A special form policy is usually best as it offers more coverage than a named peril policy. Here are a few examples of losses where special form coverage made the difference and a claim was paid:
- A battery was left on a hardwood floor. When the battery acid leaked out, it spread to the point that it was necessary to replace a large section of the floor.
- An insured tipped over a bucket containing ammonia. The solution ruined a room’s carpeting.
- A deer jumped through a picture window. Before escaping, it went wild, damaging walls and furnishings and bleeding as it ran.
- A washing machine’s load became unbalanced. As the washer’s spin cycle began, it moved from its position, hit a water heater, poking a hole in the heater’s casing and breaking its glass liner.
- An insured was walking on the floor joists of his unfinished attic. The insured slipped off of the joists and fell through the living room ceiling, causing extensive damage.
- A two-year-old boy found a hammer and went on a spree through his parent’s house, seriously damaging several plaster walls, a toilet bowl, sink, dressing table and other items.
- A bucket of paint was spilled on an insured’s hardwood floors, getting into floor cracks and pores. It was necessary to replace much of the wood.
- Finally, an insured converted his oil furnace to gas without removing the home’s oil-input pipe. On its regularly scheduled day, an oil company tanker arrived and pumped 500 gallons of oil into the insured’s basement.
