What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (2024)

Property and casualty insurance, commonly referred to as P&C insurance, is a broad term that refers to various types of insurance. In simple terms, it's insurance coverage that helps protect your assets, including the property you own.

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What's the difference between property insurance and casualty insurance?

The "property" portion of P&C insurance refers to protection for property that you own. This includes things like your home, car, motorcycle, golf cart, rental property, or personal possessions. Casualty insurance provides liability protection, which helps protect you if you're found legally responsible for an accident that causes injuries to others or if you damage another person's property.

What are the types of property and casualty insurance?

There are various types of property and casualty insurance, such as:

What does property and casualty insurance cover?

The following examples demonstrate how coverages provided by property and casualty insurance may protect you and your assets:

Car insurance may cover:

  • Injuries to others. Bodily injury liability coverage can pay for medical and legal bills, up to your coverage limits, if you hurt someone with your vehicle. This could be the result of a car accident or hitting a pedestrian.
  • Damage to another's property. Regardless of whether you drive your car into another person's vehicle, mailbox, fence, or other property, liability property damage can pay for the damages you’re liable for, up to your coverage limits.
  • Damage to your vehicle. Comprehensive is an optional auto insurance coverage that can cover incidents out of your control, including theft, vandalism, hitting an animal, fire, glass breakage, and weather-related issues. Collision, also an optional coverage, pays to repair or replace your vehicle if it’s damaged from hitting another vehicle or object.

Homeowners insurance may cover:

  • Damage to your home. If your roof is damaged during a major thunderstorm, dwelling coverage on your homeowners policy may pay to repair the damage exceeding your deductible, up to your coverage limits.
  • Damage to your personal property. If your personal belongings, including furniture, clothing, or electronics are damaged as the result of a covered peril, personal property coverage may pay to replace your possessions, up to your policy’s coverage limits. A deductible may apply.
  • Injuries to others. If someone slips on the stairs in your home and is injured, personal liability coverage may pay their medical bills and your legal costs, up to the coverage limits of your policy.
  • Damage to someone else's property. If you’re legally responsible for someone else’s damages, your home policy’s liability coverage may cover the costs, up to your coverage limits.

Renters insurance may cover:

  • Theft of your belongings: Your apartment gets broken into and some of your stuff gets stolen. Personal property coverage on your renters policy may pay to replace your stolen items, up to your policy limits. A deductible may apply.
  • Injuries to others: If someone is injured at your residence, personal liability coverage may pay for their injuries and your legal costs, up to the coverage limits of your policy.
  • Additional living expenses if you’re forced to live elsewhere: If your residence is being repaired due to a covered loss on your policy, loss of use coverage may pay for certain living expenses, such as groceries and lodging, above what you’d normally spend.

Condo insurance may cover:

  • Damage to your unit and personal belongings: If your unit is damaged from a covered peril , dwelling coverage protects everything from the drywall in. Personal property coverage may pay to repair or replace damaged items, up to your coverage limits, resulting from a covered loss.
  • Injuries to others: If you’re found legally responsible for someone else’s injuries, personal liability coverage may pay their medical bills and your legal costs, up to the coverage limits of your policy.
  • Damage to shared areas of your condo property: Loss assessment coverage may cover an accident in a common area, such as a clubhouse or hallway, if the amount of damage exceeds your condo association’s master policy limits.

How to get property and casualty insurance

What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (2)

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What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (3)

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What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (4)

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What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (5)

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What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (6)

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What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? (2024)

FAQs

What Is Property And Casualty Insurance? ›

Property insurance covers your physical property, like your home, vehicle, and possessions. Casualty insurance, also known as liability insurance, covers you for losses in the case that you cause damage to another's property or injury to another person.

What is the property and casualty insurance? ›

Property and casualty insurance is a term describing two forms of broad coverage that financially protect you if the property you own is damaged, lost or stolen (representing the “property” portion of the phrase) or if you cause injury to another person or damage to their property (the “casualty” portion).

What is property and casualty insurance for dummies? ›

Property and Casualty Insurance are types of coverage that help protect your property and those covered by the policy in case of an accident. Property Insurance protects the assets you own. The most common types of property insurance policies are: Homeowners. Auto.

