Other issues that arise under homeowner insurance policies

Renting

Suppose the potentially liable person is someone who was renting a room or a garage at the insured residence? The commonly used form provided by Insurance Services Office provides coverage if the rental did not exceed 90 days in the 12 months prior to the accident. Otherwise, there may not be coverage.

Operating a business

What if the liable person was operating a business at the residence? Examples might include a daycare or a small rodeo. The commonly used forms exclude injuries arising out of or in connection with a business of the liable person, no matter where it is conducted.

However, the courts have placed limits on this exclusion. A case in California, for example, held that the homeowner policy provided coverage even though the homeowner was operating a daycare and the victim was a child at the daycare center, because the child was injured when he fell into a pool, and the pool itself had nothing to do with the daycare center.

The same reasoning would apply to the family dog: even though the child bitten by the dog was at the house for daycare, the dog had nothing to do with the business and therefore the exclusion would not apply.