Environmental Insurance Claims Management

The variety of professional accounting and business backgrounds, formal education and training, building science, engineering and technical expertise in the construction and remediation industries combined with dispute resolution, litigation support and expert testimony provides our insurance clients with a diverse and defensible array of claims consulting services. BHS maintains a notable national presence with its strategic partners’ network.

Services

• On-site assessment and validation of covered activities; contemporaneous remediation and restoration scope-of-work information gathering
• Large Scale Environmental Claim Analysis and Management – Mold, Moisture, Asbestos, Legionella, Ebola
• Building Science / Construction Defect / Cause and Origin Evaluations
• Moisture Intrusion and Mold Investigations and related Analysis
• Claim analysis and supporting documentation review for validation of reasonable and necessary labor, material, subcontractor and equipment costs.
• Extremely detailed reports to support findings, recommendations and conclusions regarding financial analysis of the claimed costs and root cause(s).
• Expert Qualifications: Litigation Support, Deposition and Trial Testimony

The value of our independent, third party services is reflected in the cost-savings and favorable resolution of environmental claims submitted to our clients. If you would like to discuss an incident or aspect of an environmental claim, please feel free to contact us.

Examples of Our Work

• Legionella: Engaged and dispatched by the environmental insurance carrier for immediate response as their onsite technical consultant related to the proposed timeline for investigation and mapping of the facility and impacted buildings, cost exposure for interim mitigation and final remediation, testing for levels of disinfectant in the water potable system at the source and in distal locations, surveillance, sampling and control of Legionella bacteria and the defensible remediation for the private potable water distribution system serving five hospital buildings at a multi-building medical campus.
• Mold – Cause and Origin: Engaged and dispatched by the environmental insurance carrier immediately upon their receipt of the insured’s claim notice to: (1) investigate moisture intrusion and mold in approximately 50% of 340 units in a newly-constructed, 24 story apartment building; (2) offer a preliminary cause and origin opinion for the condensation conditions, liquid moisture and mold growth – differentiating between various root causes to assist in the carrier’s coverage determinations; (3) observe mobilization and initial remediation activities underway, and (4) estimate the cost exposure and extent of damage applicable to the pollution condition.
• Mold – Reasonable and Necessary Claimed Costs: Engaged and dispatched to the site multiple times by the environmental insurance carrier to: (1) investigate and quantify mold growth uncovered during the renovation of a 14 story, two tower, hotel with 400 rooms; (2) observe and track remediation activities on a floor-by-floor basis; and (3) analyze and review claimed costs relative to the extent of damage applicable solely to the pollution condition versus activities scheduled to be performed under the original renovation scope of work. Also included as part of the scope of services provided by BHS was analysis of certain vacancy patterns and time frames impacted by remediation as compared to the original renovation construction schedule for determinations related to business interruption.
• Mold – Comprehensive Claim Analysis and Business Interruption: Engaged by the environmental insurance carrier to determine what portion of the multi-million dollar costs and damages submitted were applicable to the claimed pollution condition. The property was a mid-west three building complex with four floors per building and a total of 280 units. Issues which needed to be unraveled included: (a) moisture intrusion damages attributable to exterior building envelopes and wall assemblies failure; (b) moisture intrusion impact on the building interior; (c) moisture and / or mold damage differentiation with regard to specific policy coverage provisions; (d) mold growth on building exterior materials fully compromised by moisture and loss of structural integrity; (e) mold growth on building interior materials and damage to furnishings; (f) extent of mold remediation required on interior building materials; (g) mold growth on exterior building features and balconies; (h) mold remediation versus structural deficiencies on exterior building features and balconies; (i) opinions on remediation, replacement, reconstruction and enhancements to original construction defects, and (j) business interruption, if any, strictly attributable to the covered pollution condition. Participation as an expert in three days of mediation efforts with the carrier and attorney representative.

Case Studies concerning mold in hotels