Personal Property in Detached Trailer Considered Temporarily Stored?

May 9, 2016

Our insured has a warehouse operation. A common carrier arrived late at the warehouse and detached the trailer within 100 feet of the insured building. That trailer's goods were not unloaded to the warehouse that day because the trailer arrived minutes before closing hours. During that night the trailer was stolen. The personal property inside the trailer was valued at $200,000.

The insured has form CP 00 10 10 12, Building and Personal Property Coverage Form. Does the $10,000 limitation under the coverage extension for business personal property temporarily in portable storage units apply to this situations? The clause includes detached trailer. Do you consider this an unloaded trailer with goods being temporally stored? The form reads as follows:

5. Coverage Extensions

Except as otherwise provided, the following Extensions apply to property located in or on the building described in the Declarations or in the open (or in a vehicle) within 100 feet of the described premises.

g. Business Personal Property Temporarily In Portable Storage Units

(1) You may extend the insurance that applies to Your Business Personal Property to apply to such property while temporarily stored in a portable storage unit (including a detached trailer) located within 100 feet of the building or structure described in the Declarations or within 100 feet of the premises described in the Declarations, whichever distance is greater.

(4) Under this Extension, the most we will pay for the total of all loss or damage to business personal property is $10,000 (unless a higher limit is indicated in the Declarations for such Extension) regardless of the number of storage units.

Puerto Rico Subscriber

The situation you describe would fit the parameters of the coverage extension. Since the extension explicitly states that a detached trailer is included as a portable storage unit, the goods were meant to be unloaded at the warehouse—so were temporarily stored—and the trailer was located within 100 feet of the building, the extension should apply.

 

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