The Pollution Exclusion Saga Continues: Does It Apply to Indoor Releases?
Editors' Summary: This Article addresses how courts have applied the sudden and accidental and absolute pollution exclusions of insurance policies to indoor air pollution claims. The authors focus on how a majority of the courts have found that the pollution exclusions do not preclude coverage for damages that result from the release of pollutants to the indoor environment. The authors first discuss the types of claims that are associated with indoor air pollution and then go on to provide general information about the sudden and accidental and the absolute pollution exclusions. The authors then examine how the courts have applied the two pollution exclusions in the context of indoor air pollution. The authors point out that although the courts have reached their conclusions through differing analyses, their conclusions have been surprisingly similar.