Suit Filed on Fire Loss at Barbecue Restaurant
We recently filed suit on behalf of our client who owns a barbecue restaurant. After a fire in the kitchen, our client submitted the claim for fire damage to her business insurer. The insurance company denied the claim, asserting that she had the wrong kind of fire extinguishing system in place at the restaurant. The insurance company states that under the policy she was required to have one particular type of extinguishing system. However, the plain reading of the policy endorsement at issue allows for multiple types of fire extinguishing systems, and she had one of those systems in place at the time. The first thing I will be asking for in discovery is the underwriting file to see if the insurer ever inspected the property while underwriting the policy. If so, this will certainly buttress our argument that the extinguishment system in place was contemplated under the policy.
