SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Dispute Over Amount Insured Owes Public Adjuster Resolved

January 14, 2025 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court addressed a dispute over fees that the insureds allegedly owed the public adjuster. Public' Adjuster's, LLC v. Mark Gottesdiener & Co., et al., 2024 Conn. Super. LEXIS 2352 (Conn. Super. Ct. Nov. 6. 2024). The insureds owned an apartment building that was substantially damaged by a fire. The building was insured by Quincy Mutual Group. The insureds signed a Public Adjuster Employment Contract with The Public's Adjuster, LLC (Adjuster). The contract authorized Adjuster to negotiate the reimbursable damages with Quincy on the insureds' behalf. Adjuster was to recover 8 1/2% of any amounts received by the insureds. Because of the extent of the fire damage, the work of negotiating a settlement with Quincy proved to be complex. Adjuster meticulously prepared several detained written estimates to by submitted to Quincy. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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BE PROACTIVE: Steps to Preserve and Enhance Your Insurance Rights In Light of the Recent Natural Disasters

October 19, 2017 — Jacquelyn M. Mohr – Newmeyer & Dillion LLP
Our hearts go out to those families and businesses who have suffered losses due to the recent fires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. We hope that everyone in Sonoma, Napa, Orange County, and nationwide affected by these tragic events is somewhere safe. As someone who lost a house in a fire growing up and now is an attorney who helps both residential and business policyholders, there are a few pieces of wisdom I’d like to pass along to help prepare for the worst: 1) MAINTAIN DUPLICATES OF CRITICAL DOCUMENTS OFFSITE OR ONLINE After the fire, you’re going to need your insurance policies and other critical documents. While it’s usually possible to request copies, this can take weeks, which will hold up your claims process. We are fortunate enough to have the technology for cloud-based storage of key documents – like your insurance policy, insurance broker contact information, tax returns, life insurance policies, will, business plan, inventories, etc. – oftentimes for free. Maintaining these records onsite during your daily life and business operations is important, but so is taking the time and trouble to make sure you have a back-up offsite. It’s easy to do, and so much easier than trying to recreate it after the fact. 2) MAKE A RECORD OF YOUR PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS If you are lucky enough to still be in your home or business property, I strongly recommend that you take a video of your property and possessions to keep for your records. A digital inventory with receipts would be great – but a video log will also be very helpful later.

• For your home: This includes the furniture, artwork, appliances, jewelry, electronics, collectibles, landscaping and custom features of the inside and outside of your house.
• For your business: This includes your furniture and artwork, your inventory and your electronics.

Look into offsite back-ups of your important electronic data – whether documents, e-mails, insurance policies, inventory logs, accounting data, client correspondence, or pictures of your kids or grandkids. Why A Record Is Important in the Insurance Claims Process Though I hope no one has to deal with this, a video record will make it much easier in the event of a tragedy to deal with insurance claims for two reasons:

• It is evidence to submit to the insurance company to show exactly what your property was like before disaster struck.
  • For your home, you likely have a homeowner's insurance policy that covers your “3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2000 square foot home built in 1962,” but your insurer won’t know the quality of what is actually inside. It will be up to you to prove you had a brand new Viking stovetop, rather than a 20-year old Kitchenaid; custom built-in cabinets rather than Ikea furniture. (On this note, if you ever do any remodeling, be sure to tell your broker to make sure it's covered by your policy!)
  • For your business, your policy will similarly be generic, and the insurer will similarly insist on evidence of your business inventory, sales orders, equipment, artwork, etc. in the event of a loss.

• A video record will also help to jog your memory to create itemized inventories to submit to the insurance company. Creating an inventory of everything lost after a casualty can be the most difficult and emotional part of the rebuilding process. I encourage you to do anything you can do now to lessen the stress later. After a traumatic loss, it’s impossible to remember everything, so most people never collect their full insurance benefits. United Policyholders, an amazing non-profit resource for policyholders, has a great app and other online tools to help create your inventory. You can find the app and other helpful information at http://www.uphelp.org/

3) CHECK YOUR POLICY Even if you have not been personally affected by the recent disasters, these tragedies are an excellent reminder to check to make sure you are fully covered.

• Make sure you understand what is covered under your policy, and get confirmation that you are covered for a total loss. Talk with your broker to make sure your policy limits make sense, including those for separate structures, personal property, and additional living expenses, which are usually a percentage of your dwelling coverage limit.
• Check to make sure your personal property limits would cover your possessions– if you have a lot of artwork, jewelry, antiques, and other valuables, the standard limits might not be enough for you.
• Consider this question: Does your additional living expense/business interruption coverage (aka the amount your insurance company will pay while your home or business property is being rebuilt) provide enough for your needs? Even if your limits/coverage made sense when you purchased the policy, things may have changed.
You can usually increase your other coverage limits with a quick email to your insurance broker, often with very little impact on your annual premium. 4) DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP As simple as it sounds, don’t be afraid to ask for help. No one expects you to be an expert on this, and pretending you don’t need assistance can cost you thousands of dollars in insurance benefits in the future. So be sure to take advantage of the resources out there so that you are fully prepared to handle whatever disaster nature sends your way. For any additional questions, and for help navigating the insurance claims process after a disaster, please do not hesitate to reach out. Jacquelyn Mohr is an associate in the Walnut Creek office of Newmeyer & Dillion, focusing in business litigation, insurance coverage, securities fraud and construction disputes. Jacquelyn can be reached at Jacquelyn.Mohr@ndlf.com or 925.988.3200. About Newmeyer & Dillion For more than 30 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, construction and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client’s needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949-854-7000 or visit www.ndlf.com. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jacquelyn M. Mohr, Newmeyer & Dillion LLP
Ms. Mohr may be contacted at Jacquelyn.mohr@ndlf.com

