Bramlet: What coverage(s) may be triggered as a result of these events?

Cohen and Paar: Most large commercial policyholders purchase first-party property insurance, which is sometimes referred to as “all risk” insurance. Those policies generally provide insurance under the following grants of coverage:

• Property damage coverage: Insures the value of the policyholder's property.
• Business interruption (BI) coverage: For the insured's loss of earnings or revenue resulting from the interruption of the policyholder's business because of loss or damage to the policyholder's property.
• Contingent business interruption (CBI) coverage: For loss, including lost earnings or revenue, as a result of damage to the property of third parties such as suppliers and receivers.
• Civil authority coverage: For losses arising from an order of a governmental authority that interferes with normal business operations.
  Third-party property coverage: For the property of third parties in the care, custody, or control of the policyholder.
• Ingress and egress coverage: For the loss caused when access to a business premises or location of the policyholder is blocked for a time.
• Service interruption coverage:  For losses related to the interruption of electric or other power supplies.
• Claim preparation coverage: For the costs associated with compiling and certifying a claim.

All of these coverages may be potentially implicated by the recent catastrophic earthquake and its resultant tsunami, flooding and fires in Japan. However, the most significant grant of insurance coverage for U.S. policyholders and their insurers is CBI. The total amount of loss from these covered perils has been estimated to exceed $325 billion (estimated by World Bank). Of course, any estimate of loss is entirely speculative, particularly given that losses are still accruing for BI.