Filling In Coverage Gaps: Commercial Environmental Liability Policies

From mold to Legionella bacteria outbreaks, environmental- and pollution-related losses on commercial properties are on the rise, and these types of claims will only increase in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As a result, closer attention is being paid to pollution exclusions on property and liability policies. This reality is changing the game as far as which coverage forms respond to losses and how claims are approached. For example, water grossly contaminated with bacteria is now handled as an environmental claim instead of being covered as a water loss under property policies. Mold losses that once fell under property policies as water losses are now either excluded or subject to significant sub-limits.