ABSTRACT
In general, a policy's failure to provide expressly for a pertinent liability coverage can be interpreted as an understanding by the carrier and the insured that risks not mentioned are not covered. The insurance industry's primary form of commercial insurance coverage is the comprehensive general liability (CGL) policy. There is no duty to defend when the insurer establishes that there is no possibility that the allegations fall outside the exclusion. Coverage for the "products hazard" must be specifically and separately purchased by the insured, as is also true of coverage for "completed operations". In one suit, an alleged polluter whose insurers had tried to invoke the pollution exclusion clause argued that the clause only applied to "active" not "passive" polluters. Most insurance policies contain clauses allowing the insurer to deny coverage when it is not notified of a possible claim against it in a timely manner.
