Written by David A. O’Neill, JD, Director of Investigations, PolicyFind
The Delaware Superior Court for Newcastle County recently addressed the issue of whether horizontal exhaustion should apply in determining when successive excess liability insurance policies may be triggered. Attempting to apply New York law in Viking Pump, Inc. v. Century Indemnity, the Delaware court found that New York courts had yet to decide the issue. It found that New York policy considerations and California case law were compatible in making its ruling.
The Delaware court was presented with this issue following its employment of horizontal exhaustion to determine when the New York manufacturer’s primary and umbrella policies would respond to asbestos related personal injury claims. While the insurers urged that horizontal exhaustion should apply to the second layer of coverage, the policyholder sought a ruling that vertical exhaustion would be the correct decision. Continue reading “First N.Y. Ruling on Horizontal Exhaustion of Excess Policies Allows Policyholder to Vertically Exhaust Second Tier Coverage”