Delaware Supreme Court Rejects Continuous Trigger and Adopts Exposure Trigger for Asbestos Claims

We recently received a successful ruling from the Delaware Supreme Court in an asbestos coverage action.

The Delaware Supreme Court ruled on September 26, 2006 in a unanimous en banc decision, applying Alabama Law, that the Exposure trigger would apply to thousands of asbestos personal injury claims filed against the insured, an insulation contractor. The Court rejected the continuous trigger urged by the insured, and found that the exposure trigger was the majority rule in the United States for asbestos injury claims.

The case is: Shook & Fletcher Asbestos Settlement Trust v. Safety National Casualty Corp. 909 A.2d 125 (2006), the Lower Court also ruled in favor of Safety National, an excess insurer, on allocation and exhaustion of underlying limits, holding that time on the risk allocation would apply and all underlying triggered coverage must be exhausted before the excess insurance coverage is reached. Shook & Fletcher Asbestos Settlement Trust v. Safety National Casualty Corp., 2005 WL 2436193 (Del. Super. 2005).

Provizer & Phillips, P.C., can assist you with handling insurance coverage opinions and litigation from general liability to complex environmental and construction defect claims.

If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Randall E. Phillips at (248) 642-0444; rphillips@p-ppc.com.

September 27, 2006