THERESA WEAR, ET AL. VS. SELECTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY WOODBURY MEDICAL CENTER ASSOCIATES, LLP VS. SELECTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY (L-1583-13, GLOUCESTER COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(CONSOLIDATED) (A-5526-15T1/A-0033-16T1)
In this appeal, the court held that it was premature to mandate the insurance carrier to provide a defense to an insured on an environmental claim where the unambiguous exclusion contained anti-concurrent and anti-sequential language. The proper remedy at that stage in the proceedings, given the uncertainty of coverage, was to convert the duty to defend to a duty to reimburse as in Grand Cove II. The court further held that it was premature to apply the Griggs analysis to a settlement reached between the insured and the claimants prior to a determination that the insurance carrier breached its duty to defend.
