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We have an insured that has the DP 00 03 12 02 policy form. It had appliances hooked up to the home and a renter was going to move in sometime in the next couple of weeks. The unit had not had a renter since January though so it had been more than 60 days since someone lived there.

 They had a vandal throw a firebomb through a window. The home suffered minor fire damage and moderate smoke damage. In reading the policy on page 6, it states there is no vandalism coverage if vacant for more than 60 days. I have two questions for coverage on this one.

 1. Would this even be considered vacant?

 2. If it were considered vacant would the resulting fire damage be excluded as a result of the vandalism?

Indiana Subscriber

 

You have 2 good questions there. Vacancy and occupancy are often confused, but they are not the same things. Vacancy is not defined in the policy, so we turn to a dictionary. According to Merriam Webster Online, vacant is "when something is without content or occupant." So you need to determine was the property truly vacant, without any belongings, or was it unoccupied? Appliances are a start, but without any furniture, clothing, bedding I would consider the property vacant.

 As far as vandalism/malicious mischief, back to the dictionary. According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., vandalism is "the willful or malicious destruction or defacement of public or private property." A firebomb is willful with the intent to cause destruction. It's hard to construe that as accidental and not intending harm.

 So if your property is truly vacant, and not just unoccupied, then the loss is excluded. If however the property was full of furniture and able to be moved into and lived in, then I'd say the property was more unoccupied than vacant, and the loss would be covered. However, the carrier is going to wonder if the property was regularly checked on, etc.

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