A proximate cause is defined as a cause that, in a natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any new and independent cause, produces an event and without which the event would not have happened.

• A. Concurrent causation
• B. Foreseeability rule
• C. Proximate cause
• D. Intervening act

Answer: (C)

Proximate cause is the primary cause in a natural, continuous sequence of events that leads to a loss and without which the loss would not have occurred. When evaluating a claim, you trace the chain from the initial peril to the final damage and identify the cause that set that chain in motion. If no new independent cause interrupts the sequence, that initiating cause is the proximate cause.

If a new independent event occurs that breaks the chain, that intervening act can take over as the proximate cause or at least sever the linkage to the initial cause, which is why the idea of an intervening act matters. Concurrent causation would involve multiple causes contributing together, not the single uninterrupted sequence described here. The foreseeability rule is related to proximate cause in practice but is a separate test, not the definition itself.