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Fume All You Want, These Follies Aren't Covered |
Perhaps the most confusing sets of exclusions in any liability policy are those that involve pollution or product and completed operations liability claims. The Eighth Circuit Court upheld the insurer's "impaired property" exclusion, for example, in a claim involving an ethanol plant in Minnesota. The insured contractor was doing welding. Some of the welds were incomplete or improper, permitting cavities to form in the metal through which the ethanol mixtures passed, allowing bacteria to grow and contaminate the ethanol. That led to a loss in production and claims against the contractor. The insurer denied coverage, and the federal courts agreed.
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Meanwhile, the Arkansas Supreme Court determined that as a contractor's defective workmanship damaged only his own work product, the loss did not constitute "an occurrence" under the general liability policy. The case involved delays in the construction of a home for the plaintiff. The case was filed in federal court, but that court sought a ruling from the state's high court on whether "defective workmanship, standing alone, which results in damages only to the work product itself" constituted an accident.
The list of materials that the courts have identified as a "pollutant" under the general liability "absolute pollution exclusion" involves hundreds of products. The exclusion was found to bar a gasoline spillage at a service station, lead poisoning claims against a hospital, compost odors, and furniture strippers. Not all courts agree, however, on what constitutes a pollutant. While the Indiana Supreme Court determined that fumes from carpet glue was not a pollutant, a Pennsylvania court found that fumes from a gasoline-powered saw used to cut concrete was one. The Washington Supreme Court was divided on the question of whether fumes from a waterproofing and sealant material were a pollutant, but finally agreed that the exclusion applied.
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Products and pollution claims also become involved in workers compensation claim situations. For example, a federal jury in Ohio awarded $20.5 million to a California worker who sustained brain damage from manganese fumes that result from welding. The lawsuit involved five firms that manufacture welding products, and resulted from failure to warn of the hazards of manganese in the welding products.
Most cases hinge on the circumstances involved, requiring detailed investigation of not only the materials involved in a claim, but also what was being done with those materials at the time. Pollution claims can involve either bodily injury or damage to property, and losses can run into millions of dollars in damages. Claim adjusters must know not only what to investigate, but how to research prior decisions regarding environmental impairment court decisions in the jurisdiction where the claim was filed.
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Take a Crawford Educational Services class or online course today and you'll be prepared when these complicated and expensive claims arrive in your claims department. For complete course listings, please visit our website.
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Contact Us Today!
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This course combines an online pre-study and a one (1) week classroom, instructor led, skill application lab. Upon completion of training, the entry level casualty adjuster will have been exposed to the knowledge and technical skills necessary to enable them to handle casualty claims while under supervision.
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This course combines an online pre-study and a three (3) day classroom, instructor led, skill application lab. The course is not state specific, but rather focuses on the general concepts of handling workers' compensation claims. Upon completion of training, the entry level workers' compensation adjuster or Risk Management Personnel will have been exposed to the knowledge and skill sets required to handle workers' compensation claims, while under supervision.
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At Crawford Educational Services, you'll get hands-on training from our expert instructors. We offer classes in property, casualty, and workers' compensation in our classroom facility in Atlanta, as well as customized programs at your location.
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Take Note! is a marketing tool of Crawford Educational Services, the training division of Crawford & Company. The contents and any referenced external materials are not intended to and should not be construed as legal or other professional advice, nor is such information intended to be nor should it be used as a substitute for legal or professional counsel. These materials merely convey general information about claims and claims related situations often encountered by claims professionals. While an effort is made to be accurate, Crawford & Company does not represent, warrant, promise, or imply that this information is current, accurate, thorough, or adequate.
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