Insurance companies often look to the pollution exclusions in their commercial general liability policies in attempts to exclude coverage for many types of claims. They will try to fit all sorts of things within the definition of “pollutants.” Just last Friday, though, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana made that more difficult, offering a common-sense understanding of the term “pollutant.” That court found that “under Louisiana law, Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria” – the bacteria which cause Legionnaire’s disease – “do not qualify as ‘pollutants’ within the meaning of [pollution] exclusions.”
Continue Reading Court’s reasoning that “bacteria” is not a “pollutant” favorable for policyholders in other cases

The insurance industry reacts not only to real losses, but it reacts with equal concern to perceived risks, particularly where those perceived risks could, at least in theory, amount to significant financial loss for policyholders and/or insurers. The Ebola “crisis” is the latest example of the insurance market reacting to a perceived risk that may never amount to an actual insurable loss.
Continue Reading Perception versus Reality: ACE Adds an Ebola Exclusion Just in Case