An increasing number of homeowners are facing long periods of personal and financial uncertainty as their local authority takes action to clean up contaminated land in their jurisdiction. Discovering that your home is affected is just the beginning of a long and protracted nightmare.

The complexities of deciding who is responsible for cleaning up contaminated land leaves householders facing a highly unpredictable future, compounded by potentially huge clean-up costs and legal fees. Without assistance, they could find themselves in ‘no-mans land’, left with blighted, un-saleable properties.

An environmental report goes some way in identifying whether or not contaminated land is an issue, but an insurance policy offers householders the full protection they need against the financial implications resulting from their property being contaminated.

Countrywide’s Home Environmental Liability Policy (HELP), endorsed by the Law Society, will quite simply ensure that the nightmare doesn’t happen. It is an easy to arrange insurance policy that provides comprehensive cover for clean-up costs and the shortfall in the market value of a property as a result of remediation work being carried out.

HELP can stand alone or enhance an environmental report. The policy can be taken out before or after an environmental report is carried out, although if it is taken out before the report is commissioned, the policyholder will benefit from a lower premium.