Experienced Litigation Lawyers Resolving Your Commercial Property Damage Claims

Commercial Property Damage Lawyers Helping Business Owners Resolve Claim Disputes in Alabama, Washington State, and Throughout Texas

Fires, burst pipes, and other forms of property damage can disrupt your business operations—potentially for months or even years. Whether your company is large or small, you need to get the damage repaired quickly so you can get back to business. That means you need the insurance company to step up and pay the full value of your claim. When your insurer is dragging its feet or undervaluing your losses, an experienced commercial property claims attorney at Johnstone Trial Law, LLC, can challenge its tactics and advocate for you.

Business owners throughout Alabama, Washington State, and Texas can turn to our team for help with claim denials and disputes. Attorney Inge Johnstone has devoted his career to standing up to insurance carriers and protecting the rights of policyholders. With a proven record of success in securing the benefits policyholders deserve, a commitment to personal attention, and flexible fee arrangements, Johnstone Trial Law, LLC is the clear choice for business owners who need assistance resolving insurance claim disputes.

Don’t wait another day to bring in professional help for your commercial property damage claim. Contact us today for your free case evaluation.

Who Our Commercial Property Damage Lawyers Can Help

At Johnstone Trial Law, LLC, we represent the owners of both small businesses and large companies in claims against their insurance carriers. We recognize how unfair and disruptive insurance disputes can be. You paid your insurer premiums for years specifically so you would be covered in this event. You’ve sustained a loss that interferes with your ability to conduct business and, in turn, support yourself and pay your staff.

Now, the insurer is delaying, undervaluing, and possibly even denying your claim, costing you more in lost business and adding to your stress. That’s unfair and unacceptable.

Whether the insurer is denying your claim outright or simply delaying its progress with unfounded disputes over liability and coverage, it’s clear that the carrier isn’t putting your interests first. The business you worked hard to build and your financial security are both at risk, but the insurer seems to be more concerned with its own profits than anything else.

Your insurance company has let you down, but our commercial property claims attorney won’t. We will delve deep into the details of your insurance policy and applicable insurance laws, help determine the full extent of your property and business interruption damages, challenge the insurer’s actions, and file coverage or bad faith litigation if necessary. We know how important it is that you receive the full benefits you’re entitled to for a commercial property damage claim, and we’ll work tirelessly to make that happen.

Types of Damage Our Commercial Property Claims Attorney Handles

Our commercial property damage lawyers provide comprehensive legal guidance for the owners of businesses both large and small. Examples of the types of commercial property damage claims we handle on a regular basis include the following:

Storm Damage

Storms ranging from major hurricanes to less severe thunderstorms and windstorms can result in significant loss. Our attorneys help commercial policyholders receive benefits for wind damage, lightning damage, hail damage, hurricane damage and tornado damage. Whether the damage was limited to the outside of the property or impacted interior features and contents, we’ll work to secure everything you’re entitled to.

Water Damage

Water can quickly have devastating consequences on a commercial property, ruining walls and flooring, equipment, inventory, and other contents. We can assist you in securing compensation for damage due to leaks and burst pipes, including catastrophic losses. We can also help you secure benefits from your insurance coverage for water damage that results directly from a storm or from fire suppression.

Fire Damage

Fires are particularly damaging disasters. Not only can the fire itself burn necessary tools, equipment, supplies, and structures, but the smoke it produces can extend the reach of the damage. Extinguishing the fire, while necessary, can lead to subsequent loss due to water damage. The insurance company will often try to limit payments to only the parts that are obviously burned, but the damage goes deeper and can extend to the roof, the HVAC system, inside the walls, and even adjacent properties.

Theft and Vandalism

If your business has been burglarized, you may lose more than the money in your cash register or safe. Theft or vandalism of property and structures can interfere with your business operations, especially when it involves taking or destroying supplies, equipment, tools, or workshops.

We’re here to help business owners in all industries receive the benefits they’re entitled to under commercial property damage policies. Clients turn to us for assistance after sustaining damage to retail properties, factories, warehouses, industrial buildings, car dealerships and repair garages, gas stations, airports, hotels and motels, office buildings, special purpose buildings, multifamily apartments, condominiums, churches, schools, and government buildings.

Our comprehensive knowledge of insurance claim law, including commercial property claims and business interruption insurance, allows us to address the full range of our clients’ insurance concerns following loss or damage on a commercial property.

