Insurance Coverage in the Absence of Property Damage

Originally published Risk Management Magazine (May 2012)

Recent and tragic catastrophes like the natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, the Gulf oil spill and the Icelandic volcano eruption have placed into focus once again the importance of commercial property insurance that covers losses even where the policyholder's own property suffers no direct damage. Many policyholders in the financial, gaming, hospitality and retail sectors purchase property insurance policies that provide "time element" protection, covering lost business income caused by damage to property away from the insured premises or owned by others. In fact, some property insurance policies provide coverage for losses of business income where there is no property damage at all.