Refurbished wood ties for railroad?

Question

Why won't insurance companies write products on these? Has there been a claim or incident that has scared them?

Talking about products liability for commercial insurance. I have a risk for refurbished wood railroad ties and I can't find a market. I am looking for reason they don't want to quote.

Answer 1

Two reasons:

1. Insurance companies HATE writing liability especially products liability coverage, on USED materials. It's not just YOUR product - even "antique shops" have a really hard time getting any kind of product liability, because USED materials are OLD. There could be inherent flaws or latent defects unknown to you, which could cause or contribute to a loss - because you don't know how many prior owners that tie had, and there was CLEARLY a problem with it before, otherwise it would still be working as a railroad tie! Also, wood in particular has a few "aging" problems built into it, including termite issues, or rot issues if it's been exposed to water.

2. Typically, railroad ties are coated with oil, which can leach out into the ground underneat of them. This can poison local water areas or land areas. Pollution is a MAJOR exposure for railroad ties.

Unfortunately in the US today, some juries are finding insurance companies responsible to make huge payouts for things that were not intended to be covered, or were flat out excluded from coverage. The problem is, if there's a sympathic jury, and an injured child, the jury doesn't THINK about the policy contract, they think, oh, the insurance company has deep pockets! And they award silly huge settlements for things that weren't supposed to be covered.

So even if your railroad ties AREN'T defective, that you can tell, and pollution would be excluded, the insurance companies aren't willing to take the chance.

Answer 2

If you are selling the refurbished ties for use by the railroads for their original purpose, (ie - for track use) then I suspect that most insurance companies would consider the risks totally out of line with any premium they might obtain from you. Think about the cost of defending a suit for a derailment where you get sued along with the maker of the rails and the rail car manufacturer, etc. I worked for a firm that leased and managed rail cars throughout North America. A train derailed and a tank car filled with chlorine was punctured, resulting in the evacuation of 10,000 homes for a week in a Canadian town. The Canadian National guard had to be called out to prevent looting. After 6 years, the lawyers and insurance companies were still fighting to determine who was going to have to pay the costs of the evacuation and they were still adding up the total costs for the whole incident.

Answer 3

If railroad tracks could be updated and modernized, they'd be called AIRPORTS! But as you well know, simply being "newer" does not make something "better". Several technologies trying to prove themselves against wood: - Steel ties, a fairly complex shape designed to stay put when set in ballast. Long term issues: corrosion and electrical isolation (since you now have a tie which conducts electricity.) - Plastic ties. - Composite (plastic+sawdust filler) ties. - Concrete ties. Extremely heavy - a big plus in welded rail as it keeps the rail from moving around. But brittle and fragile. Concrete is a brittle material like chalk. Very strong in compression, very weak in tension (or bending). Which is why they use reinforcing rod a lot. Prestressed concrete ties take that one step further. They stretch the reinforcing rod, like guitar strings, before the concrete is poured. The tension in the rod is fighting the compressive strength of the concrete, making a very strong structure. But a very fragile one, because it's a tension structure and the concrete is still brittle. Like Hoghead says, they don't survive abuse.

Answer 4

Huh, I don't get the context.

Answer 5

I do not understand the Question please restate it