Hurricane Claims

Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle on October 10, 2018 making landfall in Mexico Beach, Florida. The resulting devastation to coastal communities is unprecedented. The path of destruction continues well inland through North Florida and South Georgia. Many businesses were destroyed and the livelihoods of business owners and their employees is now uncertain. Many business owners do not realize that they have potential insurance claims that can help them stabilize and rebuild following Hurricane Michael. At Scott & Wallace, we are handling insurance claims caused by Hurricane Michael. Our focus is recouping lost profits and payroll for business owners and their employees. Please contact us in Tallahassee at (850) 222-7777 or in Panama City at (850) 215-5555 for a free consultation.

Business Lost Profits

Businesses affected by hurricanes take a hit to their bottom line in several ways.  First, in the days leading up to the storm, there are costs involved in preparing for the storm instead of operating the business as usual.  Immediately following the storm, the business is closed due to lack of utilites and the inability to access the physical location as crews work to clear debris, downed trees, and fallen power lines. The length of the closure period will vary by location.  Additionally, even after businesses are able to re-open, they are often not as profitable as they were before the storm due to the loss of goodwill or to the fact that their customer base is not as large as it was pre-storm because people have not returned to their homes and fewer tourists are visiting the impacted areas.  Insurance companies almost always deny or low-ball lost wage claims.  Our firm has a team of experts and forensic accountants that work with a business’s accountant to help ensure that the business is adequately compensated for the actual damages that they have sustained.

Payroll

When businesses are not open, they are not making money.  This can have a trickle down effect that makes it harder or even impossible for the business to make payroll.  This leaves the most vulnerable employees worrying about where their next paycheck will come from. Many business owners do not realize that insurance companies may have to pay to have payroll run as scheduled.  At Scott & Wallace, once we are retained by a business to pursue lost profits, we handle this part of the claim completely free of charge, as we believe the last thing an employee needs to be worried about as they piece their life back together is whether or not they will have a stable income source to rely on.

Time Limits

Most policies have time frames in which claims are required to be reported.  Often times, these time frames can be very short.  Insurance companies will often attempt to deny claims based on an insured’s failure to timely report a claim.

Contingency Fee

Our firm takes business loss cases on a contingency fee.  That means you do not pay us anything unless we recover money for you.  Additionally, there are some certain situations in which the insurance company is responsible for paying some or all of your legal fees.  The bottom line is that you do not pay us anything unless we win, and even then, the insurance company may be responsible for the legal fees.

Overview

At Scott & Wallace, we are handling insurance claims caused by Hurricane Michael. Our focus is recouping lost profits and payroll for business owners and their employees. Please contact us in Tallahassee at (850) 222-7777 or in Panama City at (850) 215-5555 for a free consultation.