We would appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Virginia Subscriber

A

We have held in the past that electricity—once it has passed through the meter and the homeowner is being charged for it—becomes his or her personal property. The same could be said for water; once it passed through the water meter, it became the property of your insured.

But because no meter is involved in this case a little further investigation is required. Does the well service only the insured's home, or do other homeowners get their water from it as well? If it serves only your insured's residence, then the water is easily distinguished as belonging only to your insured and, thus, is his personal property. If the policy covers the peril that damaged the water, the loss should be paid.

The current AAIS edition 2.0, however, under “Personal Property Not Covered 5.h., lists “land, including the land on which covered property is located, underground water, or surface water.” So under this form, as opposed to the form you cite, there is no coverage for the loss of water. Additionally, unless a Coverage C named peril caused the pollution of the pipe and well casing, there is no coverage for the clean-up under this form.

The ISO 1991 homeowners did not specifically exclude water as personal property; the homeowners 2000 program, however, under Property Not Covered 11, lists water or steam. So while a case may be made for coverage under the 1991 form, no coverage exists for water under the 2000 forms.