Named Peril

A named peril policy covers only the causes of loss that are explicitly listed in the policy document. If the event that damaged your property matches one of the named perils, the claim is covered. If the cause of loss is not on the list, the claim is denied -- regardless of how significant the damage is or how reasonable a coverage expectation might seem. This is the narrower of the two main policy coverage structures, the other being open peril, which covers all causes of loss except those specifically excluded.

A typical named peril list for personal property coverage includes about 16 causes: fire or lightning, windstorm or hail, explosion, riot, aircraft impact, vehicle impact, smoke, vandalism, theft, falling objects, weight of ice or snow, accidental water overflow from plumbing or appliances, accidental steam system cracking, electrical damage from artificial current, and a few others. The list sounds comprehensive until you file a claim for something not on it. A child's toy car driven into a large television is not a named peril. A drain backing up and flooding your laundry room is not a named peril on most standard forms. A piece of jewelry that disappears without a clear cause (called mysterious disappearance) is not a named peril on a standard policy.

Named peril coverage is most commonly found on the personal property section (Coverage C) of standard homeowners forms and on the basic landlord dwelling forms. If your policy is on a named peril form for contents, know exactly what is listed before a loss. Upgrading to an open-peril form for personal property -- typically by moving to an HO-5 homeowners form -- adds coverage for any cause not specifically excluded, which is substantially broader protection for an incremental premium difference.