Definition of "Abandonment clause"

In marine insurance, clause giving an insured the right to abandon lost or damaged property and still claim full settlement from an insurer (subject to certain restrictions). Two types of losses are provided for under abandonment clauses:

  1. Actual total lossproperty so badly damaged it is unrepairable or unrecoverable; causes include fire, sinking, windstorm damage, and mysterious disappearance. For example, until the 1980s the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland in 1912, was deemed to be unrecoverable and the Commercial Union Insurance Company had paid its owners for their loss due to sinking. Owners of ships that mysteriously disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle have been able to collect insurance proceeds. Disappearance of pleasure craft due to drug pirates has resulted in indemnification of owners through insurance proceeds.
  2. Constructive total lossproperty so badly damaged that the cost of its rehabilitation would be more than its restored value. For example, a ship and/or its cargo is damaged to such a degree that the cost of repair would exceed its restored value. The insured can abandon the property if (a) repair costs are greater than 50% of the value of the property after it has been repaired and (b) the insurance company agrees to the insured's intent to abandon.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Term meaning that an exporter of goods that are damaged or destroyed during international shipment relinquishes responsibility for the damage or destruction once the goods leave the point ...

Crime against the state for which an officer of the state can bring legal action. Society is harmed by an individual breaking the laws of the state. Usually there is no statue of ...

Particular type of inland marine insurance. ...

Coverage that pays a fixed dollar amount of interest at regular intervals. ...

Negligent acts or omissions that result in actual or imagined bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party, who brings suit against a business firm and its representatives ...

Provision of liability insurance that excludes coverage for dishonest acts of an insured. ...

Automatic right of an insured to renew a policy until a given date or age except under stated conditions. It is extremely important for the purchaser to review the conditions for renewal in ...

Attachment of decreasing term life insurance to an ordinary life policy to provide monthly income to a beneficiary if death occurs during a specified period. If the insured dies after the ...

Difference between the rent received by a lessee for the subletting property and the rent the lessee pays the lessor. ...

Popular Insurance Questions