Adjusting Today
Adjusting Today is provided free of charge as a public service by Adjusters International, Inc., disaster recovery consultants. It is provided for general information and is not intended to replace professional insurance, legal and/or financial advice for specific cases.
Adjusting Today helps insurance agents, brokers, risk managers, attorneys, business owners and other business professionals keep current with critical issues affecting property damage and business interruption claims. Articles are written from a policyholder's perspective and include real-life examples intended to improve disaster preparedness.
Adjusting Today E–Editions* Summaries:
*Available only in PDF format.
- Actual Cash Value Depreciation Deduction and the Broad Evidence Rule
Central to the adjustment of a property insurance loss is the rule by which the loss is valued. In the insurance field, few rules have been subjected to as many definitions, redefinitions and interpretations as this one.
- Contingent Business Interruption Issues Continue Following Disasters in Japan
The recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, caused loss of life and property damage of untold proportions. It will take years if not decades for this nation to recover from the catastrophic losses suffered by its people and the land.
- Japan Earthquake a Wake-Up Call for Contingent Business Interruption Coverage
As the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan continues to teach the world a multitude of lessons, one of them is a clear reminder to companies of the need for contingent business interruption coverage.
Adjusting Today Print Edition* Summaries:
*Available in hard copy and PDF formats.
- Difference in Conditions Coverage — What Is It and Who Needs It?
Difference in Conditions coverage: who needs it? Any business that needs more protection than that provided by standard property insurance, especially with regard to the flood and earthquake perils. In...
- Earthquake Insurance: What's Your Exposure?
As this issue of Adjusting Today was being prepared, the earthquake and resulting tsunami of March 2011 struck Japan. That concurrence put an exclamation point on what already was the...
- Coinsurance/Insurance to Value Revisited: An Essential Concept in Property Insurance
The need to adequately insure property, whether it be commercial or personal, is one of the most fundamental concepts of insurance. Its importance is acknowledged by insureds, agents and brokers,...
- Insurance Coverage For Collapse How Has It Changed and Why?
"To fall or cave in; crumble suddenly." Webster's lead definition of "collapse" seems so clear and straightforward as to preclude the possibility of such an event being debatable. Yet in...
- Increased Cost of Construction Coverage Understanding the Complexities of this Important Protection
Your business, including its landmark headquarters building, has been devastated by fire. Rebuilding will be a daunting task, but as you begin the process, you feel some comfort believing that...
- Builder's Risk Insurance: Specialized Coverage for Construction Projects
Moving into a newly constructed or renovated building is an exciting time. It's the culmination of a complex undertaking, involving a spectrum of activity from land acquisition to architectural drawings,...
- Margin Clauses Making Agreed Value Options Extinct!
As disasters and their ramifications have dominated property insurance headlines in recent years, a less-publicized development has been the gradual implementation of the "margin clause" on commercial property insurance policies....
- Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Too Important to Ignore!
Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Few Coverages Create as Much Confusion and Misunderstanding. Even the most seasoned insurance professional will admit that the depth and complexity of equipment breakdown policies can be...
- Soft Cost or Delay in Opening: Insure for the Potential Exposure
This edition of Adjusting Today features an in-depth article that addresses the all-important topic of soft cost or delay in start-up coverage. Author Tony D´Amico has more than 30 years...
- Flood Understanding and Recovering from One of Nature's Worst Disasters
Each year floodwaters will rise and numerous properties will be destroyed. Flooding can occur just about anywhere, and other than fire, it is the most common widespread disaster. After the...
- Overhead & Profit: Its Place in a Property Insurance Claim
The inclusion of General Contractor Overhead & Profit in property damage insurance claims is traditional. Numerous courts of law, the Texas and Colorado Departments of Insurance and widely-accepted insurance publications...
- The Effect of Sale of a Commercial Property on a Pending Insurance Claim
What happens to a property insurance claim when a commercial property is sold before the claim is settled? There is nothing about the sale that provides an insurer with the...
- Pair, Set and Match: Replacement of Undamaged Hotel Furnishings Ensuring a Uniform Look
It should come as no surprise that when a hotel is damaged by a disaster, it is expected that replacement furnishings match throughout the hotel. As a result hotel owners...
- The Length of the Road Back from Disaster Four Rules for Measuring the Business Interruption Period
How long does a business suffer the consequences after a disaster strikes and how long should the insurer pay a business income loss? There are four major, distinct rules that...
- How to Make the Most of an Underinsured Loss
After suffering devastating property damage, perhaps the most unwelcomed news for policyholders is learning that they do not have enough insurance. Ten important avenues that can be explored by any...
- Hurricanes and Windstorm Coverage Case Studies and Coverages
Understanding your insurance policy before a disaster strikes is essential to protecting your organization and ensuring a fast recovery. Having contingency plans established in advance will help you weather the...
