As personnel in municipal offices change, replacing the knowledge and experience of the person that served your municipality can be difficult. Understanding insurance coverage may not be a priority when so many other things demand your attention as a municipal employee. Please let the following serve to provide a description of the coverage for outdoor property that OMAG provides.
Outdoor Property is sometimes referred to as property in the open and should be listed on your schedule of covered property described as such. Outdoor property does not provide coverage for buildings and is only for the named structures listed below.
Outdoor Property means retaining walls not part of a building, lawns (including fairways, greens and tees), trees, shrubs, plants, bridges (excluding vehicular bridges), walks, roadways, patios or other paved surfaces, outdoor lighting fixtures (excluding holiday and seasonal lighting), traffic signaling devices or controls, utility poles (including transformers on the poles but not including the transmission lines), or emergency communications radio towers or sirens, and fire hydrants.
Outdoor property is covered for loss or damage only by the following Covered Causes of Loss: Wind, Fire, Lightning, Explosion, Riot or Civil Commotion, Vandalism or Malicious Mischief, or Aircraft or Vehicles. This coverage also applies to the necessary and reasonable expense incurred by the plan member to remove debris of outdoor property at the plan member’s premises caused by or resulting from a covered cause of loss that occurs during the policy period. Such expenses will be paid only if reported to OMAG in writing within 180 days of the date of direct physical loss or damage. This will not increase the limit of coverage that applies to Outdoor Property.
It is important to understand each MPPP member is automatically provided $100,000 in coverage for outdoor property, including debris removal aggregate in any one plan year; however, trees, shrubs and plants are subject to a maximum of $5,000 per occurrence. Although this $100,000 in coverage is provided to all MPPP members you are responsible for providing timely and accurate lists of such properties so that any loss incurred over the provided limit is properly covered. To assure adequate protection in the case of a loss, your property needs to be reviewed annually to ensure it is listed on your schedules at replacement cost value.
