Named perils and all risks
The two architectures of a property contract: cover only the listed events, or any accidental damage except what is excluded, with the burden of proof reversed.
A property contract can be built in two ways. On a named perils basis, it covers only the events it lists, fire, explosion, windstorm, water damage, and the insured must prove the damage came from one of them. On an all risks basis, it covers any sudden and accidental physical damage not expressly excluded, and it is for the insurer to prove that an exclusion applies. The difference is not one of wording: it shifts the burden of proof and, above all, it puts on the insurer the perils nobody had imagined when the risk was written. The underwriter of an all risks contract must therefore think through exclusions, which explains why new perils, cyber or pandemic, are discovered first in these contracts. Drafting the exclusions there is an underwriting act in its own right.
Through bulletin Y5258 of July 2019, Lloyd's required every policy in its market to state clearly whether it covers or excludes cyber losses, starting with property damage policies incepting from January 1, 2020: all risks contracts that did not mention cyber might have covered it without having priced it.
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