Insurance Law Evolving on Concept of Continuous Trigger

The Maryland Court of  Special Appeals issued an opinion helpful to insureds in Maryland Casualty Co. v. Hanson. The case involved the issue of continuous trigger: whether continuous  exposure or damage constitutes a single or multiple losses such that the more than one insurance policy is stacked or whether the policy’s “limitation of liability” provision concerning repeated exposure or damage as one occurrence limits the available insurance coverage.

Continuous trigger is a relatively new idea in the law and concerns an issue important to landowners where there has been repeated injury or damage over time. Under the theory of continuous trigger, coverage is triggered during any time of exposure: initial exposure, continuing exposure or, in the case of property damage, by manifestation of loss.

In  Hanson, the plaintiffs were children exposed to lead paint at defendant’s property over six years, spanning several insurance policies. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that insurance coverage is triggered during all applicable policy periods in a case of continuous exposure and that the insured’s current carrier was on the entire risk.

Maryland Casualty Co. v Hanson. http://www.courts.state.md.us/opinions/cosa/2006/819s05.pdf