Damage to Your Work Exclusion under the BOP

November 2014

Our insured was cleaning a window by using two extension poles to wash and clean. He put the pole on his left aside, leaning it against the house. He continued cleaning the window with the right pole. Wind came through and blew the left pole onto the window causing damage.

The policy is BP 00 06 01 97. The exclusion we are wondering about is exclusion (m), damage to your work. Would this exclusion apply in this scenario?

Kansas Subscriber

First there has to be a determination as to whether the insured is liable for the damage. That is a fact-based item that has to be determined before the coverage can even be considered. Was the damage caused by the wind or by the insured's negligence?

Then, if the insured is liable for the damage, the exclusion you cite is not relevant. If the insured had somehow damaged the work he was doing on the window, the exclusion might apply depending on the circumstances. But the damage to the window was not damage to the insured's work; it was damage to another's property and coverage for that type of incident is the purpose of the BOP liability part.

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