In today’s increasingly environmentally conscious and tightly-regulated world, farmers are being urged to check they are properly insured for incidents that could leave them with potentially ruinous clean-up costs.

Under European legislation, polluters are liable for remedial work to put right any damage they cause and this can run into tens of thousands of pounds, depending on the scale of the problem.

H&H Insurance Brokers who operate across the North of England, Scotland and Wales is urging agricultural businesses to look again at their insurance policies to ensure they are adequate to cover the widened scope of the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) regulations.

“The standard public liability cover that farmers have traditionally relied on is not enough, and was never designed to insure against the range of environmental liabilities that agricultural businesses can now be held responsible for.” says Matthew Elliot of H&H Insurance Brokers

Updated in 2009, the regulations mean that anyone found to have caused pollution must ensure they prevent environmental damage, put right any damage caused and compensate the environment. This includes damage to your own land for the first time, as well as contaminating water, causing serious damage to protected species and habitats and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The regulations list a raft of ways that pollution can be caused from animal processing to power generation, and specify that emissions into the air, water and land must be controlled.

Matthew said: "The Environment Agency says there are two significant pollutions every day in the UK, and around four in 10 are the result of equipment or control failures.

"Farmers are particularly at risk because there are literally hundreds of day to day farming and growing activities which could lead you to being held liable for damage under the new regulations.

"If there is the possibility that you could accidentally pollute a watercourse, spill diesel that contaminates your land – or a thief does – or your livestock accidentally damage a conservation area, you need Environmental Liability (EL) cover. Similarly, if spray drift kills or damages a protected species or habitat or a sudden downpour causes a slurry run-off, you will be liable to pay for the damage."

The wide-ranging regulations also mean that farms can be held liable without the need to prove fault for a huge range of activities such as discharges to water, groundwater discharges, using pesticides, biocides or dangerous substances and activities requiring Environmental Permits.

A number of the insurers that H&H Insurance Brokers deal with are now starting to offer EL cover as an automatic extension in policy wordings under their public liability sections.

"But not all insurers are doing this and some covers are better than others," said Matthew.

"I would advise all farmers and land owners to check their policy wordings for adequacy. Some new policies will only cover EL costs up to £25,000 and do not offer insurance for all the potential issues included in the regulations."