The first step in any coverage analysis is determining who is an insured. Sounds easy, right? Not necessarily. As commentators have noted, “[t]here is a distinction between a ‘named insured’ and an ‘insured.’” Indeed, another commentary has identified the categories of insureds as “first named insureds, additional named insureds, automatic insureds, and additional insureds.”

Additionally, it has been noted that “[d]esignations of the insured can have especially serious consequences for the ultimate coverage when the policy is issued to a business entity or one member of that entity. Depending on the nature of the business, claims for liability may approach billions of dollars. If the insured is designated too narrowly, the business entity may find itself uninsured for risks it never wanted to assume while, if designated too broadly, the insurer may find itself providing coverage that was not considered when it computed the premium.” In this regard, “[t]he characterization of the capacity of the named insured, such as ‘d/b/a’ or ‘partners,’ is not conclusive.”

The articles in this issue highlight issues that have developed in identifying insureds under insurance policies. Does the entity making the claim have a different name than that in the policy declarations? Is there an allegation that an entity is an insured by definition? This issue of First Look is designed to help you put “first things first” in your coverage analysis.

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