Property Insurance

Property insurance for residents of Grand Prairie, Arlington, Weatherford, Dallas, Cleburne, Mansfield, De Soto, Duncanville, Lancaster, and other residents in Texas is not something most would be familiar with or how it works. So what is it?
Property insurance involves the indemnification of the insured by the insurance company for the loss of, or damage to, indentifiable property described either specifically or by general language in the policy. This is discussed in the Dallas Court of Appeals case, Cumis Insurance Society v. Republic National Bank of Dallas, decided in 1972. Coverage evaluations in the context of property insurance examine the relationship between perils covered under the policy and perils excluded under the policy. This is discussed by the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals case, Warrilow v. Norrell, a 1989 decision.
Property insurance policies are intended solely to indemnify the insured for his or her actual monetary loss, and unless the insured has sustained an actual loss, the insurance company has no liability. This is stated in Highlands Insurance Company v. City of Galveston, by the Houston Court of Appeals, 14th District, decided in 1986.
The most popular types of personal property insurance are auto insurance and homeowners insurance. Although both of these types of policies provide liability coverage, they also insure the property of the insured.
Commercial property insurance includes all forms of insurance covering property loss exposures of both business and non-profit organizations. The most common commercial property coverages are provided under standard forms developed by Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) or the American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS). In many instances, an organization’s property insurance is provided through a “package policy.” A package policy ordinarily provides different types of coverage (e.g., property insurance and liability insurance). A monoline policy, in contrast, provides only one distinct type of coverage. The most common form of commercial property insurance is the Commercial Package Policy printed by ISO since 1986. Commercial property insurance can consist of:
1) Building and contents insurance: Provides coverage on insured buildings and the property contained in such buildings.
2) Machinery insurance: Covers steam boilers, pressure vessels, and various types of machinery such as air conditioning equipment, air compressors, turbines and all types of production machines.
3) Commercial crime insurance: Covers causes of loss generally excluded by building and contents insurance, including losses caused by employee dishonesty, forgery, theft, burglary, robbery, and extortion. Crime insurance usually covers both money and securities.
4) Commercial inland marine insurance: Covers a wide range of loss exposures, which usually involve some element of transportation or communications. Examples of inland marine exposures are property in transit, mobile equipment, property being installed by a contractor, bridges, and radio towers.
5) Farm insurance: Covers the famer’s residential loss exposures (dwelling and household personal property) and business loss exposures. Farm buildings and farm personal property, including livestock, are usually insured under one form.
6) Other property coverages: Other coverages include aircraft insurance, marine vessel and cargo insurance, condiminiums, builders risk insurance, business income, commercial flood, commercial credit, commercial title, and differences in conditions insurance.
What is relevant here is that there are many different types of insurance for damage to property. In addition to the many different types of insurance there are many different policies with different language written into them. This multiplies the need for an experienced Insurance Law Attorney to help in these types of claims. Even when the claim is not denied there are often times other coverges within the property insurance policy that the insured is not aware of that he is paying for and can be of benefit to him.