Business Interruption Insurance Dispute
COVID-19 has caused devastating economic injury to businesses throughout the country. If your business has been financially harmed due to the pandemic, you may be eligible for insurance coverage for your losses.
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION INSURANCE AND YOUR RIGHTS
Business interruption insurance is intended to cover disruptions to a company’s operations, including lost revenues and other operating expenses like rent and payroll.
If your business has suffered lost revenue and/or continues to incur expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and your insurance company has denied your claim, contact us now. Your insurance company wants to minimize COVID-related payouts… do not let them.
- Contact us today: we’ll provide a free evaluation and review the specific language of your policy.
- Jump the line: let us handle your denial as soon as possible and before millions of other businesses overwhelm the system.
- Document everything: our expert insurance coverage professionals will manage and document all communication with your insurance company. This will establish the foundation for a bad faith claim against your insurance company if/when they attempt to force a low ball settlement.
ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
The COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted, disrupted, and decimated many small business owners. Many of these companies had purchased business interruption insurance with the expectation that it would protect them from this type of catastrophic loss. However, most insurers are trying to claim that a mandated government shutdown due to a pandemic does not fit their “covered peril.” Prime Legal Firm has developed an aggressive and efficient pre-litigation alternative to help business owners get paid what they are owed by their insurers. We can help you cut through the bureaucracy and red tape with our ADR Program (Alternate Dispute Resolution). Our program can be quickly implemented and achieve fast and actionable results and in the best case resolve the dispute with the insurer in a matter of weeks, and in the worst case provide valuable discovery and evidence to support a legal action against the insurance company.
Our ADR program focuses on the following:
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Discovery and research
- Reviewing insurance contract and insurer’s practices and protocols
- Conducting intensive business owner interview and obtaining figures and data relating to actual business loss in dollars as well as damage to reputation, employees, and future business growth
- Drafting of complaint letters in the voice of the business owner to be filed with the applicable agencies and entities who oversee the insurer targeting regulatory agencies, government agencies and politicians as well as state and federal insurance review boards in order to overwhelm and pressure the insurer to the table into a fair and transparent negotiation.
- Complaints contain specific verbiage and language to establish merit which will generate a complaint number and mandate a response from the insurer
- The targeted complaints are not solely focused on the law and the interpretation of the law, instead advancing well-reasoned moral and public policy arguments.
- Many small business owners feel the best way to address this issue is to immediately hire an attorney to initiate contingency based litigation. Although this may ultimately be a good solution, the problem is that litigation is a long and tenuous process and the actual legal issue of whether a business is truly covered is questionable. The litigation process at a minimum would likely be 12 months if not years to obtain a decision, not including appeals. Most small business owners do not have that kind of time—they need relief today.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does my policy cover COVID-19?
This depends on the language in your insurance policy since there is no standard rule for which type of policy covers these losses. Some policies provide coverage for business interruption or for losses sustained as a result of an order issued by the government – such as the recent stay-at-home orders restricting access to restaurants, hair/nail salons, gyms, movie theaters, and other public venues.
We know the COVID-19 pandemic has changed all of our daily lives. We’ve had to change the way we live and work in order to keep our communities safe. Unfortunately this has resulted in millions of businesses being forced to close their doors because they were considered “non-essential”, resulting in to dwindling revenue, making it difficult to stay afloat and pay employees.
You turned to your business interruption coverage for help – but the insurance company notified you that your claim was denied. You counted on your insurance company to help you through tough times, but they let you down. Prime Legal Firm is here to help.
What Should I Do While My Business Interruption Insurance Claim Is Being Evaluated?
Maintain accurate records of your losses, operations, schedule, payroll, and expenses you’ve incurred before and after the start of the pandemic. Do whatever you can to ensure continued operation of your business and the health and well-being of your employees. Exhaust all government funded relief programs, including the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program.
What If My Insurance Policy contains A “Virus Exclusion”?
Some policies contain an exclusion for losses resulting from a virus. However, these exclusions are not absolute. Without reviewing the actual language of your insurance policy, there is no way to confirm whether your business has coverage for COVID-19 losses. Business interruption insurance policies are often complex and a collection of many different clauses, endorsements and exclusions, some of which contradict each other. The policies also differ from company to company and may require legal review to determine applicable coverage and interpretation.
What does having a virus exclusion as part of my business insurance policy mean in the case of COVID-19?
The typical virus exclusion prevents coverage for any damage caused by or resulting from any virus, bacterium, or microorganism that induces or is capable of inducing physical illness, distress, or disease. Any losses stemming from the finding of virus in your business will be excluded. In the case of COVID-19, the majority of instances and claims are due to government mandated order for closure, so all losses stemming from the government order should be covered.
Contact Us
For inquiries, please send our Legal Team a message by filling out the form. We respond to all inquiries within the next business day.
1100 West Town and Country Road Ste 1250 Orange, CA 92868
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Contact Us
For inquiries, please send our Legal Team a message by filling out the form. We respond to all inquiries within the next business day.