Definition of Proximate Cause: A proximate cause is the first event in a chain of events that gives rise to a claim. There are two elements required to determine proximate cause: 1) the activity must produce a foreseeable risk 2) the injury must be caused directly by the defendant's negligence Example: If a car is driving along and swerves to prevent itself hitting a dog and that then causes damage to a lamp post and five other …showed first 75 words of 516 total…

…showed last 75 words of 516 total…one is covered and the other is excluded, the whole loss is covered Conclusion In spite of the difficulty of forecasting how a court might interpret the proximate cause doctrine in the light of a given set of facts, understanding the requirement of proximate cause is important to insurance policy coverage analysis. An insured event must not only involve a covered cause; a covered cause must also be the proximate cause of a covered consequence.