While another hurricane season is fast approaching, many business owners are still recovering from the financial wounds inflicted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. Unfortunately, salt is still being poured in those wounds. Insurance policyholders throughout Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico first had to fight for payment after billions of dollars’ worth of property damage. Many claims that insurers refused to pay are just now becoming lawsuits more than a year and a half after the storms. And as many businesses are quickly realizing, obtaining payment for property damage was only half the battle. The other half involves a critical question: Do insurance policies cover business interruption caused by a hurricane even if there was no physical property damage?
Common sense and experience tell us that a business does not need to have its roof blown off to suffer adverse economic consequences from a storm. Indeed, the impact can be felt before a storm even makes landfall. Businesses close days in advance to take precautionary measures such as securing internal property, boarding up windows and laying sandbags. Employees are sent home early to allow them to make the same preparations at home. Would-be customers are also preparing themselves by spending time and money at the local home improvement store rather than other businesses in the community. Civil authority orders might even place customers within a mandatory evacuation zone.
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