Cause theory

Term · Insurance and risk management · MLC-T-INS-000715

A legal and insurance principle for determining the proximate cause of a loss when multiple events contribute to the final outcome. The theory identifies the single, dominant, and effective cause that initiated the chain of events leading to the damage, even if other factors were involved. Courts apply this doctrine to decide whether a loss is covered under a policy, particularly when covered and excluded perils are present in the same sequence of events.

Table 1. Record
Identifier	MLC-T-INS-000715
Field	Insurance and risk management

Record as JSON

{
  "id": "MLC-T-INS-000715",
  "term": "Cause theory",
  "field": "Insurance and risk management",
  "definition": "A legal and insurance principle for determining the proximate cause of a loss when multiple events contribute to the final outcome. The theory identifies the single, dominant, and effective cause that initiated the chain of events leading to the damage, even if other factors were involved. Courts apply this doctrine to decide whether a loss is covered under a policy, particularly when covered and excluded perils are present in the same sequence of events.",
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/insurance/cause-theory/"
}

Record 498 of 3,748 in Insurance and risk management terminology (MLC-0106). Request the full dataset.