Environmental Policies May Cover SARS

Environmental Policies May Cover SARS

By Gary Mogel

NU Online News Service, April 28, 10:21 a.m. EDT? A new AON white paper suggests that property decontamination costs and other claims related to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome may be covered by Environmental Impairment Liability insurance policies.

The paper suggests EIL policies would provide coverage, where commercial general liability and commercial property policies would probably not cover SARS.

Commercial liability and property policies contain exclusions related to pollution, mold and viruses. An analogy is made to Legionnaire's disease and E. Coli, which courts found not to be covered under CGL, the paper noted.

Whether decontamination costs would be covered under EIL hinges on the policy's pollution definition, the paper stated. Jeffrey Hanneman, an attorney with Aon Environmental in Houston, Texas, and author of the paper, pointed out that the SARS virus may qualify as an "irritant or contaminant" under a typical pollution definition.

In addition, an endorsement to the policy for mold (microbial matter endorsement) may provide coverage, as "mold" is often defined to include "viruses," the report noted. Mr. Hanneman pointed out that, like mold, a virus is a living organism that can cause illness.

Insurers that have been covering mold claims under EIL policies that are silent as to whether or not mold qualifies as a pollutant should also treat SARS-related claims the same way--by providing coverage, the paper adds

Mr. Hanneman acknowledges that if the policy is silent as to mold and viruses, there is likely to be litigation before coverage is established under many EIL policies.

The paper goes on to point out that under most policies the decontamination must be ordered or conducted by the government in order for coverage to apply. As respects SARS, such an order may be based on a building code requiring a safe premises, according to Mr. Hanneman.

In addition, the paper stated that liability coverage for SARS-related bodily injury claims may be covered by the EIL policy if the property owner is alleged to have been negligent in permitting the disease to exist on owned property. Similarly, liability may be predicated on negligence in allowing the disease to spread to other properties.