Opinion ID: 2062885
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Primary Insurance Coverage

Text: 1. Defendant General Accident has stipulated that it and its affiliate provided primary general-liability coverage from October 1960 to October 1971. (Although copies of the policies actually issued to Morton's predecessors were not produced, the record contains sample forms of policies used by General Accident that the parties acknowledged, for purposes of summary judgment, corresponded to the actual policies.) Three different policy forms were in use by General Accident during this period. (a) From October 1960 to October 10, 1964, General Accident's policy provided property-damage-liability coverage for all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay    for damages because of injury to or destruction of property    caused by accident. The term accident was undefined. The policy afforded coverage only to occurrences or accidents which happen during the policy period   . (b) Effective October 10, 1964, the prior form of policy was amended by deleting the words caused by accident and substituting the words resulting from an occurrence. The endorsement also added the following definition of occurrence: The word occurrence as used in this endorsement means an unexpected event or happening which results in injury to or destruction of tangible property during the policy period, or a continuous or repeated exposure to conditions which result in injury to or destruction of tangible property during the policy period provided the insured did not intend or anticipate that injury to or destruction of property would result   . (c) Effective October 1, 1966, and continuing through October 1971, General Accident's policy revised the definition of occurrence as follows: Occurrence means an accident, including injurious exposure to conditions, which results, during the policy period, in bodily injury or property damage neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the insured. 2. Although neither the record nor the opinions below indicates the source of Ventron's CGL coverage from October 10, 1971, to June 1972, primary CGL coverage was provided from June 14, 1972, through January 1, 1975, pursuant to three policies issued by Reserve Insurance Company (Reserve), which had been declared insolvent and liquidated prior to the institution of this litigation. Each of Reserve's policies provided coverage for all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of property damage    caused by an occurrence, and their definition of occurrence was substantially identical to the definition contained in General Accident's policies from October 1966 to 1971. Reserve's policies for the period June 14, 1973, to June 14, 1975, however, contained a so-called pollution-exclusion clause that was identical to exclusion f of the standard form CGL policy (standard pollution-exclusion clause), see, e.g., Insurance Services Office (ISO) form GL 00 02, Ed. 01-73, that had been widely used by insurers from 1973 to 1985. That exclusion stated: This insurance does not apply    (f) to bodily injury or property damage arising out of the discharge, dispersal, release or escape of smoke, vapors, soot, fumes, acids, alkalis, toxic chemicals, liquids or gases, waste materials or other irritants, contaminants or pollutants into or upon land, the atmosphere or any water course or body of water; but this exclusion does not apply if such discharge, dispersal, release or escape is sudden and accidental. 3. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (Liberty Mutual) provided primary CGL coverage to Ventron from January 1, 1975, through January 1, 1977. Its policies afforded coverage for all sums which the insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of    property damage    caused by an occurrence. The policies defined occurrence as an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in    property damage neither expected nor intended from the standpoint of the insured   . The Liberty Mutual policies also contained the standard pollution-exclusion clause.