The panels we are claiming are those that require a “wall-mounting kit.” (We make no claim for free-standing units.) In order to move the wall-mounted panels, the insured would have to call the manufacturer and request an installer at $45 per hour, because the insured could not move the panels on his own. Additionally, the wall panels are listed as building improvements on the insured's financial statement.

What is your opinion?

California Subscriber

A

The panels attached to the building are fixtures for coverage purposes. The term “fixture” is not further defined in the commercial property policy, leaving its interpretation to the common lay meaning of the word. Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., defines fixture as “something that is fixed or attached (as to a building) as a permanent appendage or as a structural part“(emphasis added). The term is further defined as “an item of movable property so incorporated into real property that it may be regarded as legally a part of it.”

Permanent does not mean that the item has to be so attached to the property as never to be removed. It implies an installed state.

We agree, however, that the free-standing panels are not fixtures, but fall under contents coverage.