Believe it or not, the ISO standard CGL policy has an exclusion titled “Damage to Property.” Wait, isn’t one of the reasons for buying General Liability to cover Property Damage? Yes, it is, but some PD is excluded by Clause J of the Exclusions.

Two sections of the PD exclusion are often referred to as the “Care, Custody and Control” exclusion. The sections exclude property damage to:

• “Personal property in the care, custody or control of the insured;
• That particular part of real property on which you or any contractors or subcontractors working directly or indirectly on your behalf are performing operations, if the ‘property damage’ arises out of those operations.”

Might make sense in theory to exclude, as the personal property of others should be insured by those others. But consider the following examples:

1. A remodeler contractor is pulling down cabinets for refinishing, accidentally drops a cabinet and damages it.
2. A stove is being delivered for installation, and it falls off the side of the hand truck, damaging the stove.
3. A cleaner is dusting a painting, accidentally knocks it off the wall and the canvas is torn.

All these occurrences will be blamed on the contractor, and there is no coverage in the CGL. The offending party will have to pay for the damage out of pocket, or risk an angry customer and bad reputation. Contractors who go onto their clients’ property, and take temporary custody or control of personal property, have the most exposure. Contractors that need this include cleaning, appliance service, pest control – many categories.

How do we cover this gap? Through purchase of Voluntary Property Damage. Typical limits are $10,000 or less, which would likely cover the examples used here, and most other claims. The limit is negotiable, as in all things insurance.

A limit of $10,000 or less is probably going to cost $50 – $200 additional premium. Not much dent in your client’s insurance bill, or much increase in your commission. But providing this coverage, and pointing out to your prospect that the competitor’s policy excludes it, might make the difference in landing the new business.