Did you purchase business interruption insurance coverage to ensure that your business was covered under unprecedented losses? If so, you might have considered using your business interruption insurance policy to cover the losses to your business associated with the coronavirus pandemic.
If your business was affected by the pandemic, you are not alone. In California, all non-essential business were ordered to close in mid-March. Slowly, the state has allowed some businesses to open; however, some have not and likely will not recover from the losses resulting from the pandemic without financial help from insurance companies.
Have you considered the possibility of filing a business interruption insurance claim? If so, you should seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm as soon as possible – as pursing a business interruption claim can be complex. If you are in need of legal assistance, do not hesitate to contact the experts at our firm as soon as possible.
At Normandie Law Firm, our lawyers have many years of experience handling all sorts of claims; our lawyers are always ready to help claimants take legal action and recover the compensation that they are owed. Would you like to learn more about your legal options? If so, do not hesitate to contact the experts at our firm. Our business interruption insurance attorneys are ready to evaluate your claim and provide you with the guidance that you need to reach a positive claim outcome.
The Basics of Business Interruption Insurance
Business interruption insurance is a type of coverage that can apply when businesses suffer significant losses associated with disasters. Business interruption insurance typically covers the items listed below:
• Costs associated with moving the business to a temporary location to remain operational
• Profits lost as a direct result of the disaster/situation
• Any extra expenses (must be reasonable expenses) associated with keeping the business operational
• Commission and training costs related to training employees to use any new equipment that is replaced by the insurance company (typically applies only when equipment is damaged or completely lost)
• Civil Authority Ingress/Egress which covers any losses directly associated to the government-ordered closures of businesses
If your small business suffered financial losses (or incurred unexpected yet reasonable expenses to remain operational), you might be eligible to recover a significant amount of compensation. You could be eligible to recover compensation for the losses/expenses mentioned above. However, what you are eligible to recover, if anything, will be strictly based on your insurance policy and whether your losses are covered.
Could you recover anything? To understand whether you could be eligible to recover anything for the losses to your business, you must have a thorough understanding of your business interruption insurance coverage. Unfortunately, the language in insurance policies are both complex and vague. Insurance policies typically explicitly state what is covered and not covered. However, some policies claim to cover anything that is not explicitly excluded. In general, policy language can often be open for interpretation, which can be problematic for claimants.
How to Prepare to File My Business Interruption Claim
If your business suffered financial losses associated with the pandemic, you could file a business interruption claim. However, there are many steps that you should follow to prepare to open your business interruption insurance claim. What should you do to prepare to file your claim with your insurance company?
Consider the following suggestions:
- Collect records relevant to losses to your business
- Collect records relevant to losses caused by forced government closures (such as the orders to close all non-essential businesses
- Collect records relevant to any expenses incurred in attempts to keep the business operating during the pandemic
- Gather all information regarding your insurance coverage
- Thoroughly review your insurance policy and your coverage
- Collect information on important dates as well as any notices related to the government-ordered closures
- Seek the guidance of an attorney to help you prepare to pursue your claim
How to Open My Claim
What should you do to open your business interruption claim? To open your claim, you should do the following:
- Gather all records/information associated with the losses and/or expenses directly caused by the pandemic
- Contact your insurance company and speak with your insurance representative
- Provide your representative with the details surrounding the claim. The representative will request specific details. You should stick to the facts and prevent from giving any opinions that could be twisted and used against you.
- Always cooperate with the insurance company. The insurance company might contact you at a later time to request any additional information necessary to process your claim.
Insurance claims take time to process; therefore, you should be ready to wait a significant length of time after opening your claim to see anything happening. Your representative should contact you with updates before a final decision regarding your claim is reached. However, it is possible that you hear nothing back from the insurance company after opening your claim. If there is no communication regarding your claim and you don’t seem to get any straight answers when you contact the insurance company, the insurance company might purposefully be giving you the runaround. If so, you should explore the other options available to you.
Business Interruption Claims and Insurance Bad Faith
All insurance companies have a legal duty to their claimants. They must provide their claimants with payouts for their claims, given that they are valid claims covered by their policy. They must fairly investigate claims to ensure that claimants are also fairly compensated for their losses. However, every time that an insurance company pays a claim, they are losing money. Because of this, insurance companies often resort to cheap tricks to postpone, ignore, and deny claims even if they are valid. Insurance companies might lie to claimants and withhold information. In many cases, insurance companies encourage claimants to withdraw their claims or even to not file (if they haven’t done so already).
As mentioned above, insurance companies have a legal obligation to their claimants. When they do not fulfill their obligation and seem to be intentionally working against you and your claim, they could be exercising bad faith. If your insurance company is working against you, you might have grounds to file a bad faith claim. When you file a bad faith claim, you are suing your insurance company to ensure that you are awarded the compensation that you deserve.
Why would you have to file a bad faith claim? Insurance companies are receiving countless business interruption insurance claims. Although some policies strictly exclude losses due to viruses or bacteria, others include coverage for anything that is not strictly excluded – which can include coverage for losses associated with the pandemic. If insurance companies paid out all valid claims, they would suffer financially; therefore, they exercise bad faith. If you would like to learn more about bad faith and your business interruption claim, contact the experts at our firm today.
Contact Our Lawyers at Normandie Law Firm Today
Was your businesses impacted because of the pandemic? If so, you might have grounds to file a business interruption claim; you might even be eligible to file a bad faith claim against your insurance company. If you would like to learn more about the right to file a business interruption claim as well as the right to file a bad faith claim, contact our firm at your earliest convenience. You can get the legal guidance that you need at Normandie Law Firm. Our experienced attorneys are ready to handle your claim and help you recover the compensation that is rightfully yours. If you would like to speak with our experts, contact our firm today.
Unfortunately, legal assistance is often inaccessible to those who need it the most. At our firm, we acknowledge this issue, and we are dedicated to remaining accessible to all. Therefore, we offer free legal services, which include free consultations as well as free second opinions. During these free legal services, our experienced lawyers will answer your questions and address any of your concerns – our lawyers will provide you with all the information and guidance necessary for you to pursue your claim. Would you like to benefit from our free consultations or free second opinions? If so, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm as soon as possible.
Normandie Law Firm offers a Zero-Fee guarantee, which ensures that our clients will not encounter any upfront legal fees for our legal services. Because our firm is also strictly based on contingency, our clients will only have to pay legal fees upon reaching a successful claim outcome. If you do not win your claim, you will simply not be required to pay anything.
Would you like to learn more about how you can pursue your business interruption claim? If so, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our law firm as soon as possible.
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