Wind Loss to Personal Property

We have a hurricane claim and there was no damage to either the exterior or the interior of our insured's condo unit. However, the insured had a patio set outside, and both the company adjuster and the independent adjuster are adamant that the furniture carried away by wind is not covered, as the policy language, under the “windstorm or hail” coverage, states “this peril does not include loss to the inside of a building or the property contained in a building caused by rain, snow, sleet, sand or dust unless the direct force of wind or hail damages the building causing an opening in a roof or wall and the rain, snow, sleet, sand or dust enters through this opening.”

We would appreciate your opinion.

South Carolina Subscriber

The adjusters are misreading the named peril. It specifically states that the peril does not include loss to property contained in a building caused by rain, snow, sleet, sand or dust unless the direct force of the wind caused an opening in the roof or wall of the building containing the property. But that is not what happened here. First, the property was not contained in a building; it was outside. And second, the direct cause of the loss was wind, not rain, snow, sleet, sand or dust.

There is coverage for the patio set subject, of course, to any applicable deductible.

 

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