Why Was My Commercial Flood Damage Claim Denied?
To get your business up and running as quickly as possible, you may want your flood damage rectified immediately. A devastating roadblock to this goal, though, is if your insurance company denies or otherwise detrimentally underpays your commercial damage claim. Sadly, this is a more common result than you may initially realize, especially after large weather events in the New York area. What your insurer cannot see, but what you are experiencing in real time, is that your business suffered real losses. With all that being said, please continue reading to learn why your commercial flood damage claim might have been denied and how an experienced NY commercial flood insurance claim denial attorney at The Law Office of Craig A. Blumberg, P.C., can help you avoid receiving this unfortunate outcome.
Why was my commercial flood damage claim denied in New York?
Insurance companies are notorious for holding strict definitions of what constitutes a flood and, subsequently, flood damage, within their policies’ language. If what you claimed to have happened does not exactly fit these parameters, your insurer may find this as enough reason to deny your claim altogether. For example, your insurer may cite that your damage was caused by something other than a flood, like groundwater seepage, plumbing leaks, or stormwater intrusion. Or, your specific policy may contain unfair limits on flood damage that occurs in basements or below-grade areas, or damage that is caused to your personal property in such locations.
In addition, your insurer may argue that your claimed damage was exacerbated due to pre-existing maintenance issues on your commercial property. Namely, they may note that there was rot, deterioration, or foundation issues, which shifts liability away from them. They may be fed this wrongly applied information from the insurance adjuster who reports to your commercial property after you reported your damage. At the same time, this adjuster may rely on a generic pricing software that undervalues the labor and material costs of your damages, which your insurer is actually willing to cover.
What mistakes might have ruined my commercial flood damage claim?
Against all odds, you may legally qualify for commercial flood damage coverage. However, technical or clerical errors within your insurance claim may jeopardize this opportunity for you. Firstly, you may supplement your claim with insufficient photos, inventories, receipts, and other proof of loss. Understandably, your instinct may have been to start the recovery process yourself right away, and you may have discarded damaged items and overall key evidence prematurely. So instead, though it may seem unnatural, you should not touch anything until you retain an attorney.
In the same vein, while you were distracted by the initial shock of this catastrophe, you may have forgotten to provide your insurance coverage with a timely notice of your damages. When this happens, your insurer may argue that they were inhibited from sending out an insurance adjuster to inspect the damage on time, and therefore, the actual losses are inaccurate and unverifiable. At this time, you may have your attorney advocate on your behalf and justify the reasoning behind your delay, whether it was because you were displaced, unable to access records, waiting for emergency repairs, or otherwise.
That said, if you wish to explore your legal options moving forward, please allow one of the skilled New York commercial insurance claim denial attorneys from the Law Office of Craig A. Blumberg, P.C., to be your guiding force. Please schedule your initial consultation with our firm at the first chance you get.