- Functional Replacement Cost History and Application of Available Coverages
For older structures with ornate or obsolete features, replacement cost coverage to replace these with like, kind, and quality can be exorbitantly expensive. In order to make coverage affordable, functional...
- Valuable Papers and Records Understanding the Exposures and Available Coverage
The loss of research documentation, accounts payable, and all forms of valuable papers, records, books and other printed media, could be devastating to an organization. Whether you choose to purchase...
- Salvage Dealing with Damaged Inventory After a Loss
Fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane . . . most often the property is only partially damaged. While some may view the damaged property as useless, it can hold value and provide...
- Concurrent Causation History of the Concurrent Causation Theory
The concept of concurrent causation exclusions in property insurance policies began after a series of California court rulings found that even though an event, such as earthquake, was clearly excluded...
- Agreed Value Clause Friend? Or Sometimes Foe?
The Agreed Value Option is an excellent tool for policy holders to avoid the penalty of the coinsurance clause in both property and business income insurance. It can also create...
- Business Income Insurance Q&A Answering Tough Questions on Complex Coverage
Business Income Insurance following a disaster can be critical to an organizations survival. A previous Adjusting Today business income article generated a steady flow of questions; six of which are...
- Property Insurance Claims: Negotiating Unfamiliar Terrain
Following disaster damage just having insurance coverage in place does not guarantee that the property insurance and business interruption claims will be fully reimbursed. The final settlement can be affected...
- Disaster Recovery Planning Preparation is the Key to Surviving Disasters
As professional loss consultants, Adjusters International has assisted numerous organizations that have suffered losses from natural and man-made disasters. Some recover; some do not. Those who anticipate what could happen—and...
- Multi-Family Complexes: (Apartment and Condo) An In-Depth Look at Insuring the Many Exposures and Losses
Given the myriad of conditions, relationships and exposures that can exist with multi-family complexes, making sure the right insurance program is in place merits foresight and planning. Apartment complexes, condominiums...
- Hail Damage Can Create Difficult Insurance Claims
One potentially serious, yet difficult-to-detect, type of disasters that can strike an apartment or condominium complex is a hail storm. Property owners often don´t even realize that their property has...
- Valuing Business Income Exposures: A Case for Blanket Business Income Insurance
It is a fairly simple matter to arrange appropriate business income coverage for a business, with one location — a store or factory, an office or perhaps a warehouse, however,...
- Proving an Insured Loss: Policyholders Need Experts Too Insure for this Additional - But Necessary - Expense
Qualified professional experts can make a significant difference in the amount of a property damage settlement and the speed with which it is reached. Too many organizations fail to make...
- Disasters Raising Questions of Insurance Adequacy Bombings! Hurricanes! Earthquakes! Fires! Floods!
Recent catastrophic disasters refocused insurance professionals everywhere when serious insurance inadequacy became apparent. This discussion explores some of the important areas of risk management and property insurance that must be...
- Debris Removal and Pollution Damage How These Additional Costs Impact the Property Claim
When calculating the many costs involved following destruction or damage, keep in mind that the costs of debris removal and the cleanup of possible pollution removal are in addition to...
- Ordinance or Law Coverage: Code for Recovery!
After a severe property loss, the first shock comes in learning that rebuilding a damaged structure so that it conforms to the latest building codes can add substantially to the...
- Business Income Insurance Having and Understanding This Coverage Can Be Essential to a Company's Survival
Advisor. Consultant. Prognosticator. Trusted friend. Today's insurance broker wears many hats while assuring that his or her client has the best protection possible. As business insurance grows more complex and...
- Subrogation: Put Your Knowledge to Work for the Client
A property insurance settlement would not be properly allocated if the policy holder was able to collect from their insurance company and then through litigation, also collect from a responsible...
- The Valuation Gap: Obstacle or Opportunity?
Following a disaster property owners often discover that: Their property coverages are less than the cost to replace the property. Estimates used when purchasing business income insurance are different from...
- Sometimes It's What the Policy Doesn't Say That Counts!
In an industry driven by details, can less ever be more? It can when it means using fewer specifics in defining coverages. An interesting discussion of how employing broader language...
- Expecting the Unexpected Part of the Unexpected Surviving Disasters: Natural or Otherwise
Most property owners too often rate their coverage on its cost rather than by taking the claims perspective of how the policy would actually perform in the event of a...
- Risk Assessment: Evaluating Coverage from a Loss Perspective
The objective of risk assessment is to recognize problems that might be encountered in the event of a property damage loss. By reviewing potential loss scenarios and the available coverages,...
- The Extended Period of Indemnity Endorsement A Good Investment in Complete Recovery
One of the most helpful endorsements to a business income policy is the Extended Period of Indemnity Endorsement which extends the loss period beyond the time required to restore the...
- Coinsurance What Insureds Need to Know
Company XYZ had been growing rapidly. Company officials believed they had comprehensive insurance coverage. But when a substantial loss took place, they were able to recover only a small part...