After a break-in or a storm: what your policy requires you to do.

When a window goes in overnight, or a storm opens a roof, or a vehicle takes out a storefront, the first question is usually whether to secure it now or wait for the adjuster. The standard commercial property form answers that fairly clearly, and in the owner’s favour.

It is a duty, not just good practice

Among the duties the insured must perform after a loss, the Building and Personal Property Coverage Form lists this:

Take all reasonable steps to protect the Covered Property from further damage, and keep a record of your expenses necessary to protect the Covered Property, for consideration in the settlement of the claim. This will not increase the Limit of Insurance. However, we will not pay for any subsequent loss or damage resulting from a cause of loss that is not a Covered Cause of Loss. Also, if feasible, set the damaged property aside and in the best possible order for examination.

ISO CP 00 10 04 02, Loss Condition E.3.a.(4)

Two things follow from that sentence. First, protecting the building is something you are required to do, not something you should wait for permission to do. Second, keep the receipts — the form says those costs are for consideration in the settlement.

And there is a penalty for not doing it

The companion form makes the other half of the deal explicit. Among the excluded causes of loss:

Neglect of an insured to use all reasonable means to save and preserve property from further damage at and after the time of loss.

ISO CP 10 30 10 12, B.2.m

So the rain that comes through the hole you left open for three days is a different conversation from the hole itself.

The first hour

Guidance from the US Fire Administration, written after fires but sound after any opening event, is to board up openings so nobody can get in while the building is unattended, contact the insurer straight away and ask what they want done about immediate needs, and let the police department know the property will be unoccupied. Insurers often keep a list of pre-approved contractors for this.

Practically: photograph everything before anything is moved or covered. Then secure openings, stop water where you can, and write down what you spent.

Why speed matters more for an empty building

If the space is between tenants, the exposure compounds. The same policy form treats a building as vacant when less than 31 percent of it is in use, and after 60 consecutive days vacant it will not pay for vandalism, theft, glass breakage or water damage at all, and reduces everything else by 15 percent. An unsecured, empty commercial building is the worst combination of those facts. We covered the vacancy clause in more detail in what your policy will not cover.

For scale on how common this is: The Hartford, analysing more than a million small business policies from 2020 to 2024, found burglary and theft tied for the most frequent claim type at 20 percent, alongside water and freezing damage and customer injury.

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