Homeowner Heating Safety Bill Becomes Law

On January 5, 2009, Governor Deval Patrick signed into law a bill, S. 2404, now Chapter 453 of the Acts of 2008 that enables homeowners to obtain insurance to protect themselves from the devastating effects of an oil spill on their property. The LSP Association and The Engineering Center worked tirelessly for several legislative sessions to reach this successful conclusion.

 

Sponsored by State Senator Pamela Resor, the new law effectively ends an exclusion in homeowner policies for residential fuel oil spills which can cost on average $60,000 to remedy. These devastating conditions, which ranged from simple soil removal to jacking up houses to gain access to the release below the foundation can cause of homeowners to wipe out their savings, sacrifice their health and, in some cases, even lose their homes because they could not afford the cost of cleanup.