Horrible Policy Forms and

Today, a NY agent sent me an endorsement that is being attached to CGL policies covering habitational properties. He says this type of endorsement is being used by multiple insurers who write this class of business.

The endorsement in question is called “MAINTENANCE WARRANTY ENDORSMENT” <sic> and, yes, they misspelled “endorsement,” a common signal that a form may be problematic for an insured. The endorsement has a number of grammatical and punctuation issues.

The form includes three exclusions, one being an exclusion for failure to maintain a premises in a safe, sanitary, healthy, habitable, and tenantable condition. Needless to say, an exclusion this broad can be stretched to exclude a lot of things. This is not unusual in the E&S marketplace where forms are frequently developed in-house and not always by skilled and experienced policy form drafters. Which brings me to the next issue.