Q

Our insured is covered under the businessowners special form, BP 00 02 12 99. One evening, several storms with high winds and torrential rains passed through the area. A portable dumpster on wheels was sitting outside of the garage door of the insured building, and the high winds tossed this into the door, damaging the lower part. This allowed water to enter the building causing substantial damage to inventory. We realize that there is an exclusion for flood, surface water, etc., but since wind is the proximate cause of damage to the door, isn't coverage for this loss in order?

Pennsylvania Subscriber

A

Surface water is generally held to be rain and run-off of rain and melting snow that meanders over the ground. Since damage by surface water is specifically excluded, this incident falls under the exclusion. Your point that the proximate cause of damage can be said to be wind, in that wind pushed the dumpster into the door, might have prevailed prior to the adoption of concurrent causation language in the policy. The lead-in to the exclusion section containing the water exclusion reads: “We will not pay for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by any of the following. Such loss or damage is excluded regardless of any other cause or event that contributes concurrently or in any sequence to the loss.” This language was added to property policies in the mid 1980s to exclude losses where the direct cause of loss was excluded, but a chain of proximate causation could be followed back to some event not excluded under the policy. For more on this topic see Concurrent Causation.