In light of the recent oil leak at a home in Massachusetts, insuring your house property against potential oil spills has gained new importance. As not all homes are heated by oil, standard homeowners policies do not cover fuel contamination to groundwater, personal property, or a neighbor’s property. Buying oil damage insurance coverage will pay for losses incurred in the event of an oil spill.
State Mandated Law in Massachusetts
The state of Massachusetts requires:
- Installation of safety valves or an oil supply line with protective sleeves on systems without safety valves
- Insurance companies to provide coverage for leaks from oil-fired heating systems
Many homeowners had their heating systems serviced and upgraded to comply with the law. Yet, the possibility of a spill cannot be completely eliminated. Therefore, it pays to have adequate oil spill clean-up coverage.
How Does Oil-spill Clean-up Coverage Work?
Consider this scenario:
A gasket failure in your heating system causes oil to leak into your unfinished basement. The oil gets into floors and walls, but you discover it before it contaminates your groundwater. The cost of repairs comes up to $40000.
If you have no oil remediation coverage, you will have to pay for the repairs out of pocket. The average cost of adding an oil-spill clean-up coverage is around $100-$150, which is exorbitantly lower than the cost of cleaning up after the leak. While coverage limits vary for different providers, standard limits are $50,000 for personal property and $100,000+ for third-party liability.
Cover Yourself with CAV Insurance
At CAV Insurance, we provide comprehensive oil-spill clean-up coverage to pay for fuel contamination at your home.
To get the coverage, you need to meet a few requirements:
For homes built after 1990:
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- Each fuel supply/return line must be enclosed with a continuous non-metallic sleeve
- Each fuel supply/return line must be equipped with an oil safety valve
- No fuel supply/return line should be in direct contact with concrete, earth, or floor surface. No oil safety valve or continuous non-metallic sleeve is required.
- The burner must be located above the fuel storage tank, and the entire fuel line must be connected to and above the top of the tank. No oil safety valve or continuous non-metallic sleeve is required.
All these items require a certificate signed by an oil burner technician.
Oil spills can be very costly, and buying oil damage insurance coverage is an inexpensive way of protecting yourself against significant financial losses down the line. Contact us at CAV Insurance today to get started on your personalized oil-spill clean-up coverage in Massachusetts!