For your best business protection and savings, we recommend bundling GL with some other important coverages on one Business Owners Policy!
In 1977, a railroad accident involving a bulldozer and a train occurred that resulted in the damage of property exceeding $50,000 and staff injury under the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) summing up to $30,000. This tragedy was caused by a couple of young men who drove a bulldozer and left it onto the tracks 60 feet south of the temporary crossing, where some contractors were building an interstate highway.
Later on, an insurance company issued the contractors a railroad protective liability insurance. However, the USA district court ruled against the issuance of the policy, on the grounds that this coverage was limited to ‘acts or omissions’ at the specific job location, which was the temporary crossing and NOT 60 feet away. So, you can imagine, the financial burden and crisis the losing party had to endure!
Moral lesson of the story? You ought to thoroughly understand all the terms and conditions of a policy, before signing any legal contract or making an annual or monthly payment of a policy. With that said, if you are a contractor or you own an organization or firm which conducts its activities within or on a railroad and you are looking for answers on railroad protective liability insurance; then read on.
This railroad protective liability policy is abbreviated as RRP. It is a coverage that every contractor, organization, or firm must have to carry out its work or activities on or about 50 feet or 15.24 meters within a railroad property.
Railroad protective liability endorsement does NOT cover the contractor, rather it covers the railroad entity from any physical damage that may be caused by the policyholder. Hence, the insured is the railroad owner and not the contractor. It’s also not designed to replace or act in the place of the commercial general liability insurance policy.
Please note that before filling out a railroad protective liability coverage form, you must provide your preferred insurance company or agent with the following intricate details:
The precise location of your job
The work or activities you intend to carry out
These details are used to underwrite and complete a policy declaration that meets all the requirements of the Railroad Insurance Management Association. It’s also important to note that this policy must be an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) form.
A Railroad typically requests that some kind of hold harmless agreement that indemnifies (compensates for a loss) the railroad, in case the insurance RRP doesn’t apply. This is so because railroads are expensive thus, they require broad indemnification agreements. Needless to say, its crucial that before signing the hold harmless agreement, contractors ought to make sure that this agreement doesn’t contain some limiting contractual endorsement when it involves the railroad’s sole negligence.
A railroad contractors liability insurance will only remain valid if any of the below conditions remain unmet or are not fulfilled:
The RRP expiration date has not yet matured or arrived
The intended work or project to be done has not been completed
The terms and conditions of the RRP contract are yet or have not been fulfilled
The OCP and RRP look similar in that both policies are purchased for the benefit of the railroad. Both only apply solely when the operations are in progress and they are site-specific (the coverage ONLY applies to the location where the job is being carried out). Despite the railroad protective policy being almost similar to the owner protective liability insurance (OCP), there is one distinguishing feature that sets these policies apart.
An RRP differs from an OCP in that the latter offers limited coverage to the negligent liability of the policyholders, whereas RRP covers a bit more since it provides its policyholders with bodily injury or property damage coverage. Important to note is that for the RRP to be used a bodily injury or property damage MUST be directly related to, or is in connection with, the activities or work carried out by the contractor or any other subcontractor to whom the RRP is issued.
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