If you’re a business owner and you have sustained serious damage, you should know that time is incredibly valuable. For most businesses, too much time separated from customers can be catastrophic. The number one goal is often to get back up and running as quickly as possible, so you are less likely to lose your core repeat customer. This is just as true for the local tavern, an ice cream shop or place of worship. You’ve probably built the business over the years, but without the core customer you could lose it within weeks.
Commercial claims are usually far more complicated than residential and this can add to the time problem. There are often many more moving parts, although the basics are the same. With a more complicated process there’s more room to make mistakes and to leave time and money on the table.
With Reliance, we have the expertise to make sure your claim is handled correctly and timely. The stop gap measure to save your clientele can be as important as getting the building eventually rebuilt. We have experience working with clients in multi family dwellings, restaurants, warehouses, churches and industrial buildings. Each of these types of commercial properties have their own set of challenges. We know exactly how to get you that fair and complete settlement and negotiate the effective temporary solutions to keep your business alive during restoration. Let’s get creative to maximize the return from your policy and keep clients engaged to make the most of a bad situation.
But it doesn’t stop there, there’s several additional areas that set us apart…
A big challenge in commercial claims is working in the opposite of how you normally do your books. Most businesses work hard to limit their tax liabilities. Massaging the numbers to limit profit means you owe less quarterly to the state and federal government. In contrast, in the insurance claim process, you’re trying to illustrate as much profit and income as possible for reimbursement while your business is shut down due to covered damage. Bringing in a specialist to help with the forensic accounting is a primary function of a high-quality Public Adjusting firm.
An additional area of concern we often run across on commercial claims is coinsurance. This can directly affect property insurance and business interruption coverage. Coinsurance is a penalty the insurance company builds into the policy to incentivize the business owner to properly insure their businesses. The keys to making sure you’re correctly covered are the evaluations for damage and for the property. If you don’t meet the requirement, often 80-90% insurance to value, then the coinsurance penalty can be significant. But insurance companies can manipulate these numbers in their favor. Hiring a proven professional, with the backing of an attorney can make a significant difference in questions regarding coinsurance and the claims settlement process in general.
Let’s talk about how to make this situation a situation that works in your favor. We welcome the opportunity to illustrate how we can make the moving parts all move in the right direction.