Insurance coverage for pollutant removal following a disaster
Coverage Q&A: The insured discovered asbestos underneath flooring when assessing Hurricane Ida damages.
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Editor’s Note: Sometimes, when repairing damages from a hurricane, additional and unexpected costs arise beyond repairing the damaged property. This is the case in this week’s Coverage Q&A when replacing damaged flooring led to required asbestos abatement.
Question: Our insured sustained damage due to Hurricane Ida. During the mitigation efforts, asbestos was discovered underneath the flooring.
The insured’s commercial (CP 00 10 10 00 ISO) policy states:
“We will pay your expense to extract ‘pollutants’ from land or water at the described premises if the discharge, dispersal, seepage, migration, release or escape of the ‘pollutants’ is caused by or results from a Covered Cause of Loss that occurs during the policy period. The expenses will be paid only if they are reported to us in writing within 180 days of the date on which the Covered Cause of Loss occurs. This Additional Coverage does not apply to costs to test for, monitor or assess the existence, concentration or effects of ‘pollutants.’ But we will pay for testing which is performed in the course of extracting the ‘pollutants’ from the land or water.”
Would the asbestos be considered a pollutant under the policy, and would coverage be afforded based on the policy’s wording?
— Louisiana Subscriber
Answer: To learn the answer to this week’s coverage Q&A, please log into your FC&S Expert Coverage Interpretation account.
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