Hurricanes Helene and Milton brought unimaginable and catastrophic damage to numerous states in the Southeastern United States.
Businesses and the communities they serve across the southern United States have been destroyed. As businesses and communities rebuild, they need to look to their property and business interruption insurers for assistance. The first step, as always, is to see to the safety of your personnel. Right behind it, however, should be taking stock of the impacts and communicating losses to your insurance companies. The key questions as you plan your recovery are: What insurance covers your losses? Have you identified all the policies that may respond? How do you measure and document your losses to the insurers’ satisfaction—including your lost profits? Will your coverage for business interruption include disruptions experienced in anticipation of the storm’s arrival, or only after it hit? Is there coverage for supply chain disruptions? And are there any government funds, such as FEMA assistance, available to aid your recovery?
Pillsbury’s nationally recognized team of insurance recovery lawyers has a long history of helping commercial enterprises and institutions recover from hurricanes and other catastrophes.
Preparing and pursuing insurance claims in the wake of a disaster can be a complex and time-consuming process, especially when management and employees need to focus on other post-disaster challenges. Policyholders should consider obtaining assistance from experienced coverage counsel to work alongside their broker and other claims professionals, because many legal issues—as well as actions taken by the company—can significantly affect the existence or amount of recovery under an insurance policy.
Pillsbury’s leading Insurance Recovery & Advisory legal team has successfully handled some of the largest and most high-profile insurance coverage cases involving property damage and business interruption. Members of the practice address the key insurance and recovery issues businesses will need to manage, including how to prepare property insurance claims to expedite and maximize recovery, as well as how to determine whether business interruption or other insurance coverage may apply.
Our insurance recovery lawyers have handled disaster-related claims for more than a century, from the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 to a host of recent catastrophes, including Superstorm Sandy, the Gulf of Mexico well blowout and oil spill, and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Pillsbury’s Insurance Recovery group focuses on representing corporate policyholders in transactions and disputes against insurance companies. Our experience covers executive liability, property, business interruption and pollution liability.
For more information about insurance coverage issues, contact your Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP representative or any of the lawyers in our Insurance Recovery & Advisory practice.
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