What Is All Risks?
"All risks" refers to a type of insurance coverage that automatically covers any risk that the contract does not explicitly omit. For example, if an "all risk" homeowner's policy does not expressly exclude flood coverage, then the house will be covered in the event of flood damage.
This type of policy is found only in the property-casualty market.
Key Takeaways
- All risks is a comprehensive insurance policy offered in the property-casualty market.
- All risks and named perils are two types of insurance commonly offered to homeowners and business owners.
- Insurance that allows for all risks means the policyholder can seek compensation for any events that the contract hasn't directly ruled out as being covered.
- Policyholders can usually pay more to have a rider or floater added to the contract that would cover a specific event that was ruled out.
- All risks insurance differs from named perils insurance, in which the policyholder can only seek compensation for events that are specified in the policy.
Understanding All Risks
Insurance providers generally offer two types of property coverage for homeowners and businesses—named perils and "all risks." A named perils insurance contractonly covers the perils stipulated explicitly in the policy.
For example, an insurance contract might specify that any home loss caused by fire or vandalism will be covered. Therefore, an insured who experiences a loss or damage caused by a flood cannot file a claim to his or her insurance provider, as a flood is not named as a peril under the insurance coverage. Under a named perils policy, the burden of proofis on the insured.
An all risks insurance contract covers the insured from all perils, except the onesspecifically excluded from the list. Contrary to a named perils contract, an all risks policy does not name the risks covered, but instead, names the risksnotcovered. In so doing, any peril not named in the exclusions list is automatically covered.
The most common types of perils excluded from "all risks" include earthquake, war, government seizure or destruction, wear and tear, infestation, pollution, nuclear hazard, and market loss. An individual or business who requires coverage for anyexcluded eventunder "all risks" may have the option to pay an additional premium, known as a rider or floater, to have the peril included in the contract.
"All risks" are also called open perils, all perils, or comprehensive insurance.
Burden of Proof
The trigger for coverage under an "all risks" policy is physical loss or damage to property. An insured mustprove physical damage or loss has occurredbefore the burden of proof shifts to the insurer, who then has to prove that an exclusion applies to the coverage.
For example, a small business that experienced a power outage may file a claim citing physical loss. The insurance company, on the other hand, might reject the claim stating thatthe company experienced a loss of income from a mere loss of property use, which is not the same thing as a physical loss ofproperty.
Special Considerations
Because "all risks" is the most comprehensive type of coverage available and protects the insured from a greater number of possible loss events, it is priced proportionately higher than other types of policies. The cost of this type of insurance should, therefore, be measured against the probability of a claim.
It is possible to have named perils and "all risks" in the same policy. For example, an insured may have a property insurance policy that has all risks coverage on the building and named perils on his personal property. Everyoneshould read the fine print of any insurance agreement to ensure that they understand what is excluded in the policy.
Also, just because aninsurance policy is termed “all risks” does not mean that it covers "all risks" since the exclusions reduce the level of coverage that is offered. Make sure you look for the exclusions in any prospective policy.
What Is the Meaning of All Risk?
All risk is a type of insurance product that requires a risk to be explicitly stated for it to not be covered. For example, if the contract does not state "tree damage" as an omitting risk, then if a tree were to fall on the insured property under an all risk policy, since the tree was not explicitly mentioned, the damage would be covered.
What Are the 4 Major Types of Insurance?
There are insurance products for almost everything, but for most people, there are four types of insurance products that are seen more than any other. Life insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, and long-term disability insurance are those that cover most of an individual's risk factors. Once someone owns significant property like a house or something high-value like jewelry or other collector items, they will need additional policies tailored to these individual items. However, most people who rent will own the four major types listed above.
What Are All Risk Perils?
All risk perils is another name for all risk insurance as it relates to individual risks. Named perils is an insurance product that names what is insured in case of an accident. All risks, assuming there are no perils mentioned, could be considered all risk perils since all perils are assumed as risk (under the policy). However, these are rare as they put undue risk acceptance on the insurer, and it is much more common to see many perils listed, even on an all risks policy.
The Bottom Line
All risk insurance, also called all risk coverage, is an insurance product that covers any incident that isn't explicitly mentioned. These policies assume a good deal of risk for the insurer and are less common than named risk coverage, which states exactly what is covered, versus stating only what is to be omitted (which is the case with all risk).