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Someone Who Hires an Independent Contractor May Still Be Liable, But Not in This Case

April 18, 2023 — Katherine Dempsey - The Subrogation Strategist
In Allstate Veh. & Prop. Ins. Co. v. Glitz Constr. Corp., 2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1180, 2023 NY Slip Op 01171, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, Second Department (Appellate Court), considered whether a contractor could be found liable for its subcontractor’s alleged negligence in causing injury to a homeowner’s property. The homeowner’s insurer, as subrogee of the homeowner, sought to recover damages from the contractor despite an allegation that the subcontractor – an independent contractor – caused the injury to the homeowner’s property. Finding that there was no evidence that any of the exceptions to the non-liability rule related to hiring independent contractors applied, the Appellate Court affirmed the lower court’s decision granting judgment in favor of the contractor. In this case, the homeowner hired the contractor (defendant) to convert her garage area into a bedroom and an office. The defendant later hired a subcontractor to perform the electrical rough-in work. At trial, the homeowner’s insurer (plaintiff) presented evidence that the subcontractor, who damaged an existing wire with a drill bit, caused an electrical failure that resulted in a fire. The defendant argued that it could not be held liable for the subcontractor’s alleged negligence because the subcontractor was an independent contractor and, on appeal, the Appellate Court agreed. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Katherine Dempsey, White and Williams LLP
Ms. Dempsey may be contacted at dempseyk@whiteandwilliams.com

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Are Contracting Parties Treated the Same When it Comes to Notice Obligations?

June 25, 2019 — G. Scott Walters - Smith Currie
Overview Experienced project delivery team members know too well the importance of timely and proper notice during a construction project. Ideally, contractual notice provisions, and any penalties for non-compliance, should apply equally to all of the contracting parties. For example, failure to comply with a notice provision concerning contract changes could bar a party from pursuing claims. And, untimely or improper notice can, likewise, prevent certain defenses to claims. Nowhere is notice more scrutinized than in the federal government contracting arena. Recently, the United States Court of Federal Claims issued two separate decisions involving the same construction project and the same parties and dealing with two specific aspects of notice in the federal government contracting process. The court’s decisions on the notice issues may, at first, appear to contradict each other or to favor one party over the other. A closer look at these two decisions reveals that notice requirements, in the context of federal government construction contracts, can come in multiple forms and notice is not a “one size fits all” proposition. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of G. Scott Walters, Smith Currie
Mr. Walters may be contacted at gswalters@smithcurrie.com

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Health Officials Concerned About Lead-Tainted Dust Created by Detroit Home Demolitions

August 20, 2018 — Engineering News-Record
DETROIT (AP) — The nation's largest home-demolition program, which has torn down more than 14,000 vacant houses across Detroit , may have inadvertently created a new problem by spreading lead-contaminated dust through some of the city's many hollowed-out neighborhoods. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Engineering News-Record
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

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How AI Can Become a Design Adviser

October 02, 2018 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Parametrized design software is not a recent invention. This software is based on predetermined, fixed algorithms, leaving most of the work to the designer. Sweco, a leading engineering consultancy, is now exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) could take design automation in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry to the next level. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

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Home Buyers Lose as U.S. Bond Rally Skips Mortgage Rates

September 03, 2014 — Jody Shenn – Bloomberg
Potential home buyers watching this year’s plunge in 10-year Treasury yields can be forgiven for wondering why their borrowing costs aren’t falling at the same pace. The last time the benchmark Treasury rate fell as low as the 2.34 percent level reached last week, in June 2013, interest rates on typical mortgages were almost 0.2 percentage point less than they are now. There are a number of explanations: Yields on five-year Treasuries, which also help determine loan rates, have actually increased. And lenders that cut staff aren’t competing as aggressively by adjusting their pricing. No matter the cause, the effect is that a potential catalyst to get the faltering U.S. housing recovery back on track is failing to materialize. With home-loan rates stagnating at about 4.1 percent during the past three months, a renewed boom in refinancing also sits just out of reach. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jody Shenn, Bloomberg
Ms. Shenn may be contacted at jshenn@bloomberg.net

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Location, Location, Location—Even in Construction Liens

October 28, 2015 — Craig Martin – Construction Contractor Advisor
We all know the importance of filing a construction lien within 120 days of your last work. Nebraska Construction Lien Act, § 52-137. But, equally, if not more important is filing the construction lien on the correct property. Often times on a construction project, the exact address of the project may not be known. And, if there are a few buildings going up on the same general site, it is difficult to determine which property or building address you are working on. Sometimes you can look at the contract. For example, the AIA family of documents lists the address on the first page. But, what if the wrong address is listed? What if the wrong owner is listed? Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Craig Martin, Lamson, Dugan and Murray, LLP
Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@ldmlaw.com

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