The Author

The Author
Greg Gotwald is an insurance coverage attorney and partner at the law firm of Plews Shadely Racher & Braun LLP

Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Structure of an Insurance Policy--The Definitions (Part 5 of 8)

PART 5—POLICY STRUCTURE

The Definitions

Have you noticed in the previous posts that I keep putting quotes around certain words (e.g., “loss,” “property damage,” and “bodily injury”)? They weren’t air quotes—I loath air quotes. It was intentional. Your policy will have quoted words (sometimes they’re italicized, bolded or in all caps instead), and these words have very special meanings. They are defined terms. Often the actual definitions are not what you would expect. You need to read them. The Definitions Section is part of the reason why “reading” (OK, those were air quotes; I suppose “loath” was a bit strong) an insurance policy is so difficult. Every time you come across a defined term, you have to go to the definition of that term and essentially substitute the definition for the term. It’s confusing enough just explaining what you have to do.

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