Understand Your Insurance Coverage

My physician-client in Florida had suffered through two major storms in two years. She did not recover any damages from the first storm. I became her Consulting Administrator for the second claim efforts.

After we solved the immediate problems of temporary relocation and patient contact, I asked if her insurance included business interruption coverage. She didn’t know. I asked her to send me the policy.

She had good coverage, but she didn’t know how good until I reviewed it. Not only did she have business interruption, she also had stretch coverage that included extra expense, equipment breakdown, hazardous substance, accounts receivable, computers and media, personal property of others, etc. My fee was considered an extra expense.

I guided her through gathering the data we needed to track lost income and increased expenses. We projected future expenses for records replacement including personnel costs. We determined how long to retain records for patients who would not return to the practice.

Her suppliers inspected the equipment for viability and provided the costs for replacement or repair. The moving costs were double, because everything had to be removed from the office while it was undergoing structural repair, then moved back into the office and re-set up.

Working together we created spreadsheets and reports. Her total recovery was $84,000, which she did not know she was entitled to receive.

Lesson: Let an expert review your insurance policy so you get what you paid for.