The Claims Process

The sooner you receive the benefits that allow you to replace damaged business property, the better. Unfortunately, even in the most straightforward claims, there’s a multi-stage process you need to go through to get these benefits, including the following.

Notifying Your Insurer

You begin your claim by providing notice of the loss to your insurance company. You should do this promptly, but you need to know that no matter how friendly or sympathetic the insurance adjuster may seem, the insurer may have try to underpay your claim. You must cooperate and be truthful. However, don’t guess and if you have any doubts or problems, reach out to us for help.

Filing a Claim

To formally initiate your claim, you will need to notify your insurer. After that, you likely will be asked to fill out a proof of loss. If you are asked to fill out a proof of loss, obtain accurate estimates first and make sure that your proof of loss is comprehensive but accurate.

Measuring the Full Extent of Your Loss

As you work toward addressing the damage, you need to identify the full extent of the loss and the costs for rectifying it. Commercial property policies not only reimburse you for the physical loss or destruction of your property but also have optional business interruption coverage that you can and should purchase. As a result, when you have a loss, we will need to make sure that we are getting the full picture of your losses so that we can obtain full compensation. This may involve working with public adjusters, construction experts, water mitigation experts, commercial contractors, and accountants.

We also will work with your chosen contractor to make sure that the insurer pays to repair or replace all damage and that we capture any additional damage discovered during the course of repairs. During repairs, it is often necessary to document the repairs and demolition carefully because new damage can be uncovered during this process, and scoping it will be critical. Obtain estimates from licensed and insured professionals for repairing or replacing the damaged property, and provide those estimates to the insurer to guide settlement negotiations.

Negotiating a Settlement

If your insurer does not pay the full amount of your loss after you have provided full documentation, then you likely need an attorney. We can help negotiate settlements pre-litigation by bringing in the right experts to fully document the loss, submitting a comprehensive demand package to the insurer and working toward a settlement.

Invoking an Appraisal Clause

Many claims don’t proceed smoothly. Once disputes over the value of a claim arise and reach a standstill, you or your insurance company may decide to initiate the appraisal process. The appraisal process is a process provided by your insurance policy for determining the amount of loss. It can be quicker and less expensive than litigation but in some situations can result in you receiving a compromise award that is less than the full amount of the loss. The appraisal process involves three separate appraisers—one chosen by the insurer, one by the policyholder, and one neutral, chosen by both appraisers—who independently investigate the loss to determine its value and, based on their findings, reach a conclusion as to how much the property damage is worth. Click here [link] for more information on the appraisal process.

Challenging Claim Denials

While disputes over the value of the claim may necessitate the appraisal process, other types of disputes may lead to denials. If you believe your case has been unfairly denied, you need an experienced policyholder attorney who can review the facts, gather evidence to support your position, and appeal the insurer’s decision.

Commencing Litigation

Insurance disputes can’t always be resolved through settlement. The benefit of having a trial lawyer on your side is being prepared to file a complaint and commence litigation. Throughout your lawsuit, we’re here to plan your legal strategy, represent you in all proceedings, and advocate for you. If your claim goes to court, we will present your case and the evidence that supports it at trial, making the most compelling argument possible against the insurance company.

The commercial property claim process can be confusing and frustrating, but with our team on your side, you can approach the legal process with confidence.

Common Disputes in Commercial Property Claims

Obstacles can occur throughout the claims process, potentially delaying the resolution of your claim and the recovery of the compensation you need to get your business back on track. The most common factors involved in commercial property claim disputes include:

Whether the loss is covered under the policy
The estimated value of the damaged property
Whether the property damage should be addressed through repairs or replacement
The amount of repair costs or replacement costs
The extent and scope of damage
The necessity of addressing soot or smoke damage
The necessity and scope of mitigation and remediation efforts
Whether the policy covers loss of rental value or business income resulting from the damage and, if so, the amount of this loss

Taking the time to do its due diligence doesn’t mean your insurer is acting in bad faith. The carrier has a right to investigate the circumstances to ensure that a claim is valid before paying out benefits.

However, if the insurer comes to unfair, incorrect or unreasonable conclusions regarding any of these matters, conducts its investigations improperly, unduly delays or denies the claim without undertaking a reasonable investigation, these matters could change from run-of-the-mill questions to serious disputes.

