Episode #7: Business Loss Lawsuits - Stewart J. Guss, Attorney At Law

episode of the B

king Do

n The L Podc

e joined by J

son

uen,

ef="https:

inju

yvictims.com

m-membe

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uen/”>pe

son

l inju

y lye

in Houston >

ho speci

lizes in Pe

son

l Inju

y Litig

tion. He's joined by B
e
king Do
n The L

Podc
st<
em> host,
shley
od
iguez. Du
ing tod
y’s episode,
e’ll be
dd
essing seve

l questions
bout <
h
ef="https:
/t
ustguss.com
business-loss-leg
l-suppo
t/” t

get=”_bl
nk"
el=”noopene
no
efe

e
">Business Loss Lsuits<>
hich

e b
ought on by the COVID P
ndemic.

h
t ex
ctly is business inteuption insunce?<
li>

h
t ex
ctly does business loss insunce cove
? Does it cove
employee ges?<
li>

h
t does
Business inteuption cl
im deni
l look like?
h
t e the steps
fte
you h
ve been denied by the insu

nce?

Ho
do I c
lcul
te my loss cl
im?

h
t type of business qu
lifies?<
li>

J
son discusses these points
nd so m
ny mo
e, so
e hope you’ll join us fo
this episode! You c
n len mo
e
bout J
son
nd Ste
t J Guss,
tto
ney
t l by visiting us online
t <
h
ef=”https://c

inju
yvictims.com
“>
.cinju
yvictims.com > St
y tuned fo
the next inst
llment of the B
e
king Do
n The L Podc
st
ith Ste
t J Guss
nd
shley
od
iguez!

Cont
ct Us: <
h
ef="tel:2817833934">281-783-3934<> o
<
h
ef=”m
ilto:B
e
kingDo
nTheL

@gm
il.com">B
e
kingDo
nTheL

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il.com<> If you nt to subsc
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o
s]<
em> ong> ong>Int
o<
st
ong> : 0:09 B
e
king do
n the l

, b
e
king do
n the l
podc
st hosted by
tto
neys
nd leg
l speci
lists discussing eve
yd
y l
nd ho
it
ffects
egul

people,
egul people. Let's b
e
k do
n the l
ith ou
host Ste
t Guss
nd
shley
od
iguez. They h
ve the inside scoop on eve
ything leg
l
nd ne
s
o
thy.

ong>
shley
od
iguez ong> : 0:33
elcome to b
e
king do
n the l. I'm
shley
nd
e h
ve
speci
l guest
ith us tod
y. ong>J
son
uen ong> : 0:38 Hello,
shley. Hi, J
son. Ho
e you tod
y? I'm doing
ell.

ong>
shley
od
iguez ong> : 0:42 So J
son, tell us
little bit
bout you.

ong>J
son
uen<
st
ong> : 0:45 Ok
y,
ell, I'm J
son
on. I'm the M
n
ging executive
tto
ney
t Ste
t guess my job ent
ils essenti
lly helping
un the fi
m
nd specific
lly
ith
egds to like tod
ys topic litig
tion deptment. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 0:59 Yes. So tod
y
e'
e going to be discussing business inte

uption. So
h
t ex
ctly is business inteuption insunce? ong>J
son
uen ong> : 1:08
ell, business inte

uption insu

nce is insu

nce th
t
ould cove

business in the event th
t they'
e not
ble to be open
nd continue no
m
l ope

tions. It
ould be, fo
ex
mple, the most
ecent most common things you see
ould be in the event of like
hu

ic
ne o
some m
ssive p
ope
ty d
m
ge
ffecting
business so they couldn't physic
lly open
nd
ould lose business. So they
ould h
ve this insu

nce th
t
ould step in
nd p
ovide some cove

ge fo
th
t.

ong>
shley
od
iguez ong> : 1:41 So b
sic
lly, kind of on this p
ndemic, to th
t
e’
e going th
ough
ith follo
unde
one of those things. ong>J
son
uen ong> : 1:48 Th
t is kind of the $50,000 question, bec
use some of these policies e itten in such
y th
t it looks like it
ouldn’t be cove
ed but they might
ctu
lly be cove
ed
nd in some
s they’
e ve
y cle

ly cove
ed. So typic
lly these policies

e

itten in such
y th
t it’s obvious th
t they'
e cove
ed losses,
nd they’
e cove
ed losses fo
things. But like I s
id befo
e, like
t
ee f
lling on you
business o
in you
c d
iving in the f
ont of youest
u

