Insurance declined or withdrawn
23 cases in 20 countries, 1929–2024. Most cases: United States (13), United Kingdom (5), Australia (2), Canada (2), Russia (1).
Volgoneft 212/239 spill (Kerch Strait)
Two Volgoneft tankers were involved in an oil spill in the Kerch Strait on 15 December 2024. In August 2025 a Krasnodar court was reported to have awarded RUB 49.46bn against the owner of the Volgoneft 212.
Princess Empress oil spill (Philippines)
The tanker Princess Empress spilled oil off Mindoro on 28 February 2023. Of PHP 15.06bn claimed, PHP 3.88bn was approved and PHP 2.71bn paid.
California homeowners' insurance retreat
Large insurers stopped writing new home policies in California from 2022, citing catastrophe exposure and costs. Policies on the state's insurer of last resort grew from about 271,000 to about 684,000.
California FAIR Plan policies rise 152% as Florida Citizens shrinks
Private insurers have pulled back from high-risk property markets, leaving state-backed pools to carry the risk. California's FAIR Plan grew 152 percent from September 2022 to March 2026, while Florida's Citizens fell from about 1.4 million policies in 2023 to 293,772 in May 2026.
EACOP pipeline: insurers decline, construction continues
Campaign groups counted about 30 insurers and reinsurers that publicly ruled out covering the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Uganda's insurance regulator said a local consortium insures it, and by September 2026 about 98% of the line was reported built.
Jamaica catastrophe bonds and the Hurricane Melissa payout
Jamaica bought hurricane cover through World Bank catastrophe bonds and a Caribbean risk pool. The 2021 bond paid nothing; the 2024 bond paid its full US$150 million after Hurricane Melissa in 2025.
Net-Zero Insurance Alliance collapse and insurers’ fossil underwriting
The UN-convened Net-Zero Insurance Alliance, launched in 2021, lost its major members in 2023 and was closed in April 2024. Reports in the same period recorded continued insurance of coal, oil and gas projects, including by Lloyd’s market members.
California forest offsets buffer pool and wildfire
California's forest offsets programme sets aside credits in a buffer pool to cover losses such as fire. Researchers estimate that fires have used up almost 40% of the pool, against 20% allocated for 100 years of fire risk.
PFAS insurance disputes (3M, Chemours, DuPont)
Companies facing PFAS settlements worth billions of dollars have turned to their liability insurers. US courts have so far ruled both ways on whether pollution exclusions bar cover, and the largest case, AIG v. 3M, is pending.
W.R. Grace, Libby asbestos and Maryland Casualty
In Libby, Montana, a jury in 2022 awarded USD 36.5 million against Maryland Casualty, W.R. Grace's workers' compensation insurer and safety adviser, in a bellwether asbestos trial. The judge found the insurer knew of the risk and urged Grace to conceal reports.
Trans Mountain pipeline insurers (Canada)
Trans Mountain, an oil pipeline owned by the Government of Canada, lost a series of private insurers between 2019 and 2022. In 2021 the regulator allowed the names of its insurers to be kept confidential, and a 2024 regulation allowed the Crown corporation to set up its own insurer.
Florida Citizens depopulation and insurer affiliate profits
Florida's state-run insurer of last resort fell from about 1.4 million policies in 2023 to 293,772 in May 2026 as private insurers took policies over. A state regulator's internal analysis of 2017-19 showed insurers losing money while their affiliates earned more.
Insurers of the Carmichael coal mine
By July 2023 campaigners counted 46 insurers that had publicly ruled out cover for Adani's Carmichael coal mine in Queensland. The mine operates, and Bravus has said it holds the insurance it needs without naming any insurer.
The Metals Company deep-sea nodule mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (NOAA permit route)
The Metals Company sought a commercial seabed mining permit from the US regulator NOAA for about 65,000 km² of the Pacific, outside the rule-making of the International Seabed Authority. A study of its 2022 test run found 37% fewer animals in the collector tracks two months later.
TVA Kingston coal ash spill insurance
After the December 2008 coal ash spill at Kingston, TVA said its insurers denied cover; arbitration awards followed. Which insurer paid which award is not fully confirmed.
PCB pollution and the Monsanto Anniston settlement
Monsanto settled claims by Anniston, Alabama residents over PCB pollution, reported at US$700 million. In 2025 Bayer, which owns Monsanto, sued an insurer over cover for later PCB settlements.
Grecia Express ferry scuttling (Greece)
The ferry Grecia Express sank at Aegion in the Gulf of Corinth in 1994. The insurer alleged that the owner scuttled her; an English court found the owner not complicit and ordered US$9.9m, including anti-pollution expenses.
Exxon Valdez: the spill, insurance and court cases
An Exxon tanker spilled about 257,000 barrels of crude oil in Alaska in 1989. A jury awarded $5 billion in punitive damages; 19 years later the Supreme Court reduced it to $507.5 million. Exxon's excess insurers refused cover on 33 grounds and paid $780 million after a lawsuit, in addition to $400 million from a P&I club.
Shell Rocky Mountain Arsenal insurance case
Shell Oil's coverage case over the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado reached a California appeals court in 1993. The court upheld the insurers for policies with pollution exclusions and sent the 'expected damage' question back for retrial.
Rigel scuttling (Calabria)
The cargo ship Rigel sank off Calabria in 1987 after sailing with a declared cargo of marble. A La Spezia court accepted that the sinking was deliberate and an insurance fraud; the real cargo was never established and a suspicion of toxic or radioactive waste was never tested because the wreck was not found.
Diamond Shamrock Lister Avenue dioxin, Passaic River
Dioxin from a chemical plant in Newark, New Jersey, was discharged into the Passaic River until at least 1969. New Jersey courts later found that the plant's insurers owed no coverage for the Newark plant claims.
Torrey Canyon spill and creation of the IOPC Funds
The 1967 Torrey Canyon spill off south-west England led governments, the shipping industry and the oil industry to build a two-tier compensation system for oil spills from tankers. Later spills show where that system's limits fell.
Ventron/Morton mercury, Berry's Creek
A mercury-processing plant in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey, discharged effluent into Berry's Creek between 1929 and 1974. In 1993 the New Jersey Supreme Court sided with 21 insurers that had been sued over cleanup cover.