In a case of first impression, Keyspan Gas East Corp. v. Munich Reins. Am., Inc., a New York appellate court reversed a lower court ruling and held that an insured, rather than its environmental cleanup insurer, must be allocated environmental cleanup costs for periods of time when the relevant insurance was not available in the marketplace. The issue before the court was the proper allocation of the risk of loss from environmental property damage that continued during periods of time when liability insurance was unavailable. The court’s bottom line: “there was no legal basis for providing what would amount to free insurance to the policyholder.” For more details, check out Squire Patton Bogg’s insurance disputes blog post, New York Appeals Court Holds No Allocation of Environmental Losses to Insurers for Uninsured Years.
