Month: March 2009

The business owner was defending against claims by the state environmental authorities that his operations contaminated the groundwater beneath his former plant site with chlorinated solvents over a period of twenty years in business. His attorney explained that the business owner would have to comply with the states requirements and hire an environmental engineer to investigate and possibly remediate the environmental property damage.  He estimated the cost of these services in his state at approximately $300,000. The attorney suggested to him that his old business insurance policies might provide coverage for the damages and even apply to the attorney’s fees. Continue reading “It Doesn’t Always Take a Policy to Prove Coverage”

The California Supreme Court has made an important ruling that is expected to benefit those dry cleaners, manufacturers, suppliers or others who purchased general liability policies in years past and are faced with property damage or bodily injury claims from the release of pollutants into the environment. In its decision in State v. Allstate Ins. Co., Case No. S149988 (Cal. Sup. Ct., March 9, 2009), the Court ruled that where multiple acts or events cause indivisible damage and at least one such act is a covered event, the insurer must provide coverage for the entire amount of damages. Continue reading “Big Win for California Policyholders”