New York Commercial Property & Large-Loss Insurance Attorneys

We coordinate, we don't compete. NYC commercial brokers are often the original referrer of a disputed claim and remain the client's long-term commercial-insurance partner — we work in alignment with the broker on coverage interpretation. Public adjusters who refer claims to us continue handling the appraisal and scope-of-loss documentation; our role layers legal leverage on top, including the Bi-Economy demand framework and litigation strategy. Our engagement letters specify the coordination scope and we do not undercut PA fee arrangements.

On contingency: no upfront cost, and no fee unless we recover money for you. Commercial claims vary in size and complexity, so we'll walk through exactly how the engagement works on your first call — which is free.

These are formal investigation tools the carrier can require under most commercial policies. An EUO is a recorded examination under oath; a Sworn Proof of Loss is a notarized formal claim statement. Both are mandatory if properly demanded, but both have significant procedural requirements the carrier often gets wrong. We attend EUOs with our clients, prepare the witness, and challenge defective demands. We assist with Sworn Proofs of Loss to ensure the carrier cannot use a technical defect to deny the claim. Treat any EUO or SPL demand as a serious moment to engage counsel — the carrier is preserving its denial position.

Depends on the loss profile. Appraisal is generally faster and cheaper than litigation, but the panel can only resolve amount of loss — not coverage disputes, not Bi-Economy consequential damages, not bad-faith conduct. If the dispute is purely scope and value (most hail and water losses), appraisal often makes sense. If the dispute is coverage or conduct (most denials, most BI underpayments), litigation is the path to full recovery. We run the math on both sides before recommending a route.

BI calculations turn on three things: the period of restoration (how long until the business returns to pre-loss operations), the gross earnings or gross profit calculation method (depending on policy wording), and the extra-expense component. Disputes typically concentrate on (1) carrier attempts to compress the period of restoration to maximize savings, (2) gross-earnings vs. gross-profit methodology disagreements, (3) the make-up sales offset, (4) seasonal-business adjustments, and (5) the documentation supporting projected earnings. We work with forensic accountants on the BI calculation — typically retained at the start of the engagement — and the policy's BI worksheet endorsement controls a lot of the math.

Yes. Alongside our commercial work, we take catastrophic residential losses as a secondary band — fire total losses, named-storm destruction, and severe water and hail losses — where the carrier has materially denied, delayed, or underpaid. They get the same Bi-Economy consequential-damages framework and litigation posture we bring to commercial files. NYC co-op and condo board claims, by contrast, are a primary commercial vertical for us — board master policy disputes, common-area damage allocation, water-from-above-unit claims, and shareholder vs. association coverage questions all fall squarely in our practice.

NY Insurance Law § 3404 — the Standard Fire Policy — requires that suit be commenced within twenty-four months next after inception of the loss. Courts strictly enforce this deadline. The clock typically starts at the date of loss, not the date of denial, which means commercial policyholders who spent 12-18 months negotiating with a carrier may have very little runway left when negotiation breaks down. We docket § 3404 from day one of every engagement and structure pre-suit negotiation around the deadline.

Bi-Economy is itself a commercial property fire and Business Interruption case — a Rochester wholesale and retail meat market whose insurer underpaid BI coverage. The N.Y. Court of Appeals held consequential damages for the collapse of the business were recoverable, because the very purpose of business interruption coverage put the insurer on notice that a breach would destroy the business itself. Lost market position, customer attrition, and lost future revenue beyond the BI period of restoration are all recoverable. The companion case Panasia Estates extended the framework to commercial real estate losses. This is the central legal lever for NY commercial policyholders and the framework we apply on virtually every NY commercial claim.