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:

  • Homeowners insurance
  • Auto insurance
  • Renters insurance
  • Condo insurance

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.

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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? (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.

What is the meaning of P&C insurance? ›

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.

What is covered under casualty insurance? ›

Casualty insurance includes vehicle insurance, liability insurance, and theft insurance. Liability losses are losses that occur as a result of the insured's interactions with others or their property. For homeowners or car owners, it's important to have casualty insurance as damage can end up being a large expense.

What is insurance in simple words? ›

What Is Insurance? Insurance is a contract, represented by a policy, in which a policyholder receives financial protection or reimbursem*nt against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured.

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 are the basics of P&C? ›

Property and casualty (P&C) insurers are companies that provide coverage on assets (e.g., house, car, etc.) and also liability insurance for accidents, injuries, and damage to other people or their belongings.

How do you explain property insurance? ›

Property insurance refers to a series of policies that offer either property protection or liability coverage. Property insurance can include homeowners insurance, renters insurance, flood insurance, and earthquake insurance, among other policies.

Why choose property and casualty insurance? ›

It is typically used to protect people from losses caused by fires, floods, natural disasters, and other events beyond their control. P&C policies can also protect businesses from losses associated with employee lawsuits and financial damages.

What are the risks of P&C insurance? ›

Risk management in the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry refers to the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks. These can stem from a wide variety of sources, including accidents, natural disasters, financial costs, legal liabilities, strategic management errors, and more.

Does P&C include life? ›

While P&C insurance includes many specific types of insurance, it does not generally include health or life insurance.

How do P&C insurers make money? ›

In addition to policy premiums, insurance companies make money from investment profits. This situation allows insurance companies to invest the money while it's not being used. When insurers receive premiums they put that money into an investment pool.

What is P&C 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 are the three main types of property insurance coverage? ›

There are three types of property insurance coverage: replacement cost, actual cash value and extended replacement costs.

Who can claim casualty loss? ›

You may be eligible to claim a casualty deduction for your property loss if you suffer property damage during the tax year as a result of a sudden, unexpected or unusual event.

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 D&O coverage? ›

Directors and Officers insurance (D&O insurance) policies offer liability coverage for company managers to protect them from claims which may arise from decisions and actions taken as part of their duties.

What do property and casualty insurance companies invest in? ›

Property/casualty insurers invest primarily in safe, liquid securities, mainly bonds. These provide stability against underwriting results, which can vary considerably from year to year. The majority of bonds are government issued or are high-grade corporates.

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