1. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL THIS SNOW MELTS??
PROPERTY: EDITION 2
CLAIMS ADVISORY
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ALL THIS SNOW MELTS??
Flood Defined
Flood means rising water, surface water, waves, tidal water, tidal wave or tsunami; rising, overflowing or any breach of streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, or other bodies of water, or spray from any of the foregoing, all whether driven by wind or not.
Flood Coverage
As traditional insurance policies exclude the peril of flood, specific insurance known as Flood Insurance must be purchased to cover loss caused by flood.
If the proximate cause of Physical Damage was due to Flood, and this CAT Peril is not included in the insured property Policy, any associated Business Income loss experienced was also not covered.
Multi locations damaged Peril of Flood coverage in place, SOV’s must include the damaged premises with current SOV. (Remember that the MUL Endorsement does not respond to CAT Perils).
Understated building values could limit recovery, or activate a Co-insurance Clause.
DAMAGE TO INTERIOR OF BUILDING: FUNDAMENTALS
Building coverage for interior water damage resulting from ice dams, rain, sleet and snow entering the building can be dependent upon there being identifiable exterior damage caused by an insured peril that allowed the water to enter the building.
**Occasionally wind raises shingles so that rain may enter, and then re-seats itself when the storm ends. This can be considered to be an opening and coverage may be afforded.
Debris Removal Coverage can be limited to just debris after damage to insured property and would not apply to debris washed or blown onto the insured’s premises.
Backup of Sewers and Drains resulting from general flooding in the area could be considered flooding and therefore subject to what Flood coverage there is in the policy (conversely, sewer backup could be covered only when there is Flood coverage in the policy). As a distinction, a fill up of a lateral line is not the same as a back up from the municipal main line.
Pollution/Contamination of insured property caused by certain perils such as Flood may not be covered.
Claims Advisory: Property Edition 2 – When the Snow Melts
© 2015 USI Insurance Services. All rights reserved. Rev LVB

2. ELEVATED v. NON-ELEVATED BUILDINGS: FUNDAMENTALS
Buildings are classified as either elevated or non-elevated. An Elevated Building is a building that has no basement and has its lowest elevated floor raised above the ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns. In a Non-Elevated Building, the lowest floor used for rating is the building’s lowest floor including a basement, if any.
Coverage is limited in basements regardless of zone or date of construction. It's also limited in areas below the lowest elevated floor, depending on the flood zone and date of construction.
These areas include:
Basements
Crawl spaces under an elevated building
Enclosed areas beneath buildings elevated on full-story foundation walls that are sometimes referred to as "walkout basements“
Enclosed areas under other types of elevated buildings
Unique to National Flood Insurance Program policies, a building that is rated as elevated above ground level even though it is not really elevated above ground level due to an application error must still be adjusted as though it was elevated above ground level and, therefore, is subject to limited coverage for property at ground level.
If you have any questions, please contact your account manager
or member of USI’s Technical Resource Team.
This document is intended as a general overview of common policy terms and conditions. Your individual policy may be very different in terms, endorsements, exclusions, or additional coverages, which can greatly change the terms and scope of your coverage. USI clients should consult with their service team for specifics related to their own policies and should not in any way rely on this general overview as a substitution for their own policies.
Claims Advisory: Property Edition 2 – When the Snow Melts
© 2015 USI Insurance Services. All rights reserved. Rev LVB