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Intentional Acts Exclusions and Fortuity   

https://zalma.com/blog

Implicit in the concept of insurance is that the loss occur as a result  of a fortuitous event not one planned, intended, or anticipated. Oddly,  the fortuity principle never appears in insurance contracts. The  principle is rooted in common law and in the statutes of at least six  states. The fortuity principle has the effect of an exclusion. That is,  an all-risk policy might provide coverage for all risks minus named  exclusions, but never provides coverage for non-fortuitous events, even  though non-fortuitous events are not named exclusions in the policy. For  this reason, the fortuity principle is sometimes called the unnamed  exclusion.  A fortuitous event is an event which so far as the parties to the  contract are aware, is dependent on chance. It may be beyond the power  of any human being to bring the event to pass; it may be within the  control of third persons; it may even be a past event, such as the loss  of a vessel, provided that the fact is unknown to the parties. Compagnie  des Bauxites de Guinee v. Ins. Co. of N. Am., 724 F.2d 369,372 (3d Cir.  1983) (quoting Restatement of Contracts \\xa7 291 cmt. A (1932))  \\u201cThe purpose behind the fortuity doctrine applies with full force where a  party attempts to purchase insurance against the consequences of his  own ongoing wrongful conduct.\\u201d (Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. Travis, Court of  Appeal of Texas, 68 S.W.3d 72 (2001))  Judge Cardozo, in 1923, stated a simple and obvious rule of law that \\u201cno  one shall be permitted to take advantage of his own wrong. [Messersmith  v. American Fidelity Co., 232 N.Y. 161, 133 N.E. 432 (1921).]  California, by statute, covers has codified Cardozo\\u2019s statement. Almost  every insurance policy issued in the US excludes the intentional acts of  the insured. Those that do not are covered by the public policy adopted  by most states. To insure against wrongful acts would be to allow  people to act wrongfully with no adverse effect since their victims  would be compensated by insurance.  \\xa9 2021 \\u2013 Barry Zalma  Barry Zalma, Esq., CFE, now limits his practice to service as an  insurance consultant specializing in insurance coverage, insurance  claims handling, insurance bad faith and insurance fraud almost  equally for insurers and policyholders. He also serves as an arbitrator  or mediator for insurance related disputes. He practiced law in  California for more than 44 years as an insurance coverage and claims  handling lawyer and more than 52 years in the insurance business. He is  available at http://www.zalma.com and zalma@zalma.com.  Mr. Zalma is the first recipient of the first annual Claims Magazine/ACE  Legend Award.  Over the last 53 years Barry Zalma has dedicated his life to insurance,  insurance claims and the need to defeat insurance fraud. He has created  the following library of books and other materials to make it possible  for insurers and their claims staff to become insurance claims  professionals.  Go to the podcast Zalma On Insurance at https://anchor.fm/barry-zalma;  Follow Mr. Zalma on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bzalma; Go to Barry Zalma videos at Rumble.com at https://rumble.com/c/c-262921; Go to Barry Zalma on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCysiZklEtxZsSF9DfC0Expg; Go to the Insurance Claims Library \\u2013 https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library/ Read posts from Barry Zalma at https://parler.com/profile/Zalma/posts; and the last two issues of ZIFL at https://zalma.com/zalmas-insurance-fraud-letter-2/  podcast now available at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zalma-on-insurance/id1509583809?uo=4