When a tenant moved out Montague's property manager noticed that the wooden terrace attached to the unit was sagging and separating from the building so a property claim was sent to New Hampshire Insurance Company.

New Hampshire denied the claim because, in their opinion, it was due to wear and tear, rust, corrosion and wet and dry rot excluded causes of loss. Montague argued that the loss was due to hidden support beam failure and therefore was covered.

Click here to see which cause of loss argument prevailed.

The Collapse cause of loss has been modified frequently over the years because of how important the coverage is and how difficult it can be to define. The current ISO method used with CP 10 30-Special Cause of Loss Form is to first exclude collapse and then to add it back as a specifically described coverage. This way provides expansive coverage for collapse but not without limitations.

Click here to review a PF&M analysis of the CP 10 30-Special Cause of Loss Form Collapse exclusion and the Additional Coverage-Collapse.

The demand for apartments is extremely high in most parts of the United States. Vacancy rates are at an almost all-time low and rental values continue to grow. Well-constructed insurance programs for these building owners are also needed. The Producer's Commercial Lines Risk Evaluation System Questionnaire includes an inventory that tracks with the description of building and business personal property in many ISO forms. This inventory doesn't replace the insured's own inventory but may help to reduce the premium because building items are normally priced much less than business personal property.

Click here to review the property inventory of the Producer's Commercial Lines Risk Evaluation System Questionnaire.

Coverages Applicable is an excellent product to use in training your agency staff about a particular risk category. The coverages to consider listing provides easy clicks abbreviated explanations of coverages that might be just enough to get you started with a new customer. It also provides links to the more in-depth discussions provided within PF&M.

Click here to review the Real Estate and Rental Property category in Coverages Applicable.