As litigation and regulation increase around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), insurance underwriting is tightening across lines. Insurance professionals who specialize in PFAS say insurers are mandating coverage exclusions and, in some cases, declining to write liability policies at all in PFAS-exposed industries.
Executive Summary
Insureds in industries exposed to PFAS may have had pollution, general liability and product liability policies that were silent about coverage for claims arising out of that exposure in the past. But many are now facing exclusions and coverage restrictions unless they have a good story to tell about why losses arising from the forever chemicals might be limited, brokers say.Robin Kelliher, environmental solutions group counsel at USI, described the current insurance landscape as being hit by a “superstorm” of factors related to PFAS.
“The insurance underwriters are just seeing lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits,” she said, and they don’t know how those lawsuits are going to play out.
Industrial manufacturing company 3M reached a $10-plus billion settlement in June 2023 with a collection of U.S. public water systems to resolve PFAS water pollution claims. Around the same time, Dupont reached an estimated $1.19 billion settlement with a collection of U.S. public drinking water systems.
