What is Casualty Insurance?

A casualty insurance policy exists to cover a loss that results from an accident. The most common type of casualty insurance is auto liability. Also included in the casualty insurance category is marine insurance that covers losses at sea or shipwrecks, elevator insurance, and other kinds of liability policies that protect against accidents that cause liability. Fraud and burglary are also covered under casualty insurance policies.

Not included in the definition of casualty insurance are property, life, and health insurance.

In most cases, casualty insurance covers injuries to people as well as property damage. That means if something happens to your home, as well as someone inside it, as a result of an accident, your casualty insurance policy is going to cover the medical bills - depending on policy coverages and limits - of the person hurt as well as repair the damage to the house.

When casualty insurance is purchased for a business or home, it is considered a supplemental insurance because it will not cover incidents like floods or fires, which need separate insurance policies to cover them. In most cases a homeowner would not just have a casualty policy, they would have an all-encompassing homeowner policy which is a property and casualty policy. It still may not cover severe flooding, but flood insurance may be available from the government depending on the area you live in.

When casualty insurance is the only policy covering a business, it’s a good idea to read the policy carefully and note what is covered and any exclusions. If there are things that are part of the business - such as the building - that are not covered, check with your insurance agent to see if there is another policy that should be added on.

An important form of casualty insurance is workers' compensation. Workers' compensation insurance protects a company from being overwhelmed by medical or other types of bills when a worker or subcontractor is injured on the job. Many companies will ask a vendor for a copy of their workers' compensation insurance certificate before hiring them on for a job in construction or other job which requires workers to engage in physical labor where an accident may happen. When this type of casualty insurance is in place, the policy takes care of the medical bills and other necessities for the injured worker and reduces the chance that the worker will have to sue in order to get the medical bills paid.