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In today’s market, policyholders must manage a variety of risks and legal challenges. Our insurance coverage attorneys have substantial experience managing construction-related liability claims, environmental liability claims, professional liability claims, property and business interruption losses, and cyber risks for businesses and policyholders. As trusted advisors, we help our clients anticipate and manage these risks. When losses do occur, we use our experience successfully tendering claims and challenging claim denials to help policyholders maximize their policy benefits.
Construction-Related Liability Insurance Claims
Construction projects are rife with potential losses, and the stakes are high. Damage and delay claims easily can derail a project, resulting in catastrophic losses that threaten the profitability and success of the project. Owners, developers, contractors, and design professionals must properly manage these risks. We advise these stakeholders with regard to building robust risk-transfer strategies, including contractual risk-transfer and conventional insurance programs. We then assist these stakeholders in enforcing these risk-transfer assets when indemnitors and insurance companies fail to do what they promised to do. We understand the coverage issues unique to construction claims and we have developed successful strategies for navigating them.
Environmental Liability Insurance Claims
Environmental liability risks cut across many industries. And they come in all sizes, from massive oil spills to groundwater contamination by dry-cleaning businesses. Governmental and third-party environmental claims often bring multi-million-dollar exposures that may threaten a company’s financial health. We advise companies facing these risks regarding building appropriate risk-transfer strategies and enforcing them when necessary. We understand the unique factual and legal nuances of environmental claims and how to navigate them to maximize coverage.
Professional Liability Insurance Claims
Professionals (e.g., accountants, attorneys, doctors, architects, and others), or businesses that employ professional service providers (e.g., law firms, consulting firms, real estate agencies, hospitals, engineering firms, etc.) face professional liability risks. While professional liability policies can mitigate some of the risk of professional negligence, implementing a plan for client intake also can help prevent potential professional liability claims. Checking for conflicts of interest, managing client expectations, and the execution of a client agreement that clearly defines the expectations of the client and the professional are essential to mitigating risk for professional businesses. We have years of experience helping clients to anticipate potential problems and to mitigate their professional liability risks.
Property and Business Interruption Losses
Property owners, lenders, and others with a stake in physical assets must manage the risk of losses arising out of natural disasters, accidents, and other events that can damage those assets. These losses may include not only the cost of repairing or replacing the asset but also the loss of income during this process. We advise stakeholders about insuring against these potential losses and enforcing that insurance coverage. The difference between a covered claim and one that is not covered often turns on factual nuances. We understand these nuances and how to use them to the policyholder’s advantage.
Cyber Risks
Cyber risks have become an increasingly important part of the commercial insurance market. As new forms of electronic transactions and information systems have become widespread, it is now common for information to be stored in digital form and carried over communications networks. The prevalence of cyberattacks and cyber fraud has created a demand for insurance products that cover the losses that occur in the wake of data breaches or other digital attacks. Organizations of all sizes and types are likely to need cyber risk insurance. Decades of advocating for policyholder rights has enabled the attorneys at Payne & Fears to understand the ways to present coverage claims to insurance companies.
Insurance Claims We Manage: How We Can Help
We believe the best approach to resolving insurance coverage disputes is an incremental one. We do all we can to resolve disputes efficiently through dialogue with insurers. But when this doesn’t work, we are professional litigators with decades of experience fighting for policyholders in many jurisdictions and venues, including state and federal courts and private arbitration.