Care, custody or control (CCC)
Care, custody or control is an exclusion in general liability policies: the policy does not pay for damage to property that is in the insured's care, custody or control, such as a home a property manager operates on an owner's behalf or a guest's belongings left in it. Damage to that property has to be covered by a property policy, a damage program or a specific endorsement.
By Andrew Bate, Co-founderReviewed by Stuart BateUpdated
Why this matters for property managers
Owners often assume the manager's general liability policy pays if the manager's team damages the home. It usually does not, because the home is in the manager's care, custody or control and the policy excludes it. For a vacation rental manager the gap is closed three ways: the owner's property policy for the building, a damage program for what guests do, and a property-in-your-care endorsement or bailee coverage for what the manager's own staff and vendors do.
Worked example
A housekeeper knocks a wall-mounted television off its bracket while turning over a managed condo. The manager's general liability carrier declines the claim under the care, custody or control exclusion. Because the manager added a property-in-your-care endorsement at the last renewal, the endorsement pays it; without one, the cost would have come out of revenue.
Where the CCC exclusion bites a property manager
Almost everything a manager touches belongs to someone else: the homes, the furnishings, the owner's stored belongings, the keys, and the guests' luggage. General liability responds when the manager's operations injure a third party or damage property the manager does not control, and stops at the door of a home the manager operates. That is why a management agreement's insurance clause should be read against the general liability form, not just the certificate. The layers that actually respond are the owner's property policy, a damage program that funds guest-caused damage, and an endorsement that buys back a sublimit for property in the manager's care. Sublimits on that endorsement are usually modest, so it is meant for the housekeeper's mistake, not the kitchen fire.
Related terms
Browse every term in the insurance glossary for property managers.
Care, custody or control (CCC): common questions
Does general liability cover damage to a property I manage?
Usually not. The care, custody or control exclusion removes property you operate on an owner's behalf. Guest-caused damage is funded by a damage program, catastrophic damage by the owner's property policy, and damage caused by your own staff or vendors by a property-in-your-care endorsement on your general liability or business owner's policy.
What is a care, custody or control endorsement?
An endorsement, sometimes called property in your care, custody or control or voluntary property damage, that gives back a limited amount of coverage for property you are responsible for but do not own. It carries its own sublimit and deductible and does not replace the owner's property insurance or a damage program.
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