You paid the premiums for years. Then something happened, you filed a claim, and the carrier said no.
Denial letters are written to sound final. They are not. A denial is the insurer's position, not a ruling, and a meaningful share of them do not survive being challenged.
The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. represents Florida businesses in disputes with their own insurers, and has practiced in Miami since 1998.
Tender the lawsuit immediately
If your business has been sued, notify your carrier now, before you decide whether coverage applies.
Most liability policies carry a duty to defend that is broader than the duty to indemnify. The carrier may be required to pay for your defense even if it ultimately owes nothing on the judgment, and that determination is generally made by comparing the allegations in the complaint against the policy language.
> Late notice is the cheapest denial an insurer can issue. Policies require prompt notice, and a business that handles a lawsuit alone for months before tendering hands the carrier a defense that has nothing to do with the merits. Tender first, argue coverage second.
If the carrier agrees to defend but reserves rights, read that letter carefully. It tells you exactly which parts of the claim they intend to disclaim later.
Why claims actually get denied
- Late notice. The most common and most avoidable.
- Exclusion applied broadly. Wear and tear, faulty workmanship, prior knowledge, professional services, or an intentional acts exclusion stretched past its purpose.
- Business interruption disputes. Whether the loss falls within the covered period and how lost income is calculated.
- Valuation. Replacement cost versus actual cash value, depreciation, and disputed scope of repair.
- Alleged misrepresentation. The carrier says the application was inaccurate and attempts to rescind.
- Coverage never actually purchased. Which is sometimes the broker's failure rather than yours.
Read the denial letter as a roadmap
A denial has to state grounds. Those grounds are the entire case, and the insurer is generally confined to them.
Work through it in order:
- Which policy provision or exclusion is cited, word for word
- Whether the facts they recite are accurate
- Whether the exclusion actually reaches your loss or is being stretched
- Whether they investigated at all before denying
- Whether they requested information and you provided it
- What deadline the letter imposes, and whether the policy imposes a shorter suit limitation period
That last one matters. Many policies contain a contractual limitations period shorter than the ordinary statute, and missing it ends the claim regardless of merit.
Employee theft is usually a separate coverage
Businesses discovering internal theft often assume the general liability policy covers it. Usually it does not. Employee dishonesty coverage, a fidelity bond, or a crime policy is what responds, and those carry their own notice deadlines, frequently short ones.
If you have found theft inside your company, check these policies in the same week you find it, not after the investigation concludes.
When the broker is the problem
Sometimes the denial is correct and the real failure happened earlier. If you asked for a specific coverage, described your operations accurately, and the broker placed a policy that did not cover it, the claim may be against the broker rather than the carrier.
Preserve the application, the requested specifications, and every email about what you asked for.
Bad faith is a separate question
Florida recognizes claims against insurers who fail to settle or handle claims properly, but the path is procedural and sequencing matters. A coverage determination generally has to come first, and there are statutory notice steps that must be satisfied before a bad faith claim proceeds. Treating bad faith as something to raise casually in a demand letter tends to accomplish nothing.
Common questions
Should I tender the lawsuit to my insurance carrier? Yes, and promptly. Tendering costs you nothing and failing to tender can cost you the entire defense.
What if my association's insurance claim was denied? Community associations face the same analysis with added complications around who owns what and which policy responds. The governing documents matter as much as the policy.
Will insurance cover employee theft from my company? Only under specific coverage, and usually with a short notice window. Check immediately.
Can I sue an insurance broker who failed to get me coverage? Potentially, where you can show what you asked for and what was actually placed.
Does a denial mean the claim is over? No. It means the carrier has stated a position. Positions get reversed when the policy language and the facts are examined closely.
Deadlines are running while you wait
Policy suit limitation periods, notice requirements, and proof of loss deadlines all continue running while a denial sits on a desk. If