Carriers seem to believe that a property loss must be discovered within 180 days of the event causing the damage for the policy to respond on a replacement cost basis; even some agents believe this. Well, it just isn’t true. Find out why.
During COVID, many if not most employees were assigned to work from home. Office-based operations discovered that remote employees may be just as efficient as they were in the office. Additionally, many businesses calculated how much they could save by lessening or totally eliminating their real estate spend. One result of COVID’s work-from-home (WFH) mandate,…
A house exploded in Charlotte, NC. Rumors of a meth lab began to swirl leading to an analysis of the HO policy to answer the question, does the insurance carrier owe anything if damage was the result of a meth lab?
A mural is a very real insurance exposure, and a very popular addition to many both public and private commercial buildings and residences. One underwriter reported writing $500,000 coverage on an exterior mural, just for the mural, NOT the building. Just an “average” mural (painted by a local, unknown artist) can cost the building owner…
Commercial property underwriters have utilized essentially the same information for nearly 400 years: Construction, Occupancy, Protection and Exposure. Known to us mortals as “COPE.” When the correct COPE information is provided, the insurance mechanism performs as intended. However, ISO estimates that approximately 50 percent of commercial properties are incorrectly “rated” from a COPE perspective. The…
The concept of actual cash value (ACV) is far more complicated than “replacement cost minus physical depreciation.” In fact, the meaning of replacement cost differs based on the state. To further complicate the “problem” with defining ACV is whether or not labor is depreciable. Again, the answer differs based on the state in which the…
Agents learn early that there are two types of property, real property and personal property. Real property is generally defined as land and everything attached to the land such as by roots, by being embedded in the land, permanently resting on the land such as a building or property permanently attached to the building. Personal…
ISO offers over 200 commercial property endorsements. Some of them are not good for the insured, but many allow the insured to provide coverage and protection not found in the unendorsed property policy. There are four you may have never heard of or seen used, but they are incredibly useful in the right situation.
Departments of Insurance across the country are bracing for the introduction of new commercial property policy language promised by the newly-formed property insurance bureau the Dominion of Organized Property Exchanges (DOPE). How might the “Injudicious Act” exclusion affect property pricing?
If your client has a mural on the inside or outside of the building, how do you cover it? Is it covered by the property policy? Is there any special wording in the proprietary form that provides coverage? Many agents don’t consider insuring a mural, but it could be a very expensive exposure for your…
