Insurance Disputes (Commercial / Business)

Protecting Policyholder Rights

Consistent successful representation of policyholders’ rights under commercial/ business insurance policies begins with the knowledge and understanding of the insurance industry’s claim processing procedure and its pitfalls, hazards and traps. Without the help of experienced legal guidance protecting the rights of the policyholder, the inherent nuances and loopholes contained within insurance policies can be easily manipulated to benefit the insurance companies. Knowing and understanding your rights as an insured, as well as the rights and responsibilities of the insurer, can mean the difference between receiving the maximum benefits or amounts entitled to under the policy or the insurer’s denial, delay or underpayment of a claim. The attorneys at Pierce & O’Neill have the extensive experience and knowledge necessary to handle insurance disputes and protect the rights of the policyholders.

Defending Your Interests

Insurance companies are for-profit organizations and their business models are simply not designed to lose money. Unfortunately, their success is often achieved at the expense of policyholders by putting the interests of the insurers ahead of the interests of the policyholders- unless forced to do so. The purchase of an insurance policy creates a binding contractual agreement between the policyholder and the insurer. When an insurer fails to uphold its responsibilities and obligations to the insured, the policyholder is left with only two options: (1) accept the insurer’s decision and concede; or(2) dispute the results and hire an experienced firm to protect the policyholder’s interests and hold the insurance company accountable. At Pierce & O’Neill, we have the experience and resources necessary to assess and evaluate all types of commercial insurance disputes and defend the policyholder’s interests.

If you believe your insurance company has failed to honor their commitment to you, or to confirm that you have been treated fairly and obtained the best possible result for your claim, call one of our insurance dispute attorneys today to schedule a consultation. We will look over your claim results and confirm your insurance company has not committed any of the following acts:

• Bad-Faith Claims
• Breach of Contract
• Failure to defend a policyholder and/or excess verdicts
• Wrongful denial of coverage, including failure to conduct a reasonable investigation
• Unreasonable delay in claims processing and/or payment
• Failure to acknowledge or pay a claims
• Failure to settle a claim

Proven Experience In Claim Disputes

Our insurance dispute attorneys have proven experience and will aggressively defend the policyholder’ rights and interest, holding the insurance companies responsible for compliance with the terms of the policy, as evidence by the following sample of cases:

• Recovered in excess of $1 billion dollars from property and casualty insurers for major energy companies
• Recovered $100 million in environmental remediation and response costs from insurance carrier in arbitration in London
• Pursued defense and indemnification claim against multiple insurance carriers for Houston-based service company
• Investigated and prepared $300 million property insurance claim related to expansion of Gulf Coast refinery in Texas
• Represented a petroleum refinery in Washington state in London arbitration against excess insurer on claims arising from a process unit fire with multiple fatalities
• Represented a captive insurance carrier in London arbitration against reinsurer on claims arising from a refined products pipeline rupture, explosion and fire with multiple fatalities, significant property damage, and business interruption claims
• Represented a major energy company in London arbitration against insurance carrier on claims arising from alleged contamination of municipal water supply of city in California
• Represented a major energy company in London arbitration brought by excess insurer seeking declaration on coverage for products liability claims related to gasoline additive
• Represented a major energy company in London arbitration against excess insurer on claims arising from alleged environmental contamination caused by gasoline additive
• Represented a petroleum refinery in Louisiana in arbitration against a demolition contractor and its liability insurance carriers on claims arising from a process unit fire and explosion

Holding Insurance Companies Responsible

For claim disputes locally, nationwide or international, contact our Houston-based business insurance dispute attorneys at 713-634-3600 for expert legal advice or complete our online contact form to schedule a consultation.