Section 15.3 What Is “Property Damage”?

• Library: Insurance Practice 2015

Generally, CGL policies define property damage as injury to or destruction of tangible property. Insurers often argue that environmental damages are not property damage. Instead, they contend that environmental injuries suffered by federal and state governments constitute economic loss because only the owners of the land on which hazardous wastes are deposited suffer property damage. No Missouri appellate court has decided this question.

In the panel decision in Continental Insurance Cos. v. Northeastern...