What is an example of property insurance? ›

Property insurance is a type of insurance policy that can provide coverage for property owners or renters. Examples of property insurance include homeowners, renters, and flood insurance policies.

What is property insurance and why is it important? ›

Property insurance provides financial reimbursem*nt to the owner or renter of a structure and its contents in case there is damage or theft—and to a person other than the owner or renter if that person is injured on the property.

What is insurance in simple words? ›

Insurance is a legal agreement between two parties – the insurer and the insured, also known as insurance coverage or insurance policy. The insurer provides financial coverage for the losses of the insured that s/he may bear under certain circ*mstances.

What are the two major lines of property casualty P&C insurance firms? ›

What are the two major lines of property and casualty insurance?
  • Personal lines insurance. This type of insurance protects individuals and their assets when unexpected disasters strike. ...
  • Commercial lines insurance.
Jan 4, 2024

What is the difference between casualty and life insurance? ›

Casualty insurance is a defined term which broadly encompasses insurance not directly concerned with life insurance, health insurance, or property insurance. Casualty insurance is mainly liability coverage of an individual or organization for negligent acts or omissions.

What does a property and casualty actuary do? ›

Property & Casualty

Two of P&C actuaries' most important functions are pricing and reserving. Pricing is when an actuary calculates the insurance premium for policies to be sold, and reserving refers to setting aside an adequate amount of funds to pay for claims that will be made on policies already sold.

What are the different types of insurance? ›

For Consumers
  • Types of insurance. Auto. Health. Home. Life. Long-term care. Annuities. Business. Boat/marine. Credit insurance. Crop. Dental. Natural disasters. Sharing economy. Surplus line insurance. Travel. Extended warranties & service contracts.
  • Podcast: OIC Answers.

What does property insurance generally cover? ›

Home insurance usually covers the structure of your home and your personal belongings, typically covering the cost to repair or rebuild your home after a covered event, such as fire, hurricane, vandalism, or theft. Many policies will also cover detached structures, such as a garage, shed, fence, or gazebo.

What is not covered by property insurance? ›

Policies exclude damage from earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, mudslides, shock waves, sinkholes, tremors, volcanic eruptions or other ground movements. However, earth movement-related explosions or fire damage are covered.

Is property insurance mandatory? ›

Well, as per the Reserve Bank of India, IRDAI, home insurance against home loans is not mandatory. It is completely under your discretion, and a financial institution cannot force you to invest in property insurance.

What two events are not covered under homeowners insurance? ›

Perils Generally not covered by a Homeowners Policy if Damage is caused by: Flood. Earthquake. Earth movement.

What are the pros of property insurance? ›

Property Protection: Home insurance provides coverage for the structure of your home, protecting it from various perils such as fire, vandalism, and natural disasters. 2. Content Coverage: Your personal belongings, including furniture, electronics, and clothing, are covered against loss or damage due to covered events.

Is property insurance tax deductible? ›

The IRS considers homeowners insurance to be a non-deductible personal expense. However, there could be some situations or business purposes where you may be able to partially deduct certain expenses, like if you run a business out of your home.

What is the difference between life insurance and property and casualty insurance? ›

For instance, life insurance covers the expenses associated with death (funeral and burial, lost income support for dependents, etc.) while P&C insurance focuses on damage to/loss of property or someone determined to have caused a loss of/damage to property.

What is the difference between a life insurance company and a property and casualty insurance company? ›

While P&C insurance protects you against property damage and liability claims, life insurance provides a safety net for your loved ones in the event of your passing.

What does P&C stand for in business? ›

Property and casualty (P&C) insurance is a category of small business insurance that includes policies designed to protect business from a wide range of accidents, threats and losses regarding belongings and environments.

What do property and casualty actuaries do? ›

Property & Casualty

Two of P&C actuaries' most important functions are pricing and reserving. Pricing is when an actuary calculates the insurance premium for policies to be sold, and reserving refers to setting aside an adequate amount of funds to pay for claims that will be made on policies already sold.

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