[N/A] Insurance Q - act of war?

[Pi1otguy]

Way back when I first got rental insurance I noticed it had a clause excluding acts of war. I took that to mean that if the Mexican Army drove up the 5, captured my airport, and a few stray shells blew up the 172 before I handed the keys back I'd be out of luck.

So, is the "act of war" a common exclusion on most insurance policies? (car, home, etc)

And politics aside, would the declaration from the government that an attack was an act of terrorism vs a simple criminal act allow an insurance company to deny a claim? Most terrorist groups have openly declared war at some point, so it's not a huge stretch to regard acts of terrorism as acts of war.

 

[Papa Foxtrot]

So, is the "act of war" a common exclusion on most insurance policies? (car, home, etc)

Yes

And politics aside, would the declaration from the government that an attack was an act of terrorism vs a simple criminal act allow an insurance company to deny a claim? Most terrorist groups have openly declared war at some point, so it's not a huge stretch to regard acts of terrorism as acts of war.

Terrorism is not an "Act of War" by federal statute and the statute requires that Terrorism coverage be offered at the same terms(limit/deductible) as the overlying coverage. I doubt many personal insurance policies exclude Terrorism since there is very limited exposure(I suppose homeowners cover in NYC or other major city might be an exception). Fortunately, the statute has yet to be tested...

 

[Papa Foxtrot]

Here's the War Exclusion from ISO's standard property form:

f. War And Military Action
(1) [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]War, including undeclared or civil war; [/FONT][/FONT]
(2) [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Warlike action by a military force, including action in hindering or defending against an actual or expected attack, by any government, sovereign or other authority using military personnel or other agents; or [/FONT][/FONT]
(3) [FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Insurrection, rebellion, revolution, usurped power, or action taken by governmental authority in hindering or defending against any of these. [/FONT][/FONT]

While on the surface, the exclusion language appears pretty broad, but the trigger here is really the scope of the conflict. Again, fortunately we haven't had a need to use this type of clause in the U.S.