Summary: Although a separate and distinct element of coverage, vandalism is written in conjunction with other coverages, such as fire, lightning, and smoke under standard forms. The forms in use today—dwelling forms, homeowners forms, commercial property forms, and inland marine forms, for example—include coverage of vandalism and malicious mischief losses automatically, as either a named cause of loss or as an unexcluded cause of loss under an open perils type of form.

This article discusses the evolution of the meaning of vandalism through case law.

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