The correct answer is D — Windstorm. The Commercial Property Causes of Loss — Special Form is written on an open-perils basis. Instead of providing coverage only for specifically named perils, it defines covered causes of loss broadly as risks of direct physical loss unless the cause is expressly excluded or limited.
Windstorm is not generally excluded by the standard Special Form and is therefore ordinarily covered. By contrast, the form expressly excludes smog and includes broad water exclusions encompassing flood, surface water, waves, tides, and mudslide or mudflow. The actual ISO-derived Special Form wording identifies those exclusions directly. New York case law applying the Special Form likewise recognizes flood and mudslide/mudflow within the standard water exclusion.
This illustrates the key distinction between Basic, Broad, and Special Causes of Loss forms. With a named-peril form, the insured generally begins by demonstrating that a listed peril caused the damage. With Special Form coverage, direct physical loss is presumptively within the broad coverage grant unless an exclusion or limitation applies.
An adjuster must therefore examine the causal mechanism and then determine whether a Special Form exclusion applies.
Among the four choices, Windstorm is the covered cause of loss.
Therefore, D is correct.