When to Involve an Attorney in Your Commercial Property Damage Claim Dispute

What clues indicate that you may need to consult with a commercial property insurance lawyer? Insurer conduct that often leads policyholders to consult skilled legal assistance includes:

Misrepresenting the cause of the damage, which may lay the groundwork for arguing that the loss is excluded from coverage
Unreasonably delaying the processing of a claim
Underestimating the extent of the damage or loss, especially by a significant amount, which could result in underpayment of your claim
Refusing to pay for line items in estimates that you provide
Refusing to pay for mitigation and remediation efforts
Refusing to pay for OSHA mandated safety equipment
Denying a legitimate claim, especially without providing a clear cause or conducting a fair investigation

Contacting an attorney can help you understand your rights and figure out your path forward. Johnstone Trial Law, LLC offers free consultations, allowing you to explore your options at no cost and with no risk.

Flexible Fee Arrangements to Fit Your Needs

Each business owner has unique concerns following a commercial property loss. For some owners, representation on contingency works best, allowing them to move forward with a bad faith claim against the insurer at no upfront cost. Other companies may be concerned about parting with a proportion of their total compensation, instead preferring to hire legal help on an hourly fee basis.

Recognizing that our clients have different needs, Johnstone Trial Law, LLC offers flexible fee arrangements that include:

Contingency-based services
Representation on an hourly fee basis
Mixed hourly and contingency fee arrangements

These options ensure that you can move forward with your claim for benefits in the way that best fits your business’s needs.

How Johnstone Trial Law, LLC Can Help

As experienced commercial property damage lawyers, we handle all aspects of a business owner’s claim. You can count on us to identify conduct that constitutes a breach of contract or bad faith and expose failures in the insurer’s handling of your claim.

In settlement negotiations or litigation, we will be your strongest advocate, ensuring that the insurance carrier can’t get away with underhanded or illegal tactics to avoid paying your claim or to unfairly reduce your benefits. We know how complex these matters can be, and we’re here to provide peace of mind while fighting for the compensation to which you’re entitled to.

Why Choose Johnstone Trial Law, LLC as Your Commercial Property Claims Attorney?

There’s a reason business owners trust Johnstone Trial Law, LLC to help them resolve commercial property claim disputes and hold insurers accountable for acting in bad faith. Our experienced commercial property claims attorney handles each insurance dispute claim with a dedication to practicing this complex area of law, a results-oriented approach, and client-centered service.

An Unwavering Focus on Insurance Law

Insurance claim disputes aren’t just an issue our firm encounters now and then while handling other types of claims. We’re devoted to helping policyholders fight back against the insurance companies that betray their trust when they most need benefits. At Johnstone Trial Law, LLC, we eat, sleep, and breathe insurance litigation, with a history of fighting for policyholders for more than 15 years and standing up to the world’s biggest insurance companies.

A Commitment to Getting Results

The future of your business depends on receiving the benefits you’re entitled to. We never forget how important it is to you, your staff, and your customers that you receive the full compensation you deserve. Our team has a proven track record of consistently securing significant compensation for policyholders in insurance disputes and bad faith claims, allowing our clients to get back to business.

Personal, Client-Centered Representation

Commercial property damage claims aren’t all the same. We take a personalized approach to legal service, getting to know each client, the circumstances of their case, and their priorities. Every action we take in handling your claim is influenced by your individual needs, goals, and concerns—from understanding exactly how your loss has impacted your ability to do business to offering flexible fee arrangements that put skilled legal representation within reach for all business owners.

Contact a Commercial Property Claims Attorney at Johnstone Trial Law, LLC Today for a Free Case Evaluation

This whole ordeal has dragged on long enough, disrupting your business and causing you stress from the moment you suffered a loss. It’s time to take advantage of a complimentary consultation and let our legal team review your case at no cost. We will help you understand your insurance coverage, your carrier’s obligations, and your legal rights and options for moving forward.

For help from experienced commercial property damage lawyers, contact Johnstone Trial Law, LLC online or call 205-512-6715 today. From our office in Birmingham, AL, we serve policyholders throughout Alabama, Washington State, and Texas.

Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Property Damage Claims

What is a commercial property damage claim?

A commercial property damage claim is a type of insurance claim business owners can file with their insurer when they have suffered a loss or damage to their business property. You might pursue a claim following a roof collapse, damage from hail storms or hurricanes, a fire, water damage from a burst pipe, or extensive theft or vandalism that compromises your ability to operate your business.