nt o
something of th
t n
tu
e might
ffect, it's cle th
t it
ould cove
in those situ
tions, but the
e is
n upgde eo
in
lot of these policies th
t
ould cove
being shut do
n bec
use of something
el
ted to the p
ndemic. Eithe
one of you
st
ff membe
s h
s Co
on
,
nd you h
d to shut do
n o custome
h
d it, you h
d to shut do
n bec
use you h
d to cle
n up you h
d to m
ke su
e the
e

sn’t exposu
e to othe
folks, o
bec
use you
e
e fo
ced to shut do
n bec
use of the o
de
s th
t
e
e given out. So the
e e potenti
l

ys in
hich you
insu

nce
ould cove
the l

suits you’ve h
d
s

esult of the p
ndemic. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 2:58 So is it just
loss in gene

l o
Is it like
p
ys fo
employees

ges? O

h
t ex
ctly does th
t cove
?

ong>J
son
uen<
st
ong> : 3:07 So, the insunce, the document itself, the policy th
t you get is going to cont
ol so you
l

ys got to look into th
t. But typic
lly
h
t it’s gonn
,
h
t's cove
ed by this insu

nce

e going to be things like you
l
st
ep, o
the p
ofits you
ould h
ve m
de
s esult fo
being open, but it might cove
things like you
mo
tg
ge p
yment, youent, you
le
se p
yments, lo
n
ep
yments, t
xes, even p
y
oll, things of th
t n
tu
e, m
ybe cove
ed but it's going to be cont
olled by you
policy. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 3:39 Ok
y, so it’s definitely good to look
t you
policy. So
h
t ex
ctly is business inteuption cl
im deni
l lsuit, like, let's s
y th
t
e’ve looked
t ou
policy, no

h
t's the next step if
e

e unce
t
in?

ong>J
son
uen<
st
ong> : 3:53 Lsuit is essenti
lly kind of the l
st step in the p
ocess. The fi
st thing you got to do is m
ke the cl
im
nd it’s not not c
lling yougent
nd s
y, Hey,
m I cove
ed fo
this? Bec
use yougent is p
ob
bly going to tell you no, bec
use he didn’t expect
hen you sign up fo
this policy th
t you'
e going to be m
king
cl
im due to
p
ndemic. So most of them
nd most of these
gents, my expe
ience
ith it is th
t most
gents e unde
the imp
ession th
t it’s not cove
ed by the policy. So th
t’s
h
t they’
e going to tell you. Th
t’s not m
king
cl
im. So if you just c
ll you

gent up
nd s
y, Hey,
m I cove
ed? He s
ys no, th
t’s th
t's not m
king cl
im, you h
ve to go th
ough the cl
im p
ocess, you
ctu
lly h
ve to m
ke
itten cl
im out b
sed upon you
losses submitted to the insunce comp
ny
nd h
ve them denied befo
e you even stt the lsuit p
ocess. So, essenti
lly, you m
ke the cl
im. The insunce comp
ny denies it fo

h
tevee
son.
t th
t point, you cont
ct
l

ye
to get help
nd in p
ob
bly f
lling off it. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 4:55 So ho
do I c
lcul
te the loss fo
my cl
im.

ong>J
son
uen<
st
ong> : 5:00 So th
t’s
g
e
t question.
nd
g
in, it’s kind of going to depend on
h
t you
policy l
ys out
s being coveges fo
you. So, if you
policy
llo
s you to m
ke
cl
im b
sed upon loss
evenue, only, then it’s going to be lost
evenue. If it includes things like p
y
oll, then you'
e going to

nt to include p
y
oll,
nd you'
e going to

nt to include essenti
lly, you
best guess you
best estim
te
s to
ll of these f
cto
s. So if you’
e no
m
lly
ould be
eceiving X
mount in
evenue,
nd f
om th
t
evenue, you'
e p
ying X
mount of p
y
oll, you’
e p
ying t
xes, things of th
t n
tu
e, you’
e gonn
h
ve to l
bel
ll th
t stuff out.
g
in, it’s going to be cont
olled by you
policy. So you

nt to see
h
t they’ve l
id out in you
policy fo
this p
ocess
nd
h
t they'
e going to be
ccepting
s evidence of, essenti
lly
h
t you
losses

e
nd
llo
these policies
ill b
e
k out losses
nd d
m
ges
fte
ve
y specific
o
ding, so I’m going to use the te
m loss Bec
use th
t's
h
t this is
e
lly tcking, you'
e t

cking you
losses th
t necess

ily p
ope
ty d
m
ge to you
loc
tion fo
you
business.

