“No data doesn’t necessarily mean no risk.”
These were the words of Big Property Data (BPD) founder and co-director Lorenzo Tejada-Orrell while highlighting the relevance of the “first-of-its-kind” insurance product it is rolling out in collaboration with Aviva and Henderson Insurance Brokers. In a nutshell, the cover protects against the risk of a piece of land being identified as contaminated after being previously cleared in environmental searches.
“As of next week, the new contaminated land policy, provided through Aviva, will insure for up to £1 million, on any commercially and domestically-used land or property which passes our environmental searches without risk of contamination being found from our trusted databases,” said BPD in a release published by Today’s Conveyancer. “This cover will be automatically included within our environmental risk reports as standard, with no additional cost to the purchaser. The policy covers not only the affected property, but surrounding ones within a designated area as well for up to 15 years.”
In order to provide Aviva-underwritten insurance to its customers, BPD currently serves as an appointed representative of Henderson Insurance Brokers.
“While industrial land tends to be well documented, it’s almost impossible to know whether, at some point in history, perhaps without the environmental understanding we have now, someone has buried a substance in the ground which will one day surface as a serious problem,” explained Tejada-Orrell. “So, we wanted to give our customers the reassurance that they’re covered for all eventualities such as this, in case something comes to light which leads a local authority to condemn a piece of land retrospectively.”
Henderson Insurance Brokers branch director Andrew Wakefield, meanwhile, described the partnership as “an incredibly exciting and innovative opportunity with huge potential for future developments” and looks forward to working closely with the property search provider.
