Collapse of Floor

August 1, 2012

PH insures a home under her HO 3 policy. The dwelling has a sunroom built on wooden piers. The patio floor caves in rendering the room unfit for use. There are minor cracks to the ceiling but the room's walls and ceiling do not fall in.

Engineer determines that moisture in the soil caused the support piers to shift over time creating torque/tension on the floor that ultimately led to its damage.

Is this loss covered as a “collapse” under the policy? Do the walls/ceilings also have to fall in order for this to be considered a collapse? Would the earth movement exclusion serve to exclude this loss?

Ohio Subscriber

The HO 03 defines collapse as an abrupt falling down or caving of a building or part of a building with the result that the building or part of a building cannot be occupied for its intended purpose. So the floor collapsed, but the ceiling/walls did not. However in order for collapse to be covered, it must be caused by specific named perils. Moisture in the soil is not one of the named perils, therefore there is no coverage.