On June 3, 2020, Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kriedler advised Washington State business owners to contact their insurance providers as soon as possible if they have experienced loss or damage in association with recent occurrences of looting and vandalism taking place throughout the state. The following is a link to the full announcement:
The announcement included the following statements:
- Damage to commercial property/business caused by theft, vandalism, and/or fire should be covered under a commercial property policy unless that type of loss is specifically excluded;
- Coverage for damage to plate glass windows is dependent upon the individual policy language;
- Business that have been temporarily closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic are not considered vacant under the terms of an insurance policy; and
- A “war and military action” exclusion should not exclude damage caused during a protest.
In addition, the Insurance Commissioner advised business owners to take the following immediate steps if they plan on filing a claim: 1) contact their insurance company; and 2) consider hiring professional help with debris clean up and to secure their property to protect against further damage.
This announcement is not surprising given recent events and widespread resulting property damage.However, this advisement and increase in civil disturbance claims raise numerous coverage issues.These include the potential application of coverage exclusions including the vacancy exclusion, mitigation and duty to protect from further loss requirements, and valuation issues.
In addition, the steps necessary for an insured to properly mitigate damages and protect insured property from further loss is also fact dependent and will require a careful examination of the steps taken by an insured.Whether, and to what extent, any such mitigation efforts are covered by a policy will depend on the individual policy.The potential for coverage for any such steps should be discussed with an insured early in the claim handling process.
Finally, in light of the potentially severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on business throughout the state and country, we expect more complicated valuation disputes.The risk of inflated claims may also increase.
Whether property damage by theft, vandalism, or fire is covered will ultimately be dependent upon the terms and conditions of the actual policy and the specific facts presented in any claim.As result, it is important that insurers proactively and thoroughly investigate each claim based on its unique facts.It will also be necessary to thoroughly and timely respond to these claims in order to avoid extracontractual exposures.
These are just a few of the potential coverage issues raised by the Insurance Commissioner’s announcement and the damage caused during by the recent civil disturbance claims.
Lether Law Group has been handling large first-party property losses for over 32 years.This includes earthquake claims, storm and hurricane losses, wildfire claims, and even a number of claims involving civil disturbances.If you would like to discuss these recent developments or any other matters, please feel free to contact us at any time.
