Business owners currently impacted by the economic effects of non-essential business shutdown requirements may be entitled to coverage of losses, depending on the business’s insurance policy. If you own a business that has been affected by COVID-19, you should review your business insurance policy to determine whether your policy includes business interruption insurance (BII) coverage. If your policy does include BII, the next step is to file a claim for losses. If you are unsure whether you have (BII), or you are having trouble making a claim, TorHoerman Law is offering free business interruption insurance claim assistance to help business owners get started with their BII claim.

For more information about business interruption insurance, visit our business interruption insurance page.

 

Do I Have BII Coverage?

There are 2 ways that you can determine whether you have BII coverage.

• Review your business insurance policy to see if you have BII coverage.
  • Insurance policy language is saturated with legal terminology. If you are having trouble determining whether you have coverage, we would be happy to review your policy for you.

• Ask your adjuster whether your business insurance policy includes BII coverage.
  • It is important that you ask “does my policy include BII coverage?” and NOT “Is my business covered by BII?”
    • Many insurers are currently denying BII coverage related to COVID-19. So, while your adjuster may tell you that you are not covered, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you do not have BII.
    • If this is the case, legal action may be necessary before you can expect to receive coverage for your business’s losses.

 

Even if your policy explicitly excludes coverage for losses resulting from a pandemic, you may still be eligible to pursue legal action in order to receive coverage for the losses your business incurred as a result of the mandated shutdowns. After reviewing your policy and determining that you do, in fact, have BII coverage, contact a business interruption lawyer if your policy excludes pandemic coverage.

 

Filing a BII Claim

After determining whether your business insurance policy includes BII coverage, your next step is to file a BII claim.

You should always file a claim, regardless of whether your policy excludes pandemic coverage.

The first step to filing a BII claim is to notify your insurance provider of your intent to file a claim right away. Even if your adjuster says that your BII  does not include pandemic coverage, you should still inform the adjuster of your intent to file a claim. If your adjuster denies this request for any reason, contact a business interruption lawyer right away.

After filing your BII claim, you need to begin calculating the total losses that your business incurred as a result of the shutdown. This can include, but is not limited to:

• Employee salaries
• Operating costs, such as rent
• Profits
• Fixed costs
• Taxes
• Loan payments
• Training costs and commissions
• Temporary location and relocation costs
• Additional costs

Use prior expense reports, lease agreements, contracts, utility bills, invoices and other financial reports to calculate your expected costs and losses.

You will need to begin to assemble records of these documents to submit with your claim, in order to prove your current and expected losses.

 

 

What If My BII Claim is Denied?

If your BII claim is denied by your insurance provider, you need to contact a business interruption law firm right away to discuss your legal option.

At this time, many insurance providers are denying all BII claims related to COVID-19. As a result, businesses are beginning to file BII lawsuits nationwide. Legal action may be the only option for your business to recover the coverage that your business insurance policy guaranteed you.

 

 

Business Interruption Insurance Claim Assistance

Whether you need assistance reviewing your policy, filing your BII claim, or representation for a claim denial, TorHoerman Law is available to help you through the process.

TorHoerman Law is offering business interruption insurance claim assistance to all business owners who are facing economic loss as a result of government-mandated shutdowns.

Our business interruption insurance claim assistance services include:

• Free policy review assistance
• Free claim assistance
• Claim denial legal representation

As a local law firm and a small business ourselves, we understand the difficulty that business owners face in these tremendous burdens in these otherwise difficult times. That is why we want to help. Let TorHoerman Law navigate the legal course of this process, so you can focus on your business.

Contact TorHoerman Law today for all business interruption insurance claim assistance inquiries and legal representation.

 

Business Interruption Insurance Claim Forms

Download the following PDFs or Microsoft Word Document to use as a draft of a business interruption insurance claim:

BII Claim Form (PDF)

BII Claim Form (Download Microsoft Word Doc)

 

 

 

 

Last Modified: April 30th, 2020 @ 09:22 am