Storms, Claims, and Coverage: Exploring the Complexities of Bringing Homeowner Insurance Claims

With the dawn of the era of climate change, the increase of extreme weather events nationwide has led to a corresponding spike in the number of homeowners and commercial insurance claims resulting from these storm events and subsequently litigation arising from disputes over those claims. This creates a highly specialized area of the law which incorporates principles of contract and insurance law. Moreover, the laws in this area vary from state to state.
Insurance policies are contracts drafted by for profit companies whose business model is very simple. They make money by charging and collecting premiums and lose money by paying claims. Those policies are designed to pay as little as possible on each claim and present as many hurdles as possible for the policyholder to clear prior to getting paid. Understanding insurance policies and how to read them is the first and foremost roadblock to navigating in this process.

This webinar will be an introductory webinar in handling homeowner insurance claims. This webinar is geared to those considering adding this practice area to their consumer law firm.

What You Will Learn

• How to read and understand the coverages of a basic homeowners’ insurance policy
• How to handle issues plaguing the insurance claims law battlefield
• What are the potential pitfalls in advising clients who come to you with an insurance claim issue.

Speakers

Aaron Harmaty is a Staff Attorney at Northeast New Jersey Legal Services. Previously, Aaron worked on the defense side representing insurance companies. Aaron received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Throughout his 30 years of legal practice, Scott E. Kandell has committed to helping people in his native South Florida both within the legal field and his community. Scott is one of the founding partners of Kandell, Kandell & Petrie. He graduated from Tulane University with a bachelor of arts in 1993 and the University of Miami School of Law in 1995, and then began his professional career with Brumer, Cohen, Logan, Kandell & Kaufman. As the firm’s managing partner, Scott has directed its evolution from a small and successful personal injury law practice into a prominent property insurance coverage firm. He has directed multimillion-dollar tort claims to a successful resolution and guided catastrophic commercial property losses to favorable outcomes with damages in excess of $25 million. Scott focuses on insurance law, insurance coverage disputes, first party insurance claims and denials, commercial property insurance claims, hurricane and windstorm claims, water loss and statutory bad faith claims.

Please note that all live webinars are free to NACA members. If you are a non-member who purchased this webinar or a higher level member, you will be able to access the webinar recording at no additional cost.

Click here to join the live webinar.