Insurance coverage for damage caused by a deceased tenant

Coverage Q&A: Body fluids caused damage to the insured's hardwood floors.

A deceased tenant caused damage to the insured’s property. (Photo: Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com)

Every claim is different, and some insurance policies can be difficult to interpret for unique situations. FC&S Expert Coverage Interpretation, the recognized authority on insurance coverage interpretation and analysis for the P&C industry, makes it simple to find credible answers to your complicated coverage questions. Analysis brought to you by our FC&S experts. 

Editor’s Note: More often than you might think, FC&S receives questions concerning deceased individuals and the cleanup of remains. We deal with such a question in this week’s Coverage Q&A.

Question: I’m attempting to find coverage in a dwelling property policy for damage to hardwood floors due to body fluids released following the death of a tenant. I don’t know that any perils apply, and in this case, we do not have a cause of death yet. 

— Lousiana Subscriber 

Analysis: A first thought is that this claim is excluded under a policy’s pollution exclusion; however, exclusions must be read narrowly and do not always apply. When the policy is named perils, the perils must be reviewed to see if any of the named causes of loss fit the situation at hand.

Answer: To learn the answer to this week’s coverage Q&A, please log into your FC&S Expert Coverage Interpretation account.

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