Ordinance or Law Coverage: Code for Recovery!

Property Insurance Roundtable

This discussion is about ordinance or law coverage and how to insure for this potential exposure. After a disaster causes property damage or loss many policyholders discover that rebuilding the structure to conform to the latest building codes can add 50% or more to their recovery cost. Then comes the unpleasant surprise of discovering the ordinance or law exclusion that prevents a full recovery. With building codes, such as sprinkler systems and handicap accessibility, frequently changing, it is important to understand what your insurance excludes and how to acquire adequate coverage.

Key Takeaways:

[1:47] What is the ordinance or law exclusion?

[3:59] What are the three distinct areas of uninsured losses under the ordinance or law exclusion?

[10:00] How to determine if the exclusion will apply and what its probable expense will be on the loss adjustment?

[12:59] How can policyholders protect themselves from the ordinance or law exclusion?

[18:26] What types of coverages are available for policyholders to counteract the ordinance or law exclusion?

[24:31] Is it true that once the need for ordinance or law coverage is established policyholders must ask how much of each coverage is needed?

[27:41] Are there any circumstances in which the building ordinance or law coverage would not apply?

[30:38] Who can the insured reach out to for questions and insurance concerns regarding ordinance or law coverage?

[32:00] How does the ordinance and law exclusion affect business income and extra expense coverage?

[34:48] What role could ordinance and law play when a building has contiguous walls to another structure?

Panelists:

● C. Todd Thomas, Executive Director at Adjusters International and Member of the Society of Risk Management Consultants

● Jim Mahurin, Risk Management Consultant and Member of the Society of Risk Management Consultants

● John Marini, President, and CEO at Adjusters International

● Luis Esteves, Principal, and Executive General Adjuster at Jansen/Adjusters International

Moderator:

● Marjorie Musick, Social Media Specialist at Adjusters International/Basloe, Levin & Cuccaro, and Jansen/Adjusters International

Mentioned in This Episode:

Adjusters International

For further information on this topic, please read our Adjusting Today® article: "Ordinance or Law Coverage: Code for Recovery!"