Securing An Eight-Figure Settlement for Maryland’s Lakeside Shopping Center After Fire Damage
A natural gas leak caused an explosion and major fire damage to the small businesses and offices housed in the shopping center, which is located in a popular commercial district of Columbia, Maryland.
Description
The explosion and fire damaged multiple properties and garnered national attention. The structural damage and business interruption losses were so substantial and complex that they could have led to a long-delayed claim recovery for Holland Properties, making a full restoration of their operations impossible to achieve.
Issues
- This claim required unmatched commercial property insurance and business interruption skills to make sure Holland Properties would not lose more revenue with each passing day.
- There were many professionals involved in analyzing the property damage and related business interruption losses, on behalf of either the insurance company or Holland Properties. Most often there were conflicting opinions. This included structural, mechanical, electrical, and geotechnical engineers, building consultants, sub-contractors, forensic accountants, and insurance company adjusters; in addition to building codes compliance officials.
- Holland Properties had to follow complex claims guidelines and meet deadlines to avoid delays in receiving its settlement funds so that the shopping center could keep running.
Solutions Applied
- Our public adjusters stepped in to represent Holland Properties as their claim representative and advocates to manage every step of the commercial property claim with the insurance company.
- Throughout the entire adjustment process, we kept Holland Properties fully informed on loss measurement issues, its insurance coverage, and the appropriate application of important policy provisions for Holland Properties to obtain all of the available benefits.
- We coordinated all parties involved, directing them to the singular objective of getting Holland Properties a fair and equitable settlement. We communicated frequently with the outside counsel for Holland Properties to discuss numerous issues that impacted its recovery and its future business after recovery.
- A related entity, Rollins Accounting & Inventory Services, Inc. provided detailed schedules of projected business income losses and incurred and anticipated extra expenses, which gave Holland Properties the advantage in reaching an accurate settlement with its carrier.
- Goodman-Gable-Gould/Adjusters International enlisted a trusted expert building consultant to develop the scope of repair and associated construction costs. This was critical to obtain the correct settlement funds needed to repair and rebuild.
Outcome
We presented a detailed, air-tight commercial property insurance claim and negotiated an eight-figure settlement for Holland Properties. It was the fair and equitable settlement the company deserved to recover effectively and get its businesses back on track.