CASUALTY

A serious or fatal accident. A person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed. A disastrous occurrence due to sudden, unexpected, or unusual cause. Accident; misfortune or mishap; that which comes by chance or without design. A loss from such an event or cause, as by fire, shipwreck, lightning, etc.

An inevitable casualty is one that occurs through no fault of anyone. It happens totally without design, as in the case of an accident resulting from an act of God, such as a house struck by lightning or flooded by a storm.

A casualty loss is a tax deduction that can be taken for an accident that is incurred in a trade or business, in a transaction entered into for profit, or for the complete or partial loss or destruction of property owned by the taxpayer. It arises from certain specific events such as a fire, an auto accident, or a flood. Casualty losses are computed subject to special rules and are treated as itemized deductions.

Many people purchase casualty insurance so that they will be protected or covered in the event of specific misfortune or accident. It is a type of insurance that covers losses resulting from injuries to people.

cas·u·al·ty / ˈkazh(oō)əltē/ • n. (pl. -ties) a person killed or injured in a war or accident. ∎ fig. a person or thing badly affected by an event or situation: the building industry has been one of the casualties of the recession. ∎  (chiefly in insurance) an accident, mishap, or disaster.