Buying commercial property insurance for your single grocery store or chain of grocery stores doesn’t come cheap. You decided to buy commercial business insurance from a financially-sound commercial insurer. You did so to protect the livelihood built over years. Although the cost to purchase commercial property insurance for your grocery stores has been considerable—because you’ve paid premiums like clockwork, year after year—it’s discouraging to suffer damage in the aftermath of a hurricane, tornado, flood, windstorm, hail storm, fire, or other natural disaster and learn the insurer has denied, underpaid, or delayed your valid claim.
Our commercial claims insurance dispute attorneys have successfully helped other grocery store owners to prevail over bad faith insurers over the years. Our legal team can assist you in taking appropriate legal action against the commercial insurer when it chooses to operate in bad faith by denying or delaying the costs of property damage repairs.
Grocery stores must manage extensive risks. They sell perishable foods and, if the grocer experiences a power outage, natural disaster, fire, or other Act of God, it’s possible to lose 100 percent of fresh and frozen inventory in the store.
The risks associated with accidentally selling spoiled food to consumers are untenable. Responsible grocery store owners know that it’s not always possible to determine food safety after a major disaster.
Broken or damaged equipment can challenge the grocery stores’ ability to restock shelves and maintain business as usual. Electrical or data management tools, such as point-of-service cash registers, systems, digital signage, and others, may be essential to the business.
Structural damage to the grocery stores may even require a closure of the business. A blown-off roof, wall damage, broken windows, flooding, mold, or water damage can take months or longer to sufficiently repair. Responsible grocery store owners won’t risk injuries or illness to shoppers.
After sustaining damage to the grocery store, the owner must evaluate the damage and submit a claim to the commercial property damage insurer. In the state of Texas, the insurer owes a duty of prompt acknowledgment of the claim.
It’s up to the insured to contact the commercial insurance company as soon as possible. After notifying the insurer that it plans to submit a valid claim, the insurer must respond in writing within a reasonable time period.
Whether grocery stores experience significant or minor damage, shoppers need to know that the food and water supply is safe to consume. Questions about thawed and refrozen food, food spoilage, foodborne illnesses, etc., may prompt customers to shop elsewhere.
If the grocery stores’ commercial insurance carrier doesn’t pay its insured’s claims in a reasonable time, it may be difficult to maintain normal operations. A business interruption or significant financial shortfall can cause lasting pain for the owner(s).
Even if the grocery store owner’s commercial insurance policy includes a provision for business interruption insurance, the bad faith insurer may use strategies to obfuscate or misinform its insured.
Choose a Texas commercial property insurance claims lawyer with extensive experience in handling complex disputes. We’re well-versed in the strategies and ploys used by bad faith insurers.
Management of any real estate is often complicated. Commercial properties insurance claims require highly specialized lawyers. We’ve earned a strong reputation in the management of commercial property disputes regarding various property types. Each property type has specialized characteristics that must be evaluated in a legal claim.
Contact the Mindiola Law Firm to discuss your grocery stores’ commercial property damage claims or disputes now at .