What Does All-Perils Insurance Cover?

All-perils property insurance generally covers fortuitous direct physical loss or damage to insured property during the policy period unless an exclusion applies. It does not cover literally every loss. The insured must first bring the claim within the policy’s initial coverage grant; the insurer then bears the burden of proving an exclusion, and the insured bears the burden of proving an exception that restores coverage. An all-perils or all-risks form begins with a broad grant rather than a closed list of causes such as fire, lightning or explosion. The actual grant may still require direct physical loss or damage, covered property, an insured location and a fortuitous event during the policy period. The Supreme Court of Canada described the proof sequence in Canadian National Railway Co. v. Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Co.