Over time, the scope of property coverage has expanded from the days of simple fire insurance to broad forms that insure against a wide range of perils and not only protect physical property, but include business interruption (BI) and other "time element" coverages as well.

And as business owners have looked to specialty products such as cyber and environmental coverage to protect their property and operations from an even wider range of hazards, their interest in adding time-element coverage to those forms has also grown.

"We have many clients that are justifiably concerned about cyber loss, because in many cases if they have disruption and lose business, that business doesn't come back," says Emy R. Donavan, national practice leader of cyber, technology, media, and specialty PI for Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty — Financial Lines North America.