I have heard different sides of the argument regarding the moral aspect of rioting during protest, and one of those in particular caught my attention. Many seem to believe that properties that are being attacked are insured and are falsely assuming that it doesn't really affect the owners of the properties. As a minority-owned business we stand with seeking justice for the death of George Floyd as much as we stand for it to be done in a peaceful and effective manner. The topic in discussion is how does this truly affect the owners under this circumstance. We have seen that many times the vehicles of civilians are also damaged or destroyed. Let's start there since there are more individuals who own vehicles than businesses. I went to the first personal auto policy I though of and here is what I found:
Many insurance contracts have this exclusion. That does not mean that it is always excluded. My suggestion will be to call your insurance agent or company and find out if you are not sure. It will also be a good idea to see it in writing in the contract. Here is an example one of that I found where it would the property is covered:
Another thing to consider is that many small businesses do not insure their business property because it is not cheap. In average it can cost around $1,000 to insure every $100,000 of business personal property. After all the overhead expenses (rent, utilities, payroll, taxes, etc) property insurance can be at the bottom of the list of needs for many business owners. The point that I am trying to make is that we should not assume that the property that is damaged, stolen, or destroyed is insured. We should also keep in mind that even if it is insured it may not be covered.