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Overview
Hurricanes Helene and Milton have wreaked havoc across the Southeastern and Appalachian regions, causing widespread business interruptions, tragic loss of life, and billions in insured property damage. While some impacts, like storm surge and wind damage, are familiar from previous hurricanes, the scale of destruction to highways, roads, bridges, and infrastructure—especially in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Virginia—has been nearly unprecedented.
In the aftermath of such widespread hurricane destruction, businesses of all sizes look to their property and business interruption insurers for relief. To policyholders, insurers are meant to be a reliable safeguard during crises, and in many cases, they are—offering a crucial financial lifeline when it is needed most.
However, when losses reach overwhelming levels, some insurers have taken a more aggressive stance, raising defenses against hurricane-related claims. While some of these defenses are justified and valid, others are not, as uncovered by the September 2024 60 Minutes story featuring allegations by insurance industry whistleblowers of the deliberate falsification of property damage reports by some insurers, leading to the underpayment of Florida hurricane claims. For commercial policyholders, securing coverage in these situations can be the deciding factor between survival and bankruptcy.
This presentation equips commercial policyholders with a strategic toolkit to maximize insurance recovery after a major hurricane like Helene or Milton. It will highlight specific coverages particularly implicated by Helene’s destruction of roads, bridges and infrastructure, leading to lack of access to businesses and disruption of the supply chain
The presentation will also cover essential steps to take immediately after the storm, identify which coverages may apply, advise on how to properly document and prepare the claim, address potential coverage challenges by insurers, and highlight critical deadlines for filing claims. Missing these key timeframes could jeopardize your coverage, making it crucial to act swiftly and strategically to protect your business.
Please join Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. Member Scott D. Greenspan, the Co-Chair of the firm’s Insurance Practice Group and the Chair of its New York Insurance Practice Group, as he addresses:
- Reviewing and Analyzing Applicable Policies and Coverages: A breakdown of key coverages, including Business Interruption, Contingent Business Interruption, First-Party Property, Service and Utility Interruption, Extra Expense, Expenses to Reduce Loss/Mitigation, Civil Authority, Ingress/Egress, and Event Cancellation Insurance. Each coverage will be explained to ensure a clear understanding (15 minutes).
- Key Coverages for Hurricane Helene Losses in the Appalachian Region: A focus on coverages critical to addressing the mass destruction of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, and the resulting supply chain disruptions. This includes Contingent Business Interruption, Civil Authority, and Ingress/Egress (10 minutes).
- Compliance with Policy Deadlines: Understanding the importance of meeting notice requirements, proof of loss deadlines, and suit limitations. Strategies for negotiating deadline extensions with insurers, working cooperatively with insurers on these deadlines and the risks of non-compliance will be discussed (10 minutes).
- Preparing and Submitting Claims: Guidance on assembling the right team to prepare, submit, and support the claim. This includes gathering evidence of the loss, organizing documentation, and protecting the confidentiality of communications (10 minutes).
- Navigating Significant Coverage Issues: An analysis of common coverage issues in hurricane-related claims, including key policy limitations, exclusions, and how to respond to insurer defenses invoking these limitations (15 minutes).
Who Should Attend: In-house counsel, outside attorneys, insurance, compliance and other allied professionals interested in the latest insurance coverage issues arising from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and those that will strike in the future
Program Level: Update
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Faculty:
Scott D. Greenspan
Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.