Damage Caused by Bears

September 5, 2016

If a bear damages the siding on the insured's garage, would this be covered under the homeowner's policy? Would the bear be considered a vermin?

Indiana Subscriber

It depends on what policy form you are using. The ISO HO 00 03 10 00 excludes birds, vermin, rodents, and insects. Exclusions are to be read narrowly, and Merriam Webster online defines “vermin” as “a: small, common, harmful, or objectionable animals (as lice or fleas) that are difficult to control; b: birds and mammals that prey on game; c: animals that at a particular time and place compete (as for food) with humans or domestic animals.”

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary considers “vermin” as “small animals and insects that can be harmful and difficult to control when they appear in large numbers.”

Keeping the exclusion for vermin in context with the rest of the exclusion, which is birds, rodents, and insects, bears are nothing like any of those categories, so we would not consider bears to be vermin. The loss should be covered.