Relative Must Be Resident in Order to Be Insured

December 26, 2012

The following circumstances apply:
• Our named insured is the owner of the building on record, the insurance is in her name, and the home is the named insured's primary residence.
• The named insured was temporarily living in a rental home and was remodeling her primary residence.
• The insured's contents remained in the home including all the furniture as well as personal articles and clothing.
• While staying in the rental home, she maintained electricity, water, and gas at the insured location. All bills for utilities remained in the name of the named insured.
• The intention of the insured was to move back into the home once the remodeling was complete.
Due to recent financial hardship, the named insured's thirty-two-year-old adult son had been staying in the insured location for two months prior to the covered loss. The insurance carrier has recently denied coverage for loss of use and for the personal property owned by the son. The insurance carrier states that “the son would not be considered an insured as the residence premise is not occupied by the insured and the insured is living at the rental location.”
Our position is that the thirty-two-year-old son is an insured by definition of “insured” as offered in the policy. Therefore we believe his personal property would be covered as well as additional living expenses.