Under an open-perils (all-risk) homeowners policy, who bears the burden of proof when a claim is denied, and why?

Why this is the answer

The fundamental difference between open-perils and named-perils policies lies in who bears the burden of proof in a dispute. Under an open-perils (all-risk) policy, coverage is presumed for any loss unless the insurer can demonstrate that a specific exclusion applies — the insurer bears the burden. Under a named-perils policy, the insured must affirmatively show that the loss was caused by one of the enumerated perils — the insured bears the burden. This makes open-perils policies broader in practice: in ambiguous situations, the insured benefits from the presumption of coverage. This is why HO-3's open-perils dwelling coverage is wider than its named-perils contents coverage.