A contractor who plows snow is covered by a Businessowners BP 00 03 01 06 policy. These operations left chain marks on some of the driveways that were plowed. A mailbox also was damaged. The contractor's insurance carrier paid for the damage to the mailbox but is denying coverage for the damaged driveways. Should the damage to the driveways be covered?
Ohio Subscriber
The ISO Businessowners policy excludes bodily injury or property damage arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of autos owned by, operated by, or rented or loaned to any insured. The policy states that self-propelled vehicles with permanently attached equipment designed primarily for snow removal qualifies as an "auto."
Therefore, if the Businessowners policy is not specifically endorsed to provide coverage for snow removal operations, coverage for resulting damage would not be covered. Based on the information you provided, there would be no coverage for damage to the driveways—or even for the mailbox.
Having said that, we wonder whether some facts of this case have not been provided? The fact is that the insurance company paid for damage to a mailbox. Was a precedent set by that payment? Or did the insurance company pay for the mailbox because of a detail about which we are not aware? All of these details would factor into a final decision on this question; we are commenting only on the information that was presented to us.
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