On Wednesday, January 6, a large group of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, damaging the building, injuring many and causing the death of five. Dozens have been arrested and charged, and authorities are continuing to look for others. The attack has been called everything from a riot to an attempted coup on the government and participants have been called insurrectionists or domestic terrorists but many participants consider themselves peaceful protesters. But what is the difference, and does it make any difference in insurance coverage?

Well, it might. Some policy exclusions are identical or very similar across the board. In the ISO homeowners policy, the war exclusion reads as follows:

War includes the following and any consequence of any of the following:

1. Undeclared war, civil war, insurrection, rebellion or revolution;
2. Warlike act by a military force or military personnel; or
3. Destruction, seizure or use for a military purpose.

The ISO commercial property causes of loss forms exclude war as follows:

1. War, including undeclared or civil war;
2. Warlike action by a military force, including action in hindering or defending against an actual or expected attack, by any government, sovereign or other authority using military personnel or other agents; or
3. Insurrection, rebellion, revolution, usurped power or action taken by governmental authority in hindering or defending against any of these.

There are no defined terms in these exclusions, so for definitions of terms like insurrection, rebellion or revolution, a common definition would be used. When terms are undefined, courts routinely turn to standard desk references as that is what is accessible to most insureds, and provides the common meaning of the terms understood by most people.