Parties buy commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies to manage the risk of tort claims. Owners and contractors, often called upstream parties, will typically further allocate the risk of losses through lease agreements and construction contracts requiring tenants and contractors, the downstream parties, to purchase CGL policies with additional insured (AI) coverage.
The current standard Insurance Service Office (ISO) 04 13 and 12 19 AI endorsements on most CGL policies provide coverage to upstream parties seeking this coverage, known as putative AIs, “only with respect to bodily injury or property damage caused in whole or in part by the acts or omissions” of the downstream named insured.
