Insurance Law Lesson 15: Coverage Parts

Prior lessons discussed that policies are geared toward particular risks, leading to most people/entities having multiple policies (Lessons 1, 8, 10). But, many policies do tackle more than one aspect of a risk.

For example, a commercial policy might include a commercial property coverage part and a commercial general liability (“CGL”) coverage part. (See lesson 8 regarding the difference). There might also be an employer’s liability coverage part and maybe an excess or umbrella coverage part.

Separate coverage parts are like distinctive policies that share certain terms and conditions. You can think of this like a venn diagram. There are shared terms, but there are also significant distinct areas. You should not assume that a term or definition in one coverage part is the same in another coverage part.

What about endorsements? We know that policies have lots of forms, including endorsements that modify the base coverage. (See lesson 2). When reviewing a policy with multiple coverage parts, make sure to confirm which coverage part(s) an endorsement is modifying. This is typically written at the top of an endorsement.

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