Business Interruption Insurance Claims due to Coronavirus

The recent coronavirus outbreak has resulted in businesses being unable to operate as usual, resulting in financial losses. Some of these businesses have business interruption coverage – coverage that is very important during this time. For many businesses, this insurance coverage could represent a saving grace. In fact, if your small business is covered by businesses interruption insurance, you could file a business interruption insurance claim. For more information, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm today.

What We Know About Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19 was first identified in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China. As of late March 2020, there have been over 216,000 confirmed cases of infection around the world. Although there have been over 84,000 cases that have reached recovery, more than 8,900 people have died.

The virus is expected to continue to spread. Experts believe that the virus spreads person-to-person, through droplets released during coughing/sneezing. The virus is believed to enter the body through the nose, mouth, and even eyes. Experts have claimed that the virus can also spread via contaminated surfaces (i.e. touching a contaminated surface and then touching the mouth, nose, or eyes).

There have been a number of symptoms associated with the virus, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The sudden outbreak has left the world in fear. To ultimately reduce the number of cases, the Center for Disease Control issued a number of recommendations which include the following: staying away from people who are sick, not touching the eyes, mouth, or nose with unwashed hands, practicing constant hand-washing, and staying home if feeling sick.

Many cities, counties, states, and even entire countries have enforced strict rules. Many public areas are closed and private business that usually draw crowds have also been forced to close or limit the services that they offer. People are being told to stay home and practice social distancing. Many businesses depend on the crowds to stay afloat; therefore, it is not surprising that many businesses are suffering.

What is Business Interruption Insurance?

If you have a business, you might have a business interruption insurance policy. What is business interruption insurance? Business interruption insurance is a type of insurance specifically designed to cover any financial losses that can occur because of disasters – in other words, business interruption insurance can cover any losses incurred if the business is directly affected by the disaster.

When business owners file business interruption insurance claims, they could be eligible to recover monetary compensation for their financial losses. They could recover compensation for losses associated with the following:

• Temporary location: the cost associated with moving the business and resuming operations from a temporary location
• Profits: the profits that the business was projected to earn (based on previous earnings) but lost as a result of the disaster
• Fixed costs: the operating expenses (or other costs) incurred by the businesses
• Extra expenses: any reasonable costs (separate from fixed costs) that allowed your business to continue its operation
• Commission and training costs: the expenses associated with training operators to use any new machinery or other equipment replaced by the insurance company
• Civil Authority Ingress/Egress: loss of profits associated with closures forced by the government

If you are interested in learning more about the different coverages provided by business interruption insurance as well as the possibility of pursuing a business interruption insurance claim, do not hesitate to contact our lawyers immediately.

Our lawyers are ready to evaluate your claim and help you towards reaching a successful claim outcome – until you are eventually awarded the compensation that you are owed. For more information on your right to pursue a claim and possibly recover compensation for your business’ losses, contact our firm today.

Insurance Bad Faith

In many cases, insurance companies deny claims even if they are valid. When insurance companies refuse to provide coverage to claims that would normally be valid, there are likely exercising bad faith. Furthermore, bad faith consists of insurance companies being dishonest in their claims processes with the purpose of not fulfilling their legal obligation to provide coverage and a payout to their claimants. Insurance companies that exercise bad faith to mislead and trick their claimants should be held accountable for their actions.

All insurance companies owe their claimants a duty of care – specifically, a duty to exercise good faith. Why would insurance companies breach their duty of care to exercise good faith and instead exercise bad faith? Every time that an insurance company acts in good faith – accepting claims and providing coverage – the insurance company is losing money. Every payout (even if it is valid) represents a financial loss. Because of this, insurance companies act in bad faith – to save a few bucks.

The claimants who are inexperienced in dealing with insurance companies are those who are most at-risk of falling victim to insurance companies exercising bad faith. Because of a lack of information, and often a lack of representation, claimants accept anything coming from their insurance companies. Claimants do not pursue appeals or do anything to attempt to hold the insurance companies accountable for their actions. Because of this, insurance companies often get away with exercising bad faith.

Many claimants do not know that they could take legal action against their insurance companies if they deny their claims in bad faith. Specifically, claimants could file bad faith claims. To learn more about your right to file a bad faith claim, do not hesitate to contact our firm immediately.

You Can File a Bad Faith Claim

Do you have a right to file a bad faith claim against your business interruption insurance? Depending on the details surrounding your current situation, you might have grounds to file a bad faith claim. Could you really pursue a bad faith claim? You might have grounds to pursue a bad faith claim if your business interruption claim was unfairly denied. What should you do to prepare to file your bad faith claim? There are a number of things that you should do, including the following:

• Gather records of communications between you and your insurance company
• Gather any documents relevant to the effect that COVID-19 has had on your business
• Seek the expertise of a bad faith attorney immediately

For more information about your right to file a bad faith claim after your business interruption insurance company unfairly denied your claim or postponed the claim process, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts at your earliest convenience. Our lawyers are ready to evaluate your claim and help you reach a successful claim outcome for your business interruption bad faith claim. Contact our firm today.

Contact Downtown L.A. Law Group Today

Have you considered the possibility of filing a business interruption insurance claim? If so, you might have already begun the process against the insurance company. In fact, it is already possible that you have encountered difficulties with your claim. Your insurance company might already be exercising bad faith. That means that you might have grounds to file a bad faith insurance claim. If you would like to explore the possibility of filing a bad faith insurance claim, do not hesitate to contact the experts at our firm at your earliest convenience.

At Downtown L.A. Law Group, our lawyers have many years of experience handling a variety of claims. Our firm is dedicated to fighting for the rights of all our clients. Our lawyers are not afraid of facing insurance companies and holding them accountable for their actions. The experts at our law firm are ready to evaluate your claim and guide you towards a successful claim outcome. If you are ready to discuss your current situation with a team of legal experts dedicated to reaching a positive claim outcome, do not hesitate to contact our firm today.

Downtown L.A. Law Group is committed to providing all affected parties with the appropriate legal representation to eventually reach a successful claim outcome. We understand that making the decision to seek legal assistance is not always simple – especially when thinking about the expensive costs typically associated with legal services. Because of that, our firm offers free legal services. Our free legal services include both free consultations and free second opinions. During our free consultations and free second opinions, our lawyers will be available to answer all your questions and address all your concerns. Our insurance bad faith attorneys will provide you with all the information necessary to take legal action; whether you are starting or continuing your claim, you can be certain that our experts will provide you with the appropriate representation. Are you ready to benefit from our free legal services? If so, do not hesitate to contact our firm today.

Our firm offers a Zero-Fee guarantee that ensures that our clients are ever required to pay any upfront legal fees for any of our legal services. Our firm is also strictly based on contingency; this means that our clients will not be required to pay anything until after reaching a successful claim outcome – if you do not win, you will not be required to pay anything. If you are ready to benefit from the services that we offer and discuss your claim with our experts, do not hesitate to contact our firm today.