Property in Your Care Custody and Control

• You rent a hotel room.
• You rent, or lease office space, storage facility, or a workshop.
• You rent or lease a vehicle.
• You offer storage facilities.
• You pick up and deliver other peoples property.  
• You rent tools or equipment from someone and use them at the job site.
• People drop property off at your location to be repaired.
• You tow someone's vehicle or trailer.
• You load and unload property belonging to others.

Any time you are in possession of property you do not own, you require special insurance.  Quite often, coverage is not automatically included in contractors insurance policies. 

If you do any of the listed activities you have taken property into your "Care, Custody, and Control".  Once it is in your Care, Custody and Control you need protection in case it is damaged while in your Care.  It is not covered under your liability insurance, and in most cases, will not be insured under your property insurance coverage. 


If both Property and Liability insurance coverage excludes this type of property how does one insure the risk?     

There are different special insurance riders or policies to cover those things that are in your care custody and control.  Some examples are;

• Cargo Insurance - for items you transport for others.
• Tenants Legal Liability - for the space in buildings you rent
• Bailie's Floater - Items left at your business for you to repair.
• Garage keeper's Liability - Insurance for Automobiles in repair garages and open lots. 
• "Hook" Insurance - items you tow or lift
• Jeweller's Block - for precious metals and gems.
• Fishing Expenses - Oilfield related - when a down hole tool becomes disconnected and has to fished from the well bore.
• Unowned Automobile -  vehicles or trailers that are on loan to you. 

As you can see, the riders can be very specific to the type of property or type of business needing coverage.  The perils insured will change depending on the property at risk. 

Most of these riders are insuring the physical damage to the items that are in your care custody and control.  

What about damages that are not directly related to physical damage?

The owner of the property can also be affected in other ways. 

As an example lets consider a computer repair firm.  Information that is lost from hard drives or other media devises can cost a great deal of money to recover and sometimes impossible to recover.   The information can be stolen while in your care causing substantial problems for the owner of the device.  Their reputation can be damage from information getting into the wrong hands.

Because of this, computer repair operations and most programmers require you to sign a waiver that takes away your right to sue them for damages related to lost data. 

Using Waivers

Anyone who skies or participates in rec hockey knows they have to sign a waiver.  If you don't sign a waiver you are not allowed to participate.   You are agreeing to give up your legal right to seek compensation or sue for injury or property damage while participating.  In addition you agree to follow a certain set of rules while using the facilities. 

As a business owner you have to right to request someone sign a waiver that can take away their right to sue you or your employees for damages.  Often these waivers are designed for losses that can not be insured even if there were a dis ire to do so.  In other cases it is a condition of the insurance company providing protection that waivers be signed. 

Not all responsibilities can be waived.  Getting someone to sign a waiver does not always eliminate your need for a level of care.  You still have a responsibility to offer a reasonable degree of care.  The ski hill can not create a hazard that would endanger you without the reasonable warnings, restrictions, or protective actions being taken.   

Rental companies, storage companies, sports facilities and hotels almost always use waivers.  These waivers are effective when they are done correctly.  Make sure you have a lawyer involved in drafting your waiver so that it will be effective when something happens.