Consolidated Edison Co of New York Inc v Allstate Insurance Co and Ors - Court of Appeals (Kaye Ch J, Smith, Levine, Ciparick, Wesley, Rosenblatt and Graffeo JJ) - 2 May 2002

Insurance - Whether insured or insurers had burden of proving that damage was the result of an "accident" or "occurrence"

For some 60 years, the plaintiff's corporate predecessors owned and operated a manufactured gas plant in New York. The site was later sold to Anchor Motor Freight Inc. In 1995 Anchor notified the plaintiff that it had discovered contamination at the site, that the gas plant had caused the contamination, and demanded that the plaintiff participate in the investigation and remediation. The plaintiff then brought proceedings against 24 insurers that had issued it general liability policies between 1938 and 1986, demanding indemnification for environmental damages arising from the contamination caused by the plant. The claims against some of the insurers were dismissed, and other insurers settled. The case proceeded to trial against the remaining three defendants. The plaintiff contended that because the coverage language requiring an "accident" or "occurrence" operated to exclude coverage for intended damage, the burden of proving the damage was intended should be on the insurers. The trial judge disagreed. The jury found that there was property damage at the site during the years that the three defendants' policies were in effect, but that the property damage was not the result of an "accident" or "occurrence", and thus there was no coverage.