The full fury of Hurricane Ida’s 150-mile-an-hour winds was felt by the entire Louisiana Coastline on the night of August 29, 2021. It left a path of devastation behind it.
Unfortunately for our client, a commercial warehouse developer and owner, one of his warehouses was directly in Ida’s path on that fateful evening. Ever a good and conscientious businessman, our client had secured –
Comprehensive insurance coverage for his warehouse just a few weeks prior to Ida’s arrival.
Predictably, the insurance company denied coverage for the significant damage Ida caused to our client’s warehouse roof. By way of excuses for non-payment, the insurance company alleged that the damage to the substantial, standing seam, metal roof happened during the warehouse’s initial construction (20 years earlier), that the substantial post-Ida leaks were the result of faulty repair work (there was none) or, alternatively, that the massive leaks occurred, magically, after Ida, due to the natural aging process, of the roof.
To combat the insurance company’s defenses and led by lead trial attorney, Michail Hack, Schwartz, Conroy & Hack, we flew to Louisiana, obtained the entire history of the warehouse, visited the site, interviewed witnesses and its past occupants, and obtained expert witness analysis of meteorological and structural conditions prior to and subsequent to Hurricane Ida.
Confronted with such a strong offense, the insurance company backed down as the trial date loomed, and Schwartz, Conroy & Hack were able to obtain a settlement that the client was very happy with.
