When protests, riots or civil disorders break out, business,home and vehicle owners can suffer and property damage can resultin large losses for insurers.

Sometimes, even a harmless gathering can suddenly turn into anugly mob, causing looting, vandalism and fires that can causemillions of dollars in damage.

Depending on the type of property involved, there are severaltypes of insurance coverages available to protect policyholdersfrom most forms of civil commotion.

Recent costly uprisings

In 2015, arson and looting occurred in Baltimore, Maryland,following the funeral for Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old who diedafter suffering a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Theestimated insured loss from the property damage is about $24million, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.).

Related: 5 kinds of insurance you'll be grateful you boughtafter a riot

After a grand jury failed to indict Feguson, Missouri, policeofficer Darren Wilson for shooting Michael Brown in the summer of2014, riots erupted throughout Ferguson and promptedprotests across the country. More than twodozen businesses ranging from restaurants and drug stores to gasstations and large chains were damaged by fires and looters. It's notclear how much the violence cost in terms of total insured lossesin the low-income area of Ferugson.

Peaceful protests have recently been in the news throughout theUnited States. Thankfully, no violence or widespread propertydamage has been reported. However, if you lived through the 1960s,you may not be surprised to learn that five of the costliest civildisorders in the U.S. occurred in that era. The first Fair Access to Insurance (FAIR) Plans, designed toprovide property insurance in high-risk areas, were developed inresponse to these uprisings.

FAIR Plans

Historically, many riots take place in marginalized, economicallydepressed neighborhoods. In 1967, riots broke out in many citiesacross the nation. As property insurers withdrew from inner-cityneighborhoods, citing huge losses, insurance departments andinsurance industry leaders were called upon to expand existingurban plans and create new ones which eventually led to theestablishment of FAIR Plans, the I.I.I. explains.

The concept of FAIR Plans was established following passage byCongress of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, ameasure designed to address the conditions that led to the 1967urban riots. This legislation made federal riot reinsuranceavailable to those states that instituted such property insurancepools.

Based on data from the Property Claim Services (a Verisk Analytics business)and the I.I.I., here are the top 10 most costly U.S. civildisorders, as of April 30, 2015:

(Photo: iStock)

10. Cleveland, Ohio - Glenville Shootout

July 23-24, 1968

On the evening of July 23, 1968, violence erupted between policeand a black militant group led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans withinCleveland's 6 square mile Glenville neighborhood. When orderwas finally restored three days later on July 28 by the NationalGuard, 7 people were dead , 15 wounded. (Source: The Glenville Shootout, The Cleveland MemoryProject)

Estimated insured loss in dollars when occurred: $1.5million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $10.2million

One of the signs along historic Route 66 in downtownAlbuquerque, N.M. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

9. Albuquerque, New Mexico - Roosevelt Park

June 13-15, 1971

On June 13, 1971, rioting broke out at RooseveltPark after police attempted to arrest a young man standing ina crowd of several hundred rowdy youth. A small scuffle escalatedinto a brawl leading officers to fire upon the crowd, wounding atleast nine people.

Outraged, nearly 500 youth moved into the downtown area wherethey overturned cars, shattered windows, looted and severelydamaged and destroyed buildings. Police attacked rock- andbottle-throwing protesters with tear gas but wereoverwhelmed. The New Mexico National Guardsmen cameinto the city to assist officers. (Source: Latino Rebels)

See also: National Guard mobilized to curb Albuquerqueriots, The Prescott Courier, June 14, 1971.

Estimated insured loss in dollars when occurred: $3million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: 17.5million

Policemen grab a youth who refused to leave scene near fireon Chicago’s west side on July 15, 1966. Police pushed back crowdsafter some onlookers threw rocks at firemen fighting a fire at aone-story bottling company building. (AP Photo/LarryStoddard)

8. Chicago, Illinois - West Side Fire Hydrant Riot

July 12-15, 1966

Youth clashed with police over an unplugged fire hydrant on theWest Side. James Parker, 17, and his friends refused officers’orders to cap the hydrant because kids were splashing in thewater. When police arrested Parker and his friends, neighborsrioted. (Source: Chicago Reporter)

Stores were looted and burned throughout Chicago's West Sideuntil 1,200 National Guardsmen arrived on July 15. Violence quicklysubsided and most of the troops were sent home on July 20.(Source: Wikipedia)

Estimated insured loss in dollars when occurred: $4million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $29.3million

Newark firemen stand amid debris and litter while trying tosave burning structures early July 14, 1967 in Newark. N.J. Riotingthat erupted in the predominantly black area of Newark's centralward spread to a mile-long area of destruction that reached theheart of the business district. This scene is at corner of Spruceand Charlton streets in Newark. (AP Photo)

7. Newark, New Jersey - Newark Riot

July 12-21, 1967

Newark, New Jersey, dissolved into a bloody riot that would, overthe next six days, leave 26 individuals dead, hundreds injured, andbetween $10 and $15 million in property damage.

Violence erupted after a cab driver who was arrested forallegedly driving around a double-parked police car was severelybeaten by police officers. When rumor spread that the cabdriver had died in police custody, an angry crowd threw bricks andbottles at the precinct.

Related: A look at arson and the vacancyexclusion

Three nights into the riot, New Jersey Governor RichardHughes declared a state of emergency. The violence began tosubside down on July 17, when National Guardsmen and state troopersmoved out of Newark.

