As the name implies, intentional acts are those acts that you intend to perform. For example, if you swing a fist at someone during a fight it would be an intentional act. Your fist does not accidentally swing towards someone’s face, but it’s intentional and you do the swing knowing that it will cause harm to another person. Thus, it is an intentional act for the purpose of causing harm and knowing that it’s a deliberate act.

Any time a party acts with the intention to cause direct harm to another party, the law categorizes that act as an intentional act of personal injury. In some of the cases, both the person who commits the intentional act and the victim know each other. Not all but in some other cases, the parties may not know each other. Cases with issues like damaging property, domestic violence or elder abuse, etc all come under the Intentional acts.

A gray area seems here to be that some acts are done because of self-defense. There are many cases that come under scrutiny and arguments for self-defense, such as shooting an intruder in the middle of the night or striking a person in self-defense who attacks you. In most cases, the Insurance companies have argued that self-defense also comes under the intentional act, whereas homeowners argue that it should be covered in an insurance policy and be excluded from the intentional act. In many cases, the courts have ruled in favor of the insurance company.

An intentional act of personal injury can be of type:

• Acts that involve direct physical force against a person, like an assault.
• Damage caused to a property, such as vandalism.
• Property loss due to non-force-related acts, such as fraud.
• Psychological injuries are suffered by an individual, though no physical harm.

Home Insurance- What Is Considered an Intentional Act.

Home insurance provides extensive protection to property owners for their property coverage. Suppose if you own a home, whether or not you have taken a mortgage on it, you have one of the best investments in your financial future in your hands. The main intention is to protect it at all times with the right type of insurance and with the proper amount. At the same time, it is also important to know specifically if or not it is not covered under your insurance policy. These policies differ from one property to the other and from one insurance company to the other. But there are some specific points that are important to keep in mind.

Intentional Acts – Exclusions and their considerations

One of the biggest concerns for many homeowners is providing coverage for losses that occur and proving that all those losses are not in the category of an intentional act. In the majority of cases, home insurance policies don’t cover any type of intentional act which can cause harm or damage to any person or property.

The most obvious answer for that is not being able to file a claim for losses incurred for instances in which you intentionally cause damage in order to obtain funds from your insurer fraudulently. This is illegal from the very beginning of insurance coverage. For example, setting a property intentionally on fire is illegal and will make the insurance policies ineffective. For example, if you are in a fight with a family member and someone breaks a prized collectible, that will not be included in your plan’s coverage. It depends upon the circumstances here to determine if the plan covers the loss or not.

Accidental and unavoidable losses are mainly covered under home insurance policies cover. Sometimes there are particular situations where you could not have done anything to stop the incident from occurring. Hence in those cases, it does not include normal wear and tears on your home either. Understanding what type of policy and the amount of coverage of protection you have is very important. This can help you to know when you can file a claim. It’s also advised that the policy document should be followed, read thoroughly and specifically understand the exclusions or types of incidents that are not covered.