The question of the month deals with issues arising out of the ordinance or law exclusion and endorsement. Ordinances and laws affect building construction and repair, and insurance policies are brought into play whenever the costs of conforming to the building codes arise. Does the standard property policy cover ordinance or law expenses? What endorsements are needed to permit coverage for claims based on these expenses? How do courts address disputes over coverage for ordinance or law expenses? For the answers to these questions and to read a comprehensive review of ordinance or law issues, link onto the designated article in the FC&S Bulletins.

The court cases discussed in the Dec Page deal with these topics: when property damage occurs, additional insureds, whether the illegal acts of a single insured affects coverage for other insureds, a timely notice dispute, and the loaned servant doctrine. The prevailing rule in the country is that property damage occurs at the time the damage is discovered or when it has manifested itself; a recent decision by a Texas court of appeals has tweaked this rule just a bit. The Florida Supreme Court has provided a ruling on the question of whether coverage for an additional insured applies only for vicarious liability. The son of the named insureds under a condominium policy was convicted of a criminal act; a district court in North Dakota answers the question of whether this affects liability coverage for the parents when they are sued for negligence. A claims-made policy requires that a claim be made against the insured during the policy period or during any extended reporting period. If this timely notice requirement is not met, does the insurer owe a duty to defend and indemnify the insured? The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Maine answers this question. And finally, the issue of loaned employees and workers compensation coverage is discussed by the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in a case from Minnesota .

Questions and Answers:

Is an insured, who was driving a covered auto and pulling a trailer, covered when the trailer came loose and struck a vehicle going in the opposite direction? See Business Auto Coverage for Unscheduled Trailer. Is there coverage under a business auto form where an insured apparently did not properly clean out a tank before loading a customer's product into the tank? See Care, Custody, or Control Exclusion Prevents Liability. Does garagekeepers coverage apply when a customer's vehicle is stolen from an auto dealer's premises? See Garagekeepers Coverage for Theft of Vehicle.

Is damage caused by tear gas covered under a commercial property form? See Tear Gas Damage Excluded by Pollution Exclusion. When signs that are normally attached to a building are removed for maintenance, are they considered property not covered? See Signs Not Attached to Building at Time of Loss Excluded from Coverage.

Should the costs of remediation fall solely on ordinance or law coverage? See Remediation Costs for Gutting Building .

Whose policy pays for building loss when both landlord and tenant carry building coverage? See Landlord's or Tenant's Policy Pays for Loss to Building?.

Underground storage tank policy:

The Underground Storage Tank (UST) policy, CG 00 42, offers bodily injury and property damage liability coverage on a claims-made basis for insureds who become legally obligated to pay compensatory damages because of an underground storage tank incident. This article discusses CG 00 42, with its insuring agreement, exclusions, and conditions. Since some of the clauses that appear on CG 00 42 are similar to those that are on the CGL form, only the clauses that make CG 00 42 distinctive are highlighted here. See Underground Storage Tank Policy. This article can be found on the Public Liability A.13 pages.

Index Updates:

The Q&A Index and the personal lines volume index have been updated this month. The updating reflects the changes and additions that have been made to the respective indexes over the past year. This will help the reader to more easily find the subject matter that is of most interest to him or her.