One of the principles of insurance is proximate cause. This principle states that an insurance company will only pay a claim if the loss or damage was caused by an insured peril, and not by any other unrelated cause. In other words, the proximate cause of the loss must be an insured event. For example, if a car is insured against theft, the insurance company will only pay the claim if the theft was the proximate cause of the loss of the car. If the car was damaged in a fire, the insurance company would not be liable to pay the claim, since the proximate cause of the loss was not theft. The principle of proximate cause is important in determining whether or not an insurance policy covers a particular loss, and helps to ensure that insurance companies only pay claims for losses that are covered by the policy.