Has your business lost money due to a natural disaster? Did Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Florence or Hurricane Michael affect your bottom line? Have you considered filing a claim with your insurance company for your lost income? If you have a downtime endorsement on your policy, you may have coverage.
Businesses cannot run without electrical power. When the power goes out, downtime happens and productivity disappears. Without electricity, large financial losses add up quickly. Doctor offices, retail stores, restaurants, service professionals, and warehouses all need electricity. They cannot provide goods and services without it.
Web sites may go down and customers are unable to order goods and services. Remote employees may not be able to log into networks and do their work. This further reduces productivity and damages the bottom line of a business.
Data may vanish due to unplanned power outages and power surges. Be sure to back up your equipment in several ways in case computer servers lose power and corrupt data. IT employees and outside vendors may need to work extra hours to get your business back up and running. Does your insurance policy cover these added expenses to recover the data? Does your insurance policy cover the period of restoration needed to get back to business?
Consider contacting an attorney to review your insurance policy. That attorney will review the policy for business interruption coverage. Your insurance company may label it as “Utility Interruption – Loss of Income,” Dependent Property – Loss of Income,” or “Loss of Income and Extra Expenses.” If you have downtime coverage, the attorney will carefully calculate your income losses and file a claim.
There are many ways to calculate a business loss. Some methods of computation are more advantageous than others. Oftentimes, businesses attempt to calculate claims on their own, but are they asking for all they could be?
If you’ve been denied coverage or underpaid for a loss, consider hiring a law firm to assist in the calculation, negotiation and settlement of your claim. Eckert & Associates, PA has years of experience in calculating business losses. We are happy to assist your business through this trying time. We will work hard to get your claim paid timely and correctly.