The question of the month deals with the motor vehicle, watercraft, and aircraft liability exclusions found in the homeowners policy. Most, if not all, homeowners policies contain liability and medical payments exclusions concerning these items. As a result, many questions can arise as to how and when the exclusions apply, whether there are any exceptions to the exclusions, and how a parent's alleged negligent entrustment of these vehicles to children affects coverage for a liability claim.

For answers to these questions and for a review of court cases on the subject, link onto the designated article in the FC&S Bulletins.

As for the court cases reviewed in the Dec Page, these deal with the faulty workmanship/occurrence question, the duty to defend an additional insured, conflicting other insurance clauses, the statutes of limitations, and the issue of matching under a homeowners policy. Many cases exist (and will arise in the future) pertaining to the question as to whether faulty workmanship constitutes an occurrence for the purpose of coverage under a CGL form. A court of appeals in Kentucky addresses this issue and reviews rulings from other jurisdictions in its decision. The Court of Appeals in New York was asked to decide, within the context of a comprehensive general liability insurance policy, whether liability must be determined before an additional named insured is entitled to a defense in an underlying personal injury action. The other insurance clauses from the policies of two different insurers conflict; what are the consequences for the insured? An appeals court in Indiana answers this question. A court in North Carolina is presented with the issue of when the applicable statute of limitations begin to run when the claim is based on negligence, fraud, and breaches of good faith and fair dealing. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit as time barred; an appeals court reviews this decision. And finally, the question of whether an insured is entitled to have its entire roof replaced when part of the roof is damaged as a result of a covered loss and matching shingles cannot be obtained is handled by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. The insureds wanted an entire new roof because the old shingles were no longer manufactured and there could be no matching. Does the homeowners policy require the insurer to provide this coverage?

Questions and Answers:

An animal causing one incident of damage to a housing subdivision's clubhouse would not be considered infestation under a special causes of loss form. See Animal Chewing Not a Result of Infestation. Materials left in an unattended truck parked at a friend's business may be considered in the insured's care, custody, and control. See Items in a Locked, Unattended Vehicle Maybe Be Considered in the Insured's Care, Custody, or Control. Paying an employee to stay on would be calculated as part of a business income loss. See Employee's Salary a Continuing Operating Expense.

Reproducing master tapes that were destroyed in a fire and are used for production of recordings for sale would not be considered an extra expense. See Reproducing Digitized Recording Masters Not an Extra Expense.

Fidelity Amendatory Endorsements:

The fidelity amendatory endorsements are used to modify the coverages provided by the crime policies. An update of this article, which provides an overview of the endorsements, has been added to FC&S this month. See Fidelity Amendatory Endorsements. The article is on the Crime pages A9.

Crime Amendatory Endorsements:

The crime amendatory endorsements are used to modify the coverages provided by the crime and government crime insurance policies. All the endorsements are presented with a brief description of each. An update of this information has been added to FC&S this month. See Crime Amendatory Endorsements. The article is on the Crime pages A10.

Builders Risk Endorsements

Several endorsements may be added to the Builders Risk policy to modify coverage, including the Builders Risk Reporting form, Builders Risk Renovations, Separate or Subcontractors Interests, and Collapse During Construction. An update of the article discussing these endorsements was added to FC&S. See Builders Risk Endorsements. This article is on the Commercial Property C.2 pages.