In 2021 according to the Insurance Information Institute (III), almost 24% of losses under homeowners insurance arose from water damage (including freezing-related) claims. From 2017 to 2021, III reports that the average claim severity for water damage claims for homeowners multi-peril policies was $12,514. What if some simple homeowner education could help your insureds prevent…
Summertime can be a bonanza for burglars. If you insure second homes owned by “snowbirds,” the risk of burglary increases during the summer, especially in July and August, according to the Insurance Information Institute. But even an overnight trip can create the opportunity for theft. Spring is a good time to remind your clients of…
An HO customer’s hot tub is damaged by the freezing of a water line. Does the ISO HO-3 cover this cause of loss? What if the root cause is mechanical breakdown? Is it open perils or named perils? Is valuation based on replacement cost or ACV? This article answers these and other coverage questions.
If asked to give examples of claims that would likely be covered by an open perils property policy but not by a named perils policy, could you? We’ve compiled a short list of generic examples, some slightly tongue-in-cheek, that you can adapt to the forms you sell when asked for an example or two. As…
Is an outdoor hot tub Coverage A, B or C under a homeowners policy? If damaged by a covered peril, is recovery on a replacement cost or an ACV basis? If the cause of loss is freezing of a water line or equipment, is that covered or is it excluded because of the insured’s failure…
Homes and the personal property within them are the frequent victims of sewer backup that originates on or off the residence premises. The question is, to what extent, if any, are these losses covered or excluded by the ISO HO program and its various coverage forms and endorsements? These questions are answered in this definitive…
Most named perils property policies cover “windstorm.” Note that this doesn’t say “wind,” but rather “windSTORM.” So the question is, what constitutes a windstorm? This issue recently arose in an auto claim, but the peril is the same as that under homeowners and commercial property policies.
The insured sold her $29,000 ring…or so she thought. When she attempted to deposit the cashiers check, she learned that it was forged and the forger was long gone. When she reported the claim to her insurer, it was denied. The adjuster said this was voluntary parting, not theft. In this article we’ll show you…
Last year’s swath of hurricanes brought numerous claims involving damage to boat docks and piers, along with numerous claim denials. Weather-related claims to boat docks are common elsewhere in the country. While most policies cover windstorm damage, why are these claims often denied? For the answer to this question, and an often overlooked reason why…
An insured sends brass bathroom fixtures to the manufacturer to be replated or replaced. They are lost by the manufacturer who refuses to replace them. Is this loss covered by the HO policy?