Editors Note: There was an error in the first version of this story that has now been corrected.

In a decision described as a major victory for policyholders, the California Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that policyholders do not always have to first exhaust all of their primary coverage over different policy periods in order to access excess coverage for certain years. The case is Montrose Chem. Corp. of Cal. v. Superior Court, No. S244737, 2020 Cal. LEXIS 2095 (Apr. 6, 2020).

Montrose manufactured an insecticide, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, at a Torrance, California facility from 1947 to 1982. In 1992, the US and the State of California together sued Montrose for environmental contamination allegedly caused by the operation of the Torrance facility. Montrose agreed to pay for environmental cleanup, and has paid over $100 million and asserts that its future liability could approach or exceed this amount.