Insurance Defense and Coverage
Policy Anatomy
An exclusion carves out losses from the coverage grant. Standard liability forms exclude expected or intended injury, contractual liability, pollution, employer's liability, auto exposures, and professional services, among others, and endorsements frequently add industry-specific exclusions.
Many exclusions contain exceptions that restore coverage in defined circumstances, so the analysis does not end when an exclusion appears to apply.
Alternative Names:
Exclusion, Coverage Exclusion
Why it Matters?
Exclusions are where most coverage litigation is decided, and where allocation between carriers in a layered tower is usually contested. Because the insurer bears the burden on exclusions and courts construe them narrowly, a denial resting on a broadly worded exclusion without a clear factual fit invites bad faith exposure.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Who must prove that an exclusion applies?
What is an exception to an exclusion?
