“Most small businesses have what’s known as a businessowners policy (BOP), and BOPs generally cover riot-caused property damage,” according to Insurance Information Institute spokesman Michael Barry.
The National Underwriter’s Commercial Property Coverage Guide defines a riot as “any tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons mutually assisting one another in execution of a common purpose by the unlawful use of force and violence resulting in property damage of any kind.”
(The Los Angeles riots of 1992 caused $775 million in insured losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute.)
Brent Butler, government affairs director for the Missouri Insurance Coalition, also said most commercial policies cover riots. Merchandise stolen — not just property damage — would also typically be covered, he said.
Personal policies often don’t — there is a civil commotion exclusion in my car policy, for example.