We blogged last month about insurance companies denying business interruption claims, and we continue to field a tremendous number of calls from businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We are receiving dozens of calls every day from business owners and referring attorneys seeking our expertise in taking on insurance companies when they refuse to uphold their obligations to policyholders.
It has been interesting, but somewhat predictable, seeing the types of businesses that are hardest hit. USA Today wrote an article about the sectors of the economy with the most exposure to business losses related to the coronavirus pandemic and our call volume closely follows the list of businesses they call out.
Some of these hardest hit industries include restaurants, hotels, airlines, movie theaters, retail shops, gyms and others. Our office is taking calls and signing up cases from all these same industries and businesses all around the country.
At our firm we are cognizant that these are not just “businesses.” In many cases they are an entrepreneur’s life work, a person’s dream to pursue in interest and turn it into a small businesses, and the livelihood of the workers they employ.
The Bureau of Labor Statistic (BLS) has put out some information on the number of workers impacted within these hardest hit industries and the numbers are staggering. One year ago, restaurants employed over 12 million workers; travel and transportation accounted for nearly 3.5 million; and personal services over 2 million. All in, these hardest hit sectors employed over 30 million employees, or about 20% of the US workforce. This pandemic has been devastating to these workers, the businesses that employ them and the US economy in general.
Frustratingly, insurance companies have collected premiums from these businesses for years, in many cases decades, and now that the time has come to make good on their obligations they leave their policyholders high and dry – many times offering blanket denials without meaningful investigation of the claims.
Business owners rely on their insurance policies in times like these and when insurance companies wrongfully deny claims it is unethical and unacceptable. And that’s where my firm comes in – we will take on insurance companies, force them to properly investigate a claim, and if necessary, we’ll take the case to court to make sure our clients receive any recovery they are entitled to.
