Casualty Insurance Coverages and Policy Provisions
Liability fundamentals
Casualty coverage pays sums the insured is legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage, plus defense costs. The occurrence form covers injury or damage that takes place during the policy period, no matter when the claim is reported. The claims-made form covers claims first made during the policy period (or an extended reporting period), subject to a retroactive date. Injury triggers include exposure, injury-in-fact, manifestation and continuous injury.
CGL mechanics
Know the standard exclusions and definitions: expected or intended injury, contractual liability, your product, your work, impaired property, recall, damage to property in your care, custody or control, and pollution. Personal and advertising injury is a separate coverage with its own limit. Limits: each occurrence, general aggregate, products-completed operations aggregate, personal and advertising injury, damage to premises rented to you, and medical expense.
Auto and workers compensation
The personal auto policy provides liability, medical payments, uninsured/underinsured motorist, and physical damage (collision and other than collision). Workers compensation is a statutory no-fault benefit system with an exclusive remedy: medical, disability income, death and rehabilitation benefits, plus Part Two employers liability. Umbrella and excess policies sit above underlying limits and may broaden coverage; umbrellas usually drop down for a covered loss when the underlying policy is exhausted or absent.
Traps
- Assuming a claims-made policy covers a claim reported after expiry because the injury happened during the term.
- Believing UM/UIM pays for damage to the insured's own vehicle.
- Treating an intentional act as an "occurrence."
Worked example: injury on 12/1/2023, claim reported 3/2024. An occurrence policy in force in December 2023 responds; a claims-made policy responds only if the claim is first made within its period or an extended reporting period and after the retroactive date.