Insurer Loses Bid to Knock Out School’s Pollutant Coverage Claim

A New Jersey private school’s insurer may have to pay to remove broken glass from a grass field due to a policy provision affording coverage to eliminate pollutants on school grounds.

The US District Court for the District of New Jersey denied Republic Franklin Insurance Group’s motion to dismiss Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child’s complaint in a Thursday order.

Insurers and policyholders frequently litigate what constitutes a “pollutant” for coverage purposes, but such disputes are more common in the context of policy exclusions that prohibit coverage.

Republic sought to rely on a New Jersey Supreme Court decision holding ...