In the end, 24 African Americans, one white police detective,and one white fireman were killed — most of them by police orNational Guard troops aiming at suspected snipers. More than 1,500individuals were arrested. (Source: Long Civil Right Movement)

Estimated insured loss in dollars whenoccurred: $11 million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $78million

Police and demonstrators gather in the aftermath of riotingfollowing Monday's funeral for Freddie Gray, who died in policecustody, on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/EvanVucci)

6. Baltimore, Maryland - Freddie Gray Funeral

April 25-27, 2015

Between April 25 and 27, 2015, looting and arson occurred inBaltimore, Maryland, following the funeral for Freddie Gray, a25-year-old who died after suffering a severe spinal cord injurywhile in police custody.

Estimated insured loss in dollars when occurred in2015: $23.9 million

Related: Baltimore burning: Rioters set the city ablaze,battle police

Firefighters in the Bronx battle flames in one of the manyfires raging in stores throughout New York City during the blackoutof 1977 in this July 14, 1977 file photo. The blackout, whichlasted 25 hours, was marked by looting and chaos. (AP Photo,File)

5. New York City, New York - NYC Blackout

July 13-14, 1977

In a blackout that lasted from 9:34 p.m. on July 13 to 10:39 p.m.on July 14, 1,000 fires were reported, 1,600 stores were damaged inlooting and rioting and 3,700 people werearrested. Neighborhoods from East Harlem to Bushwick weredevastated. (Source: The New York Times)

A series of lightning strikes on power lines and infrastructureled to a cascade of shutdowns, overloads and failures. An hourafter the first strike, the entire Con Edison system powering NewYork City shut down completely.

The crisis came during a heat wave, a financial downturn, risingpoverty and inequality and an atmosphere of paranoia brought on bythe Son of Sam murders. No sooner had the lights gone out thanthe looting and arson began. (Source: Mashable)

Estimated insured loss in dollars whenoccurred: $28 million (Includes lossescaused primarily by fires, looting, vandalism and maliciousmischief)

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $109.4million

People walk past ruins in the Culmer section of Miami May19, 1980 after rioting over the acquittal of four police officerscharged with the 1979 beating death of Arthur McDuffie, a blackmotorcyclist. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

4. Miami, Florida - McDuffie Riots

May 17-19, 1980

A three-day race riot exploded in Miami when a group of Miami-DadePolice officers were acquitted after being charged with beating ablack man to death over a traffic violation.

Arthur McDuffie reportedly led cops on a high-speed chase on hismotorcycle in December 1979.

When he stopped, put his hands in the air, and said “I give up,”police allegedly beat him so hard with their nightsticksthey cracked his skull in half. McDuffie later diedafter days in a coma.

After an all-white jury deliberated for just three hours at atrial in Tampa, all the officers involved wereacquitted of any crime.

Outrage sparked back in Miami where a May 18th protest downtownescalated to a burning, three-mile-wide riot in Liberty City.(Source: The Huffington Post)

Estimated insured loss in dollars whenoccurred: $65.3 million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $187.5million

In this Aug. 14, 1965 file photo, firefighters battle ablaze set in a shoe store that collapses in flames during riotingin the Watts district of Los Angeles. (AP Photo,File)

3. Los Angeles, California - Watts Riot

August 11-15, 1965

In the predominantly black Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles,racial tension reached a breaking point after two white policemenscuffled with a black motorist suspected of drunken driving.

A crowd of spectators gathered near the corner of AvalonBoulevard and 116th Street to watch the arrest and soon grew angryby what they believed to be yet another incident of raciallymotivated abuse by the police. A riot soon began, spurred on byresidents of Watts who were embittered after years of economic andpolitical isolation.

The rioters eventually roamed over a 50-square-mile area ofSouth Central Los Angeles, looting stores, torching buildings, andbeating whites as snipers fired at police and firefighters.Finally, with the assistance of thousands of National Guardsmen,order was restored on August 16.

The five days of violence left 34 dead, 1,032 injured, nearly4,000 arrested, and nearly $40 million worth of property destroyed.(Source: history.com)

Estimated insured loss in dollars whenoccurred: $38 million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $285.6million

City of Detroit crew busy at work cleaning up debris on 12thstreet in Detroit, July 27, 1967 where the most damage was causedduring the riots. A ruptured gas line burns through a pile ofrubble at left. (AP Photo)

2. Detroit, Michigan - 12th Street Riot

July 23-31, 1967

In the early morning hours of July 23, 1967, one of the worst riotsin U.S. history broke out on 12th Street in the heart of Detroit’spredominantly African-American inner city. By the time it wasquelled four days later by 7,000 National Guard and U.S. Armytroops, 43 people were dead, 342 injured, and nearly 1,400buildings had been burned. (Source: history.com)

Estimated insured loss in dollars whenoccurred: $41.5 million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $294.2million

This April 29, 1992 file photo shows several buildings in aBoys Market shopping center fully engulfed in flames beforefirefighters can arrive as rioting erupted in South-Central LosAngeles. The acquittal of four police officers in the videotapedbeating of Rodney King sparked rioting that spread across the cityand into neighboring suburbs. Cars were demolished and homes andbusinesses were burned. Before order was restored, 55 people weredead, 2,300 injured and more than 1,500 buildings were damaged ordestroyed. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

1. Los Angeles, California - Rodney King Verdict

April 29 - May 4, 1992

Four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught beatingRodney King, an unarmed African-American motorist, in anamateur video are acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest. Hoursafter the verdicts were announced, outrage and protest turned toviolence, as rioters in south-central Los Angeles blocked freewaytraffic and beat motorists, wrecked and looted numerous downtownstores and buildings and set more than 100 fires. (Source:history.com)

Estimated insured loss in dollars whenoccurred: $775 million

Estimated insured loss in 2014 dollars: $1,308million

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