Under a commercial property damage policy, you may be eligible for benefits that cover the repairs or replacement of the building that houses your business, as well as any equipment, tools, electronics, furniture, and supply inventory used to conduct your business. In addition to interior property, your policy may also cover damage to any exterior signage, landscaping, lighting, walkways, and fences on your business property.

Depending on whether your insurance policy also includes business income insurance or business interruption insurance, you may also be able to pursue benefits to replace income lost as a result of disrupted business operations due to property damage. The team at Johnstone Trial Law, LLC, can review the specifics of your policy and determine what benefits you’re entitled to.

How are commercial property damage claims paid?

The process of getting commercial property claims paid generally involves providing notice of the loss to your commercial insurance carrier, submitting the paperwork required to file a claim, obtaining estimates for repairing or replacing damaged property, and negotiating a settlement that covers your losses. You are responsible for payments up to the deductible specified in the policy, which can range from a couple hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Unfortunately, the process only progresses smoothly when the insurance company upholds its end of the contract. Too often, insurers delay paying claims, fail to offer settlement amounts that fully address the policyholder’s losses, or deny claims unfairly based on flawed or nonexistent investigations. In this case, you may need to retain professional legal counsel, initiate litigation, and fight for the benefits you’re entitled to in court.

How do I make a commercial property damage claim?

To file your initial claim for benefits, you need to notify your insurer of the loss and provide the required forms and documentation to open a claim. Be aware that the insurance company may not be on your side. You need to receive the full amount of benefits you’re entitled to, but it may be in the insurance company’s short term interests to pay out as little in claims as possible. While we don’t think this is good business, too many insurers take this mindset now.

Be careful when speaking with insurance adjusters and representatives, who may take seemingly innocuous comments out of context and twist them to justify denying your claim or reducing your benefits. Do not guess. Do not volunteer unnecessary information. However, always tell the truth, cooperate with the investigation, and answer reasonable requests for information.

Do I need a lawyer for a commercial property damage claim?

With smaller claims, it may not make sense to hire a lawyer during the claims process unless the insurance company has denied or underpaid the claim. However, when you are dealing with losses greater than six figures, it makes sense to obtain legal representation to help identify all of your covered losses and present these to the insurance carrier. Otherwise, you may not know the full extent of your losses right away—and by the time you discover the full extent of the damage, it may be too late to reopen the claim and receive the benefits you’re missing.

If disputes have developed between you and your insurer, there’s a good chance that you need the guidance of an experienced commercial property claims attorney. Policyholders often turn to the team at Johnstone Trial Law, LLC for help when claims go wrong—such as when the insurer has failed to process the claim efficiently, challenged the extent of the damage, refused to offer a fair settlement in negotiations, or denied the claim unfairly.

What type of attorney handles commercial property damage disputes?

Although many types of claims, including most personal injury issues, involve insurance, not all attorneys are equally equipped to address claims involving claim denials, coverage disputes, and insurer bad faith. This is a complex area of law, and practicing this type of law involves significant risks that many attorneys aren’t willing to undertake.

As dedicated policyholder attorneys, our firm has earned a national reputation for standing up to insurers in commercial property damage disputes and related issues. In addition to our extensive knowledge of the insurance industry and regulations, we have a history of developing effective strategies and legal arguments to establish bad faith and hold insurers accountable.

Can you sue your commercial property insurance company for bad faith?

Bringing on an attorney who is committed to advocating aggressively for you can sometimes be sufficient to persuade a difficult insurance company to begin approaching settlement negotiations more reasonably. However, it’s not uncommon in matters of commercial property insurance claim disputes to have to file a lawsuit. As a seasoned trial attorney, Inge Johnstone is prepared to guide policyholders through the litigation process and fight for them in court.

In addition to working to establish the ways in which the insurer’s conduct constituted bad-faith handling of your claim, we can identify the full array of damages you may be entitled to. Depending on the specifics of your case and applicable state laws, these damages may extend beyond the policy benefits to include compensation for consequential damages, prejudgment interest, mental anguish, attorney’s fees, punitive damages, and treble damages.

You shouldn’t have to sue to get your insurer to uphold their obligations under your policy, but if you do, we’ll be here to fight for you every step of the way.