• The if not test is used in first party property cases involving multiple perils, courts use the if not test to determine if a given peril is the actual cause of the loss. To do this, the courts conduct a “thought experiment” and imagine what would happen if one of the dangers did not occur. If the loss would still have occurred with or without the remote hazard, then the remote hazard fails the if not test. This means that the eliminated hazard is not actually the actual cause of the loss, so it cannot be selected as the immediate cause.