The insured had an upstairs water loss that filtered down to the first floor, damaging and destroying a couch. There was a matching love seat that was not damaged, but the insured wants both items replaced.

Assuming this question relates to the pair and set conditions, it appears we owe the value of the love seat determined by the before and after the loss values. Do you agree?

How would you determine the value? Would using ACV depreciation calculations work? Is the value reduced at all?? The set cannot be duplicated.

Indiana Subscriber

The sofa and love seat are personal property, so unless there is a replacement cost endorsement, they are covered for actual cash value. It is the company's option to either repair or replace any part to restore the pair or set to its value before the loss, or to pay the difference between the actual cash value of the set before the loss and the actual cash value after the loss. Since the pair cannot be replaced, the only option is to pay the difference between before and after. For example, the set at ACV is worth $2,000. Without the sofa, the loveseat alone is worth $800. Therefore, the insured gets $1,200 for the loss of the sofa. Standard depreciation methods should be used. There is nothing special about depreciating a pair/set versus any other piece of property

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