This article helps to understand the phrase by answering several questions that arise when the phrase comes into play in insurance coverage disputes. Among the questions discussed are the following: are expected and intended synonymous; what is the importance of intent; what about when the act is intentional but the resulting harm is not; what is the effect of intoxication or mental incapacity on the ability of the insured to form necessary intent; and, what is the relationship between an occurrence and an expected or intended act and result.

For the answers to these question and to better understand “expected or intended”, see the designated article in the Bulletins.

The court cases discussed in the Dec Page come from Virginia, Alabama, and Massachusetts . The Virginia Supreme Court case dealt with the issue of indemnification for a self-insured rental car company. The court had to decide if a car rental company could recover from the insurer or the renter for damages the company paid to a third party due to the renter's negligence in an auto accident. The Alabama case comes from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in which the court resolved a dispute arising from a slip-and-fall at premises owned by an insured. The problem was that the general liability policy had a classification limitation endorsement attached that limited coverage to those operations specified in the application for insurance on file with the insurer. In this application, the insured listed the single word “marina”; however, the actual operations of the insured—and the operations from which the injury arose—included much more than a simple marina. The insurer balked at paying the claim and the court had to settle the dispute. The last case comes from Massachusetts and pertains to a fire loss. The insured, in order to keep the fire insurance on his restaurant applicable, was required to maintain protective safeguards in complete working order. The insured failed to do so, a fire occurred, and the insurer denied coverage. The Appeals Court of Massachusetts had to decide if the insurer made the correct decision.

Questions and Answers

Several questions regarding how tenant's improvements and betterments are valued are addressed. See Improvements and Betterments Valuation.

Thefts from two separate change machines occurred several hours apart. How many occurrences? See One Occurrence or Multiple Occurrences in Theft Loss. Does the CP 00 10's debris removal additional coverage provide for the removal of trees? See Tree Removal Coverage under Property Form.

Homeowners Definitions

The Insurance Services Office has revised the homeowners forms as of May 2011. This article discusses changes made to the definitions section of those forms. See Homeowners Definitions.

ISO Homeowners Program

The Insurance Services Office has revised the homeowners forms as of May 2011. This article discusses changes made to the homeowners program section of those forms. See ISO Homeowners Program.

Federal Crop Insurance

An overview of the Federal Crop Insurance program can be found at Federal Crop Insurance. A basic description of the current Common Crop Insurance Policy is included.