Our insured is a snowplow contractor. A claimant alleges that our insured had his snowplow blade too low and as a result, the insured damaged the blacktop in the parking lot that was being plowed. The claimant wants the blacktop replaced.

The insured has the business auto policy, CA 00 01, and a separate CGL form. Would the insured have coverage for this property damage claim?

Ohio Subscriber

The standard CGL form is not going to cover this claim since the damage was done by an auto. The policy defines as an auto a self-propelled vehicle with permanently attached snow removal equipment. And, exclusion (g) in the CGL form excludes bodily injury or property damage arising out of the use of an auto. There is an endorsement from ISO, CG 22 92, that allows coverage under the CGL form for a completed operations claim based on the use of a snow plow, but without that endorsement attached to the CGL form, no coverage is present for a claim such as this.

As for the auto policy, that has an exclusion (10) for property damage arising out of the named insured's work after that work has been completed. So, if this is a completed operations claim, the BAP will not apply to the claim. If this is not a completed operations claim, the BAP will respond since there is no exclusion that would prevent the coverage.

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