Kelle

Pre-Suit Investigations and Excess Monitoring

Overview

Pre-Suit Investigations and Excess Monitoring for Florida Property Insurance Claims

At Kelley Kronenberg, we provide specialized claim investigation services tailored for property insurance claims in Florida. We understand this field’s unique challenges and requirements, and our Investigating Counsel Team is committed to facilitating swift and thorough investigations to meet your duty of promptly and adequately evaluating and handling each claim.

Investigating Counsel Services:

Our Investigating Counsel Team is equipped with unparalleled experience in pre-suit claims handling, designed explicitly for property insurance defense in Florida. We have established systems and processes to efficiently gather the necessary information, enabling carriers to investigate and pay claims promptly, if appropriate, even before receiving a request from a plaintiff or counsel.

In property insurance defense, avoiding bad faith actions cannot be overstated. Our team moves swiftly and meticulously, leaving no stone unturned in the investigation process. Plaintiffs’ attorneys often challenge the adequacy of investigations, questioning key facts, in-person inspections, and the appropriateness of questions posed to policyholders. By relying on our experience and thoroughness, you can mitigate the risk of bad faith claims based on improper denial.

Standard Investigation Procedures:

While every property insurance claim is unique, our standard investigation procedures include obtaining necessary claim records, conducting expedited discovery, and utilizing key investigative tools such as claim canvasses. We prioritize completing as much as possible quickly, enabling you to make informed determinations and avoid bad faith claims.

A continuing theme is claim investigation disruption. Where Insureds or their public adjuster or attorney willfully obstruct claims investigations or delay tactics. Our team can handle these instances to ensure your claims handling is defendable and justified. We also utilize the Court system via declaratory actions to ensure proper cooperation when necessary or get preliminary determinations regarding the material failures to cooperate, thus avoiding prolonged litigation years later.

Our Investigating Counsel Team goes beyond the basics, providing a comprehensive liability and exposure analysis. We weigh the potential exposure against the likelihood of prevailing on any defenses, allowing for early and accurate decisions on whether to pay and how much. Our analysis helps determine if the anticipated exposure exceeds policy limits, aiding in formulating a good faith offer.

Monitoring Counsel Services:

Our Monitoring Counsel services come into play for claims with substantial pecuniary loss and exceeding retention, reaching the excess layer of coverage. Engaging Kelley Kronenberg as Monitoring Counsel allows clients to take proactive measures to mitigate or eliminate exposure to the excess layer in the context of property insurance defense.

Our Monitoring Counsel team adopts a proactive and diplomatic approach, working collaboratively with primary counsel to develop and influence the overall disposition of the claim. Without becoming adversarial, our involvement motivates counsel to pursue a more aggressive and detailed approach.

As Monitoring Counsel, we conduct independent and comprehensive reviews, offering expert opinions on liability and exposure. We provide detailed recommendations for the defense, including the selection of expert witnesses. Our team monitors the progress and cost of defense, taking necessary actions to remedy deficiencies in the investigation, discovery, or defense of a claim.

Comprehensive Oversight for Property Insurance Defense:

By actively overseeing every aspect of the claim, we ensure it is handled in a manner that serves the best interests of both policyholders and carriers. We maintain cooperative claims handling with our clients to ensure contemporaneous handling for the best claim outcomes.