Going Beyond the Basics: What Policyholders Should Do Before and After Weather Disasters

Chair of Olshan’s Insurance Coverage Law Practice Anthony Crawford and Arnie Mascali of A. Mascali Enterprise authored an article in New York Law Journal entitled “Going Beyond the Basics: What Policyholders Should Do Before and After Weather Disasters.” In the article, the authors outline comprehensive strategies commercial insurance policyholders should take to protect their assets before and after catastrophic weather events. Citing the increasing frequency of weather disasters, they provide some pre- and post-loss measures they learned from their participation in high-stakes insurance recovery matters to help businesses safeguard their rights and maximize coverage. One pre-loss measure is to secure important documents. They explain, "Too often, policyholders lose valuable papers and documents to water and fire damage. Policyholders should consider digitizing paper records and using off-site or cloud-based storage. At a minimum, important records should be kept in fire/water-resistant 1/4 storage.” For post-loss claim preparation, the authors highlight essential steps such as providing timely notice to all applicable insurance carriers, forming a comprehensive team, including counsel and forensic accountants, and maintaining exact documentation of all communications and expenses through separate accounting codes. They advise policyholders to understand what their policies truly say and require to avoid incurring unnecessary costs. "When policyholders experience damage or loss as a result of severe weather, or any other peril, insurance recovery lawyers and other policyholder-side insurance professionals can help evaluate applicable coverage for damage to property, loss of business income, and extra expense caused either directly by the event or because the property of their customers and suppliers has been damaged,” the authors write.