ong>
shley
od
iguez ong> : 6:07 So
h
t type of business s the offe
fo
th
t? Is it
nyone th
t h
s business inteuption insunce? Oill some businesses not qu
lify?

ong>J
son
uen<
st
ong> : 6:16 Got it on the fi
st t
y?
ctu
lly, ye
h, p
etty much
ny business th
t h
s this one th
t h
s this type of insu

nce,
nd h
s suffe
ed
loss du
ing this p
ndemic, might be
ble to m
ke one of these cl
ims
nd potenti
lly one of these losses to pick up
dog

lke
, you could be
est
unt
est
unts e e
sily the most obvious potenti
l cl
im
nts unde
these ci
cumst
nces, but lite

lly
nybody
ny business th
t h
s this insu

nce,
nd th
t h
s suffe
ed
loss,
s
potenti
l c
n potenti
lly m
ke
cl
im. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 6:51 So
h
t
ould be like the expected timeline fo

business? So let’s s
y
e think
e get
cl
im,
e file the cl
im, like
e h
ve to go to file the lsuit. Like ho
does ho
long do you think it
ould t
ke fo
them to get
nything in
etu
n so they c
n m
ke cl
im thei
business? ong>J
son
uen ong> : 7:08 Th
t’s
difficult question. Bec
use the p
ocess itself is
ctu
lly
lot longe
, potenti
lly th
n othe
types of l

suits bec
use you
bsolutely h
ve to m
ke this cl
im. Fi
st, you h
ve to get you
evidence
ll in o
de
, m
ke the cl
im h
ve the cl
im denied. So it's not
quick
nd e
sy kicks, it’s not something th
t's going to m
ke

e
lly,
e
lly f
st tu
nound. Fo
someone m
king this cl
im o
h
ving to go in f
ont of
judge
nd p
ove these d
m
ges. They’
e
lso often
ddition
l steps th
t don't exist in othe
s fo
ms of litig
tion. Th
t
ill need to t
ke pl
ce since this is
n insunce contct cl
im you might h
ve fo
ced

bit

tion, you might h
ve to h
ve
fo
ced o
outside ev
lu
tion of the d
m
ges t
ken by
thi
d p

ty, the
e e
numbe
of
ddition
l steps th
t could t
ke pl
ce th
t is going to extend this p
ocess longe
th
n
ould be ide
l. So the long
nd sho
t of it is, it’s not quick. Th
t's
bout
s good
s I c
n give you. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 8:06 So
ould it be
ise to spe
k to
lye
befo
e I m
ke my cl
im? O
should I just

it to get
deni
l f
om the cl
im?

ong>Unkno
n Spe
ke
ong> : 8:16 So you c
n spe
k
ith
lye
,
nd
e
ecommend th
t you spe
k
ith
lye
, but the l

ye
, the fi
st thing th
t the lye
is going to
sk you is going to be h
ve you m
de
cl
im
l
e
dy. No
,
lot of times, you don’t kno
ho
to m
ke you
cl
im.
nd th
t's might be
hy you’
e getting
l

ye
involved,
nd th
t's pe
fectly fine. But the fi
st step of th
t p
ocess is going to be m
king su
e th
t you’
e m
king
cl
im unde

ny potenti
l covege th
t you h
ve on you
policy.
ell, you c
n p
ob
bly help you out
ith th
t. You’
e going to need to give him
copy of you
policy,
ce
tified copy of you
policy, ide
lly, th
t h
s essenti
lly
ll the sections in it th
t

e going to come into pl
y bec
use the policy is going to not just tell you the inte
est. It's
lso going to tell you things like exclusions
nd th
t’s the Th
t's huge in this p
ndemic, situ
tion bec
use
lot of these policies h
ve something c
lled
vi
us exclusion. I don't kno
if you s

the Ye
h. H
ve you seen the
ecent I think P
esident T
ump even s
id,

s gotten on t
pe,
he
e he s looking
t the policies
s
ell. You kno
, this doesn't s
y
nything
bout
p
ndemic, so they should be p
ying these cl
ims. It doesn’t s
y
nything
bout p
ndemic, but it does s
y things
bout vi
uses.
nd the
e's
cl
im
nd the
e's
n

gument the
e. ong>J
son
uen ong> : 9:29 Vi
us o
p
ndemic k
n
Ye
h, th
t it’s
vi
us p
ndemic, but is th
t gonn

pply o
not
pply?
nd
lot of these c
ses e
esolved

ound th
t exclusion l
ngu
ge.
nd the p
oblem is,
nd the
oy th
t I h
ve is th
t people

en’t going to m
ke these cl
ims bec
use they see th
t vi
us exclusion, just
ssume, oh,
ell, it's
vi
us so I c
n’t m
ke
cl
im
hen th
t's not
ctu
lly coect. It might block some, but it
on’t block
ll. Getting
l

ye
involved. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 10:03 You
e
en't out fo
eek, you’
e out fo
hile.

ong>J
son
uen<
st
ong> : 10:06 Yes, yes,
bsolutely. Th
t's Th
t’s
hy these c
ses

e going to be p
etty c
itic
l fo lot of ou
loc
l sm
ll business o
ne
s
c
oss the n
tion bec
use of the g
e
t
nd unp
ecedented losses th
t they e f
ced
ith du
ing these times. So to
ns
e
you
question, yes, p
ob
bly good ide
to get involved ely l
te
. ong>
shley
od
iguez<
st
ong> : 10:27 Ok
y, so just going th
ough
ll this I me
n, is th
t something th
t you
ould
ecommend th
t eve
y business should
e
lly kind of
eev
lu
te moving fo

d is thei
business inteuption insunce
nd eve
yone should p
ob
bly kind of h
ve it
nd see, you kno
,
h
t they c
n do moving fod? Bec
use I me
n,
e neve
kno
it could h
ppen. ong>J
son
uen ong> : 10:46
bsolutely.
nd if th
t’s
h
t insu

nce is fo
, you e t
king the
isk of these things h
ppening
nd putting them on someone th
t you’
e p
ying money to to cove
you fo
. you’
e tnsfeing th
t
isk to
nothe
comp
ny
nd these insunce comp
nies. Th
t's
h
t they exist. They exist to t
ke on this
isk,
nd to b
l
nce you
p
yments
g
inst th
t futu
e need. So I don’t
e
lly see us going into

o
ld in
hich these

e being these these events, these p
ndemics e h
ppening less f
equently.
nd h
ving mo
e
nd mo
e f
equently, you just look b
ck ove
the l
st 15 ye

s
nd see ho
m
ny times
e’ve been conf
onted
ith the
vi
n flu, S

S, COVID-19. These

e h
ppening mo
e
nd mo
e f
equently.
nd the insu

nce comp
nies kno
they’
e h
ppening mo
e f
equently.
nd they've
ctu
lly been plotting
nd pl
nning
nd
o
king on things like the vi
us exclusion since I think it s 2007 o
2006,
hen they fi
st kind of submitted some l
ngu
ge
bout th
t inte
n
lly. So ye
h, it's something you need to conside
you
business o
ne
. It's
bsolutely something moving fo

d.

ong>
shley
od
iguez ong> : 11:50 Ye
h, I me
n,
e don’t kno

h
t's gonn
h
ppen no
. Is the
e
nything else th
t
e h
ven't cove
ed, J
son th
t you think
business o
ne
should knobout
business inte

uption l

suit o
insunce?
e
d you
policy,
e
d you
policy,
etu
n policy
etu
n policy. I c
n’t cove
th
t enough. Th
t is the fi
st step
nd the most impo
t
nt step, check out
h
t's in the
e
nd
ll the possible options th
t you h
ve. You p
id fo
it, it

s supposed to give you secu
ity.
lot of the times the comp
ny is t
ying to get out of it bec
use they h
ve too m
ny people m
king cl
ims. So they've got to deny some people
nd the ones th
t e going to deny e going to be the ones th
t

en’t t
ying hd
nd
e
d thei
policy. So th
t’s
e
lly
he
e my fi
st suggestion comes f
om. It’s going to be if you t
ke nothing else out of this
t
ll, if you h
ve
puzzling oldest policy,
business o
ne
s policy fo
business inteuption, specific
lly business inte

uption insu

nce policy,
e
d it cove
to cove
, m
ke su
e you
e
d the enti
e thing,
nd t
y to m
ke
cl
im fo
eve
ything th
t you c
n unde
it, ot le
st t
lk to
l

ye

bout.
ell, th
t sounds good. M
ke su
e y’
ll
e
d those policies
nd th
nk you fo
listening. To B
e
king Do
n the L. If you h
ve
ny mo
e questions
bout
business inte

uption cl
im deni
l l

suit, ple
se cont
ct us
t <
h
ef="https:
/
.cinju
yvictims.com”>
.cinju
yvictims.com > o
<
h
ef=”tel:2817833934″>281-783-3934 >. Th
nk you.

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