Does General Liability Cover Pollution or Environmental Damage?

Triple-I says pollution liability is generally excluded from standard CGL and notes that an endorsement may provide only limited coverage. The ISO specimen contains pollution exclusions addressing bodily injury or property damage tied to pollutants and costs to test, clean up, remove, or otherwise respond to them. Whether an exception applies can depend on the pollutant, location, timing, operations, and exact endorsement language. A standard CGL limit should not be treated as environmental cleanup coverage.

Businesses that handle fuel, chemicals, waste, construction materials, or contaminated sites should describe those activities accurately to the broker. Ask whether the quote includes a pollution endorsement or separate environmental liability policy, and inspect its covered sites, gradual versus sudden releases, cleanup costs, third-party bodily injury and property damage, retroactive date, and exclusions. Compare any sublimit with the exposure; a small exception in the base form may not address remediation or regulatory response costs.