Resolving a conflict of laws, New Jersey’s Supreme Court has held that in environmental contamination cases, the deep pockets of all solvent insurance carriers must be exhausted before resorting to the state’s fund of last recourse.
At issue in the case, decided Sept. 24, was whether a 2004 legislative change, mandating policy exhaustion before seeking a payout from the Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association, superseded a 1997 ruling that required PLIGA to pay an insolvent insurer’s remediation share.
