On January 30, 2019, New Jersey residents suffered a tremendous loss. Marcal Paper, in Elmwood Park, New Jersey on the edge of Route 80, burned to the ground. Along with it, 80 years of a family owned business, jobs, community, and an iconic sign that lit up Route 80 were lost.… Continue Reading
A very insightful reader posted this comment to my blog post, Period of Restoration-Valuing Business Interruption Claims, Part I: When adjusting business interruption claims, I find that the biggest disagreements I have with carriers are not with the length of the restoration period. They’re with my projected revenues had no loss occurred.… Continue Reading
On August 22, 2013, a fire destroyed an office building where one tenant, Bernstein Liebhard LLP, was a mass tort law practice. The firm’s mass tort practice was shut down for a year. The insured law firm sued Sentinel Insurance Company Limited for $27 million arising from lost income from several hundred mass tort clients … Continue Reading
The U.S. Virgin Islands holds a special place in my family’s heart. Nothing makes my wife Ashley and I happier than a sail full of trade winds carrying us to the next secluded cove or rowdy beach bar. While most of the national media focused on Hurricane Irma’s trek toward Florida, it is now clear … Continue Reading
In addition to covering property damage, most first-party commercial insurance policies offer business interruption coverage. Business interruption coverage typically has two different built in coverages: business income and extra expense. Both are intended to assist businesses in the event a covered peril damages business property and impacts business operations.… Continue Reading
When calculating a business income loss, it is important to look at the company as a whole and to look at individual segments of the business. Under a standard loss calculation where the projected “but for” revenues were considered by deducting the revenues from sales of substitute products and applying a profit factor to the … Continue Reading
Farm stand fresh vegetables and sweet and savory baked goods can make any day better. Verrill Farms had been in the produce and bakery industry in Concord, Massachusetts, for decades but before you could buy deli sandwiches or take home fresh heirloom tomatoes, Verrill Farms was a daily farm started in 1918. The farm was … Continue Reading
When you have an insurance claim for a business loss, when a covered peril has interrupted business to a point there has been a landslide in business value or the doors are closed completely, you need to carry out a business valuation. Interestingly some of the best court cases discussing proper business valuation are not … Continue Reading
Business Interruption losses can be complicated, confusing, and for some business the damages are the end of the story. Having the right coverage for your business, your buildings, and the business property can make all the difference for your livelihood if a loss occurs. One additional coverage that is also common to purchase is Extra … Continue Reading
Actual property damage outside the US was used to support a claim for business interruption for a popular restaurant chain. In an interesting case for loss of business income,1 policyholders were able to prevail by showing how a local evacuation order and hurricane damage in the Bahamas would trigger coverage for 2 ½ days of lost … Continue Reading
A law firm in New York was without power prior to Superstorm Sandy making landfall. The reason for the power outage was because the utility company preemptively shut down power for several days prior to the storm as it anticipated there would be significant pre-storm flooding. The insured premises sustained no flooding or physical damage … Continue Reading
I spoke in Manhatten yesterday at the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. The presentation was Superstorm Sandy: Many Causes, Many Losses—Is Your Business Income Loss Covered? I bet you’d imagine that a nerdy insurance attorney presenting to nerdy accountants would seem to make for a very dry event.… Continue Reading
Many businesses in the Northeast have had their business interruption claims denied because they did not have flood insurance. Flood damage is typically excluded from most commercial property policies, but businesses sustained many other types of losses that should be covered under most commercial policies despite the flood damage and lack of flood insurance.… Continue Reading
What’s more disheartening than seeing your business destroyed by an unexpected catastrophe? – Being informed that your insurance company will not pay a dime. Business owners in the City are receiving letters from their insurers denying coverage for the damages caused on October 29, 2012. Denial letters cite policy language to the effect:… Continue Reading
Many New York business owners have been denied insurance recovery based on causation issues (i.e., property damages and business income losses were caused by flood which is excluded under most policies). However, many insurance policies provide a measure of coverage and recovery through Civil Authority and Ingress/Egress provisions, which are not triggered by damages at … Continue Reading
Many businesses in New York and New Jersey are still recovering from closure or slow down after Hurricane Sandy devastated the region. Insurance companies are issuing payments for business income losses under standardized formulas where recovery may look as follows:1… Continue Reading
I have reviewed denial letters sent to policyholders in New York and New Jersey. Their business income claims have been denied because the “physical loss or damage” was caused, in whole or in part, by an excluded peril – power failure. Hurricane Sandy was a complex windstorm event that caused many perils – power outages, … Continue Reading
On the night of October 29, 2012 the “kings of the hill” in New York knew that they would not be waking up to a City that Never Sleeps. In fact, the lights were out for weeks and the businesses that were at the top of the list – now have to make a brand … Continue Reading
Hundreds of thousands of businesses were affected in one way or another by Hurricane Sandy. The insurance industry estimated over $20 billion dollars in business income losses. Many have presented insurance claims for their lost profits that have been denied because the business was not completely “shut down” or it did not sustain “direct physical … Continue Reading
Hundreds of thousands of businesses are still struggling to repair the damages caused by Super Storm Sandy. In New York, claimants will be told that their policies only cover business income losses during the period of time that it would take a “reasonable business” to return to its pre loss operational performance and that repairs … Continue Reading
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the third largest seaport in North America and the largest maritime cargo center on the East Coast. Many highly interdependent supply chain networks were disrupted during and after Hurricane Sandy. Although Port Authority employees worked extra shifts to resume its transportation and holding operations, many goods … Continue Reading
Catastrophes by definition cannot be felt in the imagination – they are only experienced as embodied in the sensation of the unimaginable. There is no doubt that the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy was unimaginable. Life along the coast line of New York and New Jersey will never be the same, but as people and … Continue Reading
The 2011 losses Japan and Thailand rippled through the oceans as many realized that our global economy had become highly interdependent and supply chain disruptions were costlier than ever anticipated. A few months ago, global insurers revamped their Contingent Business Income questionnaires and applications in an effort to understand how deeply interrelated and exposed their … Continue Reading
The morning after Hurricane Sandy made landfall felt like the morning of 9/11. The unthinkable happened. The course of history changed, again.… Continue Reading
