Securing Insurance Recoveries for Hurricane Sandy Property and Business Interruption Coverage Claims

Initial estimates of property damage and business interruption losses resulting from Hurricane Sandy exceed $50 billion. Unfortunately, many of the businesses that are suffering those losses are heading into another phase of this disaster: the slow and painful effort to recover under their insurance policies.

In addition to the normal problem of lack of responsiveness from insurers, which can be frustrating even in the absence of thousands of catastrophe claims competing for attention, Hurricane Sandy claims will present a number of complex coverage issues resulting from the interplay of wind and flood damage, and the role of transportation shutdowns and power outages in business income losses. To overcome these obstacles, policyholders should take the following steps to move the claim adjustment process to as quick and successful a resolution as possible.