Natural Peril Exclusions - Storm - Part IV

A recent Scottish case of Glasgow Training Group (Motor Trade) Limited v

. Lombard Continental Pic (1988) The Times, 21 November, must be treated with a certain amount of caution in the light of the early authorities referred to above. The assured had claimed that the collapse of part of a roof had resulted from damage by storm or tempest, covered by his property policy. It was clear that the damage had in fact been caused by a large amount of snow falling on the roof. The insurers argued that a storm required some form of violence and, in particular, an element of wind. The assured argued that if the snow was heavy enough, then it would constitute a storm. The court decided that although a storm was something more than adverse weather, the presence of wind was not an essential ingredient. Storm could be used to describe heavy rain or snow.

Therefore, if the snow fell heavily enough, then the event could be called a "snow storm". The court decided that the ordinary use of the word would encompass the heavy fall of snow on the roof in question. The case appears to conflict with the English authorities, and it is not clear that any of these authorities were cited.

In the United States and Canada, any uncertainty as to the requirement of wind is removed by the use of the term "wind storm". In the US case of FidelityFenix Fire Insurance Co. of New York v. Board of Education for the Town of Rosedale, 204 PR, 2d Series, 982, damage occurred to a gymnasium building on school grounds and it was argued by the assured that the damage resulted from a wind storm. It supported earlier authorities that an ordinary gust of wind, no matter how prolonged, is not a wind storm. However, if the wind storm is of sufficient violence to be capable of damaging the assured's property either by its own unaided action or by projecting some object against it, or, in other words, injuriously disturbing the ordinary condition of things, then the wind must be of a tumultuous character and is deemed to be a wind storm. There are many US authorities which attempt to define "wind storm", but each authority seems to depend upon its facts. The authorities seem to suggest that winds up to 30 miles per hour probably do not constitute a wind storm, but after that level each case is differentnaturally the higher the velocity the more likely it is to constitute a wind storm.

In the Canadian case of Kaufman v. New York Underwriters Insurance Co. and Kaufman v. New Zealand Insurance Co. Limited [1955] 2 DLR 556, a policy on a boathouse and dock provided coverage against direct loss or damage caused by wind storm, but excluded loss or damage due to tidal wave, high water, overflow or flood irrespective of the cause. The dock was destroyed when a heavy wind storm caused waves to pound against it. The court decided the insurer was liable on the policy as the peril insured against, namely the wind storm, was the proximate cause of the damage, notwithstanding that the action of waves had intervened. The fact that it was wind-driven water and not wind alone that had caused the damage did not mean that the exclusion should apply. Indeed, the court went on to say that wind storm could denote a broader concept than simply wind. The court decided that it should investigate in order to ascertain whether the peril insured against was the cause without which the damage would not have been sustained. It decided that there was no doubt that during the storm it was the wind alone which created the waves which caused the damage.

Natural Peril Exclusions - Storm - Part IV

By: Willis J. Watson

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