Last year one of their tenants was found dead in their apartment. The body was there about 2 weeks. A claim was reported to the insurance company and the insured contacted a company to do the cleanup. The carrier has since denied the claim citing the pollution exclusion. I was hoping that you had some information or documentation that I can use to dispute the carrier's position that the bodily fluids are not considered a pollutant.

New York Subscriber

Couch on Insurance 9 Couch on Ins. § 127:8 says it best: "Several courts have applied the principle of "ejusdem generis," interpreting pollution by reference to the surrounding language in order to limit the list of substances that may otherwise qualify as pollutants. Thus, although the list of substances provided in the definition may be nonexhaustive, substances not specifically mentioned must be similar in nature to the listed substances. For example, it has been held that living, organic irritants or contaminants do not constitute pollutants under the policy definition because the irritants specifically identified in the definition, namely "smoke, vapor, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, chemicals and waste," are primarily inorganic in nature.