Charles Miller, a principal at the Insurance Law Center in Berkeley, California, said that language in insurers’ claims manuals may invalidate the exclusion provisions that companies have used to justify their denials of homeowners claims related to Chinese drywall. Miller suggested that insurers could be liable for such claims when he spoke at the Winter National Meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Catastrophe Insurance Working Group. Miller cited Summit Business Media’s Fire, Casualty & Surety Bulletins (FC&S), used by insurers, agents and brokers of both commercial and personal lines coverage noting that many courts have decided that the pollution exclusion in homeowners policies applies to “traditional environmental damage.”

Miller explained that the release of gases inside a residence is not generally considered traditional environmental damage. Although homeowners in 32 states have complained of foul odors, corrosion and other damage as well as health problems from drywall imported from China and used in the construction of their homes between 2004 and 2007, most of the complaints come from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.

February 2, 2010