Aerojet-General Corp. v. Transport Indemnity Co.

Opinion

MOSK, J.

In this cause, we resolve two issues relating to standard commercial general liability insurance policies, which were formerly called comprehensive general liability insurance policies. The first question is whether site investigation expenses—broadly, expenses for determining the existence, nature, extent, effect, etc., of the discharge of hazardous substances at a location—may constitute defense costs that the insurer must incur in fulfilling its duty to defend. The second is whether defense costs may be allocated to the insured. As we shall explain, we conclude that, as to…