Property insurance protections sought for domestic violence victims

Property insurance policies almost always include a provision excluding damage or destruction by an intentional act, but a gap in regulation often prevents innocent victims of domestic violence from recovering any compensation, according to testimony lawmakers heard Tuesday.

While some insurers may choose to cover an object damaged or a home destroyed by one person in a relationship to harm the other, many plans often hold that intentional acts by a single co-insured policyholder void any payments.

Legislation filed by Rep. Sarah Peake and Sen. Joan Lovely (H 1079/S 619) aims to close that loophole, explicitly forbidding insurers in Massachusetts from denying coverage for property damage claims to an innocent co-insured individual involved in an act of domestic violence.

"Victims of domestic violence are sometimes faced with situations where their abuser intentionally destroys or damages the home of the victim and the abuser," Lovely said at a Joint Committee on Financial Services hearing. "The destruction of property may be part of a larger pattern to intimidate or control the victim."

Roberta Fitzpatrick, assistant vice president for government affairs for the Arbella Insurance Group, spoke at length in support of the legislation, saying that awareness of the issue is spreading, but that the burden was with states to help implement protections.

"Although I don't know that the entire insurance industry is on board, most people understand that insurance should benefit the innocent co-insured," Fitzpatrick said. "This bill doesn't support the actor, it supports the victim."

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