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🔥 '''Riot''' is a named peril in [[Definition:Property insurance | property]] and [[Definition:Casualty insurance | casualty insurance]] that refers to a violent disturbance of public order by a group of people, resulting in damage to property, injury to persons, or disruption of business. Insurance policies typically list riot alongside related perils such as [[Definition:Civil commotion | civil commotion]], strikes, and malicious damage, often grouped under a single clause. The precise definition of what constitutes a riot can differ between policy wordings and legal systems — English common law historically required a minimum number of participants acting with a common purpose, while other jurisdictions apply different thresholds — and these definitional boundaries become critically important when [[Definition:Claims adjustment | claims adjusters]] and courts determine coverage after episodes of urban unrest.

⚙️ Standard property insurance policies in most markets cover riot under broad named-peril or [[Definition:All-risks policy | all-risks]] wordings, though the terms under which coverage applies require careful reading. In the London market, riot is typically included within the "strikes, riots, and civil commotions" (SRCC) extension. Policies may impose specific [[Definition:Deductible | deductibles]], [[Definition:Sublimit | sublimits]], or waiting periods for riot-related losses. [[Definition:Business interruption insurance | Business interruption]] coverage triggered by riot damage depends on whether the physical damage requirement is met and whether policy extensions for denial-of-access or civil authority orders apply. [[Definition:Reinsurance | Reinsurers]] and [[Definition:Catastrophe model | catastrophe modelers]] have increasingly sought to quantify riot as an aggregation risk, particularly after large-scale events demonstrated that correlated losses across many insured locations can accumulate rapidly. The classification of an event as a riot versus an act of [[Definition:Terrorism insurance | terrorism]] or [[Definition:War risk | war]] carries significant consequences, since the latter perils are frequently excluded from standard policies and covered under separate government-backed schemes.

🏙️ Major riot events have had lasting effects on insurance market practices and public policy. The 2011 England riots prompted substantial debate about the scope of the UK's Riot Compensation Act, which places certain indemnification obligations on public authorities rather than private insurers. In the United States, civil unrest events have generated billions in insured losses and catalyzed discussions about [[Definition:Underwriting | underwriting]] approaches in urban areas, aggregation controls, and the adequacy of [[Definition:Loss reserves | loss reserves]] for social-inflation-affected casualty lines. Across emerging markets, riot and political violence risks are often addressed through specialized [[Definition:Political risk insurance | political risk]] or [[Definition:Political violence insurance | political violence insurance]] policies, underwritten by specialist syndicates at [[Definition:Lloyd's of London | Lloyd's]] or by multilateral agencies. For insurers, accurately distinguishing between riot, civil commotion, insurrection, and war is not merely a semantic exercise — it determines which policy responds, whether [[Definition:Reinsurance | reinsurance]] recoveries are available, and ultimately how losses are distributed across the industry.

'''Related concepts:'''
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Definition:Civil commotion]]
* [[Definition:Political violence insurance]]
* [[Definition:Terrorism insurance]]
* [[Definition:Property insurance]]
* [[Definition:Business interruption insurance]]
* [[Definition:Named peril]]
{{Div col end}}

Definition:Riot - Revision history

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