Risk Intelligence Blog Debut
Shining a bright light on insurance policy terms and conditions you never knew were in your policy,and would only find out about after a claim, and various other insurance traps. Insurance coverage certainty needs to be nailed down BEFORE a loss!
CASE IN POINT: Misleading Endorsement Title
A “Hunt Club Exclusion” sounds like it only matters if you have horses and hounds. This endorsement has appeared in a few policies we reviewed. The casual reader would gloss over it thinking “I’m not running a hunt club, I can skip this page”. The casual reader would be in trouble.
A general liability policy should be relied upon for the claims which third parties bring alleging they got hurt due to your operations, or your premises. This endorsement removes much of that reliance.
This “Hunt Club Exclusion” removed coverage for loss arising out of all of the following:
- “An occurrence between two or more club members.”
If you are not running a hunt club, this is just more confirmation the endorsement doesn’t apply to you. But, you would be assuming to your peril.
Read on, the next section removes coverage for …
2. “Fire, dogs, animals, motorized vehicles,…”
We find this exclusion attached to the General Liability policy of a landlord who owns apartments. If a fire starts, and residents are hurt, we will see claims. We will also see denials saying “the exclusion of injury arising out of fire applies.” The same for a motor vehicle accident in the parking lot!
Suits will follow trying to enforce coverage. Depending on the judge you might hear “the plain language of the policy applies.”
Do you want to rely on the roll of dice in a courtroom?
The next section pulls us away from a basic principle of the General Liability policy – that it covers the liabilities of the insured wherever they are incurred; not so if this endorsement is attached, it excludes:
3. Any incident anywhere other than on the designated insured premises
Liabilities can happen anywhere, and the General Liability policy was structured to address this fact. This endorsement is addressed to remove that standard broadening.
The narrowing of coverage which we see in this endorsement is common. If you ask your insurance broker about these concerns, you will likely hear “oh, you don’t need to worry about that.” It isn’t your broker’s job to know what’s in the policy, but it is ours .
Abby Krueger
Find out more here: http://licatarisk.wpengine.com/cms/risk-and-insurance-services/
Dec 10, 2013
