration
of the waterway and your own site. Also, natural resource
damage that might occur and any resulting bodily injury
caused by the contaminated water getting into the
public water source can be covered by the PLUSS policy.
Do you rely on income from every unit?
After discovery of a pollution condition, such as
a large meth lab, it is determined that the whole
section of you facility is contaminated with toxic
fumes and residue. The units in that section are not
rentable. The PLUSS program can be called upon to
respond to loss of rental income resulting from the
pollution condition for a period of 30 days up to
a maximum of $50,000
NOTE – The insurance company’s
liability for coverage in the pollution scenarios
described herein is subject to the terms, definitions,
conditions, exclusions and limits of liability of
the policy. These examples in no way obligate either
the PLUSS program, the insurance company, Universal
Insurance Facilities, Ltd. nor any party to the program
to respond to claims for coverage not granted by the
policy.
