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| A disaster as massive as Hurricane Katrina demands a response that is just as extensive. Within hours of Katrina’s passing, Claims International teams were on their way to storm
ravaged New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. An office was established in the New
Orleans area, staffed and equipped with state-of-the-art technologies capable of precisely
estimating the magnitude of loss. Specialized teams, including experts in FEMA procedures
and flood damage, were created to respond to the individual needs of Claims International
clients – primarily commercial enterprises with real estate holdings in retail properties,
supermarkets, hotels and residential rental complexes. Guidance and assistance were
provided for the immediate stabilization of buildings and property to prevent further destruction.
Damage was quickly documented and loss assessments were rapidly estimated to enable
the fastest possible claims processing and flow of funds to the owners. Claims International
also responded to the human suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina, providing pro bono
claims services for a number of homeowners who had lost virtually everything.
|
| Telecommunications provider Eureka Broadband had been hired to wire four
World Trade Center buildings - just weeks before the 9/11 attacks. While a single
wire had yet to be installed when the terrorists struck, a signed, exclusive contract
was in hand and the equipment on site. Could Eureka claim any losses? Certainly.
Its insurance company initially didn’t think so because WTC wasn’t listed on the
property policy yet. However, Eureka’s broker had already added the World Trade
Center site to its liability policy, paving the way for us to calculate what Eureka had
hoped to earn over a 10-year period. Our team developed business interruption
legal theories proving the claim was valid, achieving a $3.5 million settlement -
one of the first WTC agreements. |
| Communication is critical to assessing the damage caused by any major disaster,
and that was a key hurdle in trying to calculate Hurricane Georges destruction in
San Juan, Puerto Rico. Despite cross-cultural and language differences, we brought
together more than 100 people from different agencies and organizations - such as
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), insurance companies, adjusters
and political officers - to cooperate and appraise the multi-million dollar losses.
Little was left unscathed - hospitals, stadiums, roadways, traffic lights, parks and
government offices were all devastated and power was knocked-out. We negotiated
a $6 million settlement - a language everyone understood. |
| The anthrax contamination at tabloid publisher, American Media, Inc., grabbed
headlines and spread mass panic. With the infamous publisher’s offices shut down
for many months, it was nearly impossible to assess the damages. No one was even
certain how to calculate a bio-terrorism claim, and no one was allowed in the building
for many months to even begin to figure out the damages. We didn’t let that stop
us, though, from interviewing every journalist and employee to determine the
property’s value and - most important, the company’s in-house media library’s worth,
a major asset - and hiring environmental, legal, political, insurance, forensic and
media experts to establish damages and a coverage theory. Thanks to everyone’s
cooperation, we were able to settle this first bio-terrorism claim, for an undisclosed
amount, greater than anyone had expected, in less than six months. |
| In 1999, Hurricane Floyd whipped through Philadelphia, with winds and floods
ravaging 350 city School District buildings. The insurance company insisted the
claims were for pre-existing damage, balking on paying any claim above the $500,000
deductible. The School District was having a difficult time assuring the insurance
company otherwise. Facing challenges, including undocumented emergency and
permanent repairs, the School District called on us to assess the total damage to the
schools - some cosmetic, and some with more widespread destruction climbing as
high as $2 million at a single location. We were brought in nearly nine months after
the disaster, further complicating the evaluation, but by working with a team of unions,
insurance and forensic experts we were able to overcome conflicting issues and secure
an $8 million settlement in less than six months. |