Insurer Must Pay for Daycare’s Defense in Lead Exposure Suit

Cincinnati Insurance Co. is on the hook for a Tennessee Methodist church’s legal defense costs in a lead exposure suit related to its daycare operations, a federal court ruled.

The suit triggers the insurer’s duty to defend First-Centenary United Methodist Church under the teacher’s professional liability portion of its insurance policy, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee said Tuesday.

A provision excluding pollutants from the teacher’s coverage didn’t apply to lead claims because other portions of the policy dealing with pollutants separately precluded lead, the court said in its order.

The underlying suit alleges that a ...