Primary Insurer Can't Consolidate Exposure Claims into Single Occurrence

ALBANY, N.Y. - The New York Court of Appeals has ruled in a declaratory judgment action that individuals' asbestos exposure claims present multiple occurrences for purposes of exceeding annual 'per occurrence' primary insurance policy limits. Appalachian Insurance Co. v. General Electric Co., No. 11 (N.Y. Ct. App.).

In a Feb. 15 opinion affirming decisions by two lower courts, the Court of Appeals applied the 'unfortunate-event' standard and found insufficient temporal and spatial proximity among the claims to unify them as one occurrence.

Several excess insurers for General Electric Co. had moved for a declaration that GE's primary insurance policies had …