West Van Holdings Ltd. v. Economical Mutual Insurance Company

摘要

Insurance — Actions on policies — Commencement of proceedings — Obligations of insurer — To defend — Interpretation of policy — Insurer provided commercial general liability insurance to plaintiffs — Plaintiffs were sued for damages arising out of contaminants alleged to have migrated from property owned and used by them to adjacent lands — Plaintiffs brought application to determine whether insurer had obligation to defend — Application granted — Plaintiffs discharged their burden of demonstrating action raised claim that fell within initial grant of coverage — Nature of allegations made in underlying pleadings provided sufficient basis from which to find that action raised one or more claims within scope of initial grant, for both defendants — Defendants did not discharge their burden of showing that their environmental liability and pollution liability exclusions clearly and unambiguously applied to all claims made against plaintiffs — Coverage provided was focused on monetary relief claimed "because" of damage to property and this narrow focus necessarily informed application of exclusion clauses — Environmental liability and pollution liability exclusions did not explicitly preclude coverage where property damage was said to be caused, in whole or in part, by persons who were not in any way connected to insured.