Commercial & Multi-Family Property Claims
Commercial and multi-family losses carry everything a residential claim does, plus the parts that decide whether the business survives the interruption: time-element coverage, coinsurance, and how the limits were scheduled in the first place.
What commercial claims add
- Business interruption. Lost income and continuing expenses during the period of restoration — covered in depth on our business interruption claims page.
- Extra expense. The cost of continuing to operate — temporary premises, expedited materials, overtime.
- Coinsurance. Where the property is insured below the required percentage of value, the payment can be reduced by formula even on a partial loss. This surprises people badly.
- Blanket versus scheduled limits. How limits were arranged across buildings changes what is available when one of them is damaged.
- Ordinance or law. Commercial rebuilds trigger accessibility, fire and life-safety upgrades that a like-for-like estimate omits.
- Multi-family occupancy. Tenant displacement, loss of rents, and unit-by-unit scope across many similar spaces.
What to document
- Financial records supporting the interruption period — the claim is proved from them.
- Unit-by-unit and building-by-building scope, not a sampled extrapolation.
- The policy's declarations: limits, coinsurance percentage, and whether coverage is blanket or scheduled.
- Every extra expense incurred to keep operating, with receipts.
Who to call, and what each one costs
Your insurance companyFree
First call, always. They assign an adjuster and issue any advance. The catastrophe adjuster assigned to you may be genuinely helpful — they also work for the insurer, which is a fact about the role, not an accusation about the person.
Your state Department of InsuranceFree
The most underused resource after a loss. They answer coverage questions, take complaints about claim handling, and confirm whether anyone contacting you is actually licensed. No cost, and they take no percentage of your recovery.
A public adjuster (that’s us)Paid
Represents you rather than the insurer, normally for a percentage of the claim agreed in writing before any work begins. Useful on scope disputes, contents inventories and undocumented depreciation — and not worth it on a small claim or a pure coverage dispute. See the questions below.
An attorneyPaid
Attorneys are there to litigate claims. That is the difference: a public adjuster works out the amount of the loss and negotiates it with the carrier; an attorney takes the carrier to court. If the carrier says the loss is not covered at all, or there is a question about causation or accusation, that is litigation and it belongs with a lawyer. A public adjuster is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.
Common questions
What is coinsurance and why does it reduce my payment?
Many commercial policies require the property to be insured to a set percentage of its value. If it is insured below that, the policy can reduce the payment by formula — even where the loss is well under the limit. Check the coinsurance percentage on your declarations page.
How is business interruption actually calculated?
Generally from your financial records: the income that would have been earned during the period of restoration, plus continuing expenses. Because it is proved from the books, early and organised accounting support matters more than anything else.
Kansas — can you represent my commercial claim?
Yes. Kansas public adjusters are limited by statute to first-party commercial property claims and may not represent residential homeowners, so commercial is the category we can assist with there.
Request a claim review
Utah properties: contact us to discuss your claim.Kansas: commercial claims only.Send the basics and we will look at where your claim stands and tell you plainly what we see — including if the honest answer is that you are being treated fairly and do not need to hire anyone. There is no charge for the review and nothing to sign to get it.
Who wrote this, and what we get out of it
Public adjusting work is performed by William J. Addis, individually licensed in 18 states. Like nearly all public adjusters, we are paid a percentage of the claim, agreed in writing before any work begins and subject to any applicable state limits. There is no charge for the review itself. You should weigh that interest when reading anything here.
Free help exists too. Every state’s Department of Insurance assists policyholders with claims at no cost and takes no percentage of your recovery, and will confirm whether anyone contacting you is actually licensed — including us. See where we are licensed, and verify any public adjuster before hiring them.
This is general information, not advice. It is not legal advice, not an interpretation of your policy, and we are not a law firm. You have the right to negotiate your own claim directly with your insurer and the right to consult an attorney; you are not required to hire a public adjuster.
Our role, when we are engaged, is to help policyholders reach a fair and reasonable settlement of a covered loss under the terms of their own policy. Each claim turns on its own facts, policy language and jurisdiction. Kansas readers: under K.S.A. 40-5500 et seq., Kansas public adjusters are limited to first-party commercial property claims and may not represent residential homeowners.