Insurance coverage for environmental liability in the 1990s: A precautionary “tail”;

Abstract

Many of the liability insurance policies available today are written on a “claims‐made”; basis and contain intricacies that may be raised at the time the policyholder needs its insurance the most—when a claim is made. To avoid as many insurance disputes as possible, policyholders should analyze the related trigger and notice provisions in all of their various insurnace policies to determine the events necessary to trigger each policy. This analysis can be used at the time of policy renewals to help the policyholder obtain the greatest possible consistency among the various primary, umbrella, and excess layers of general liability insurance coverage. The author alerts policyholders that some insurance policies may seek to require resolution of disputes by arbitration in the United States or even in a foreign country.