Florida Floods and Your Business Insurance Claim

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Every year, Florida businesses experience damages and losses arising from weather events of different types. These including flooding. As a business owner, you need to understand some essential facts and factors associated with Florida floods and your business insurance policy and any claim you may need to make. These points of consideration include:

Busting the myth surrounding flood insurance coverage

Understanding the often-adversarial role of an business insurance company

Myth Busting: The Truth Behind Floods and Florida Business Insurance Coverage

Despite the fact that the Sunshine State has been battered by some of the worst hurricanes in history, and regardless of the reality that these storms have resulted in devastating floods that have significantly impacted businesses of all types, myths abound when it comes to floods and Florida business insurance. As a consequence, we present some very direct, highly important facts about floods and Florida business insurance claims and coverage.

1. Typical Florida business insurance policies do not coverage damage caused by flooding.
2. If you want to ensure that your business is covered for damage and loss associated with flooding, you need to obtain a specific commercial flood insurance policy.
3. You cannot rely on statements made by commercial insurance agents or other representatives of insurance companies when it comes to what is or is not covered by a standard policy of business insurance. You must read the policy.

Insurance Companies Aggressively Fight Business Insurance Claims Associated with Weather Events

Much is said about the establishment of B2B relationships in the 21^st century – business to business connections. Understanding that there can be great value in the development of B2B relationships, as a business owner you must not presume that because you purchase commercial insurance that you’ve established a supportive partnership with an insurer.

The stark reality is that Florida business companies are in operation for one primary reason and that fundamental purpose alone. They exist to make as much money as possible for their shareholders and other stakeholders. Moreover, Florida business insurance companies enhance their bottom lines – and sometimes significantly so – by limiting the amount of money paid out each year in insurance claims.

Insurance companies become particularly aggressive in countering claims submitted by businesses in the aftermath of weather events. History is replete with examples of insurance companies pulling out all of the stops to prevent businesses from obtaining timely, fair settlements of valid weather-related insurance claims.

This particularly is the case when it comes to insurance companies ducking under an existing policy exclusion for flood damage. Not all water damage to a business is the result of flooding. Powerful weather events can result in water damage to a business structure and personal property at the premises that is not the consequence of what legally is classified as flooding.

For example, the winds of a hurricane resulted in a roof being ripped off a business. Accompanying rain (but not flooding) damaged the structure further and destroyed personal property at the premises. A recurring practice is for an Florida insurance company to misclassify such an occurrence as an uncovered flooding event and attempt to deny a claim for compensation.

National Flood Insurance Program

As a Florida business owner, you will want to give serious consideration to obtaining flood coverage via what is known as the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). If your business is located on one of the Florida coasts, you definitely need to explore flood insurance coverage through the NFIP. Even if your operations are more inland, you cannot disregard the possibility that you may be the victim of a weather event that results in flooding.

Protect Your Legal Rights with a Business Insurance Claim Lawyer

If you find yourself in a contentious situation regarding weather-related losses, including damages caused by flooding, you need to be proactive in obtaining legal assistance from a qualified attorney like a business insurance claim lawyer from The Doan Law Firm. You can schedule a no-cost and no-obligation initial consultation with an experienced Doan Law Firm business insurance claim lawyer by contacting us at any one of our Florida offices:

• Jacksonville

  50 N. Laura St.,
  Suite 2500
  Jacksonville, FL 32202
  904-901-0000

• Miami

  801 Brickell Center
  Suite 900
  Miami, FL 24131
  786-671-0000

• Tampa

  4830 W. Kennedy Blvd.,
  Suite 600
  Tampa, FL 24609
  813-609-0000

• Orlando

  111 N. Orange Ave.,
  Suite 800
  Orlando, FL 32801
  407-289-0000

• Tallahassee

  113 South Monroe St.,
  1st Floor Tallahassee,
  FL 32301
  850-601-0000