BarbriSFCourseDetails
  • videocam On-Demand Webinar
  • signal_cellular_alt Intermediate
  • card_travel Insurance
  • schedule 90 minutes

Water Damage Insurance Claims: Key Issues and Strategies for Policyholders and Insurers

Contending With Undefined Terms, Complex Exclusions, Anti-Concurrent Cause Provisions, and Mitigation Catch-22's

BarbriPdBannerMessage

About the Course

Introduction

This CLE webinar will offer insurance coverage lawyers guidance concerning difficult coverage issues that arise after a policyholder's loss to a business or residence is caused in whole or in part by water.

Description

Water damage is one of the most frequent, expensive, and extensive claims that arise to either a residence or a business. In the commercial setting, the complexity of the mechanical systems can lead to extensive damage throughout and also damage to equipment and supplies needed to operate the business. What is and is not excluded is often a contentious issue between the policyholder and insurer.

No standard policy for water damage coverage exists and exclusions related to water and water-related damage come in many different forms. Significantly, many of the terms used in exclusions are undefined or ambiguous. Determining whether coverage exists requires navigating how these terms are used and all the different exclusions and exceptions in the policy.

Two issues that often arise are whether the damage was "sudden and accidental" and the absence or presence of a concurrent cause. Anti-concurrent cause provisions can prohibit recovery if both covered and non-covered perils result in loss.

Listen as this panel of expert property damage attorneys distills the complexities of water damage claims and offers practical insights for finding coverage or enforcing exclusions.

Presented By

Hilary Hunter
Attorney
Isenberg & Hewitt, PC

Ms. Hunter is a trial lawyer representing each of her clients with the utmost respect and dignity while pursuing their case.  She has a diverse litigation practice focusing in the areas of premises liability, negligent security liability, wrongful death, slip and falls, automobile liability, bad-faith litigation and insurance coverage issues. Ms. Hunter has successfully tried cases as well as mediated cases to resolution.  She has argued cases at the trial court level, in front of the Georgia Court of Appeals and in federal court. 

Evan Schwartz, Esq.
Founder, CEO, Managing Partner
Schwartz, Conroy & Hack, PC

As the Founder, CEO and Managing Partner of Schwartz, Conroy & Hack, PC, Evan Schwartz is a highly skilled litigator in the niche area of insurance recovery claims and litigation, as well as in complex federal and state litigation. For more than 25 years, Evan has and continues to manage claims and lawsuits against insurance companies in federal and state courts across the country, making insurance companies keep the promises they make to their policyholders. Evan started his legal career as a law clerk at the New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. He previously represented insurance companies, defending them in claims and lawsuits nationwide, and has throughout his career set legal precedent in the field of insurance recovery law that continues to impact cases today. He has been inducted as a lifetime member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. The Forum acknowledges excellence in advocacy by lawyers throughout the United States and is limited to attorneys who obtained for their clients multi-million dollar verdicts, awards, and settlements. Evan has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Insurance Law at Touro Law Center and served as President of the Touro Alumni Association for five years. He frequently lectures to lawyers and other groups on topics of insurance claims and litigation and is a regular lecturer for Lawline, the nation’s largest online continuing legal education provider. Evan received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and his Juris Doctorate from Touro Law Center, cum laude, where he was Editor of the Touro Law Review. He is a member of multiple bar associations and legal associations related to the practice of insurance recovery law. He is admitted to practice in New York, multiple federal district courts, and federal appeals courts, and has been admitted in many federal and state courts across the nation, on a pro hac vice basis. His practice includes all aspects of claims consulting, litigation, and appeals in the areas of insurance recovery claims and litigation, and business & complex litigation. Evan and his two adult children live in New York City.

Credit Information
  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Date + Time

  • event

    Tuesday, December 12, 2023

  • schedule

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  1. Introduction
  2. Common causes of water damage
  3. Insurance coverage for water damage
    1. What is covered under an insurance policy
    2. Policy exclusions and policy endorsements
  4. Making a claim with an insurance carrier and the claims process
    1. Sworn proofs of loss and examinations under oaths
    2. Coverage opinions during the claims process
  5. Litigating a water loss coverage claim
    1. Coverage versus exclusions and proving your case
    2. Strategies for using experts
    3. Bad faith

The panel will review these and other crucial issues:

  • Common policy provisions at issue in water loss claims
  • What should policyholders know about EUOs and how to prepare for them?
  • How can insurers avoid allegations of bad faith?