The Commonwealth Court recently held that certain comprehensive general liability (CGL) “occurrence” insurance policies issued before the institution of a blanket pollution exclusion cover latent environmental contamination that occurred during the policy period, even when such contamination does not manifest until after the policy period expires. This holding identified latent environmental contamination as falling within an exception to the longstanding rule that CGL occurrence insurance policies are triggered by the first manifestation of injury, as in Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Insurance v. Johnson Matthey, No. 330 (Pa. Commw. Ct. April 21).

Determining when an “occurrence” under a CGL policy is triggered by environmental contamination can have important practical implications. Insurers take the position that the “first manifestation rule” applies. The first manifestation rule limits the occurrence to one trigger—the time the contamination first manifested. Insureds take the position that the “multiple trigger exception” applies, covering latent contamination over a broader period of time and giving insureds access to multiple policies for a single event. The difference in when a policy is triggered can be significant for how insureds conduct themselves and for how other PRPs (including for example, insureds’ contribution defendants) conduct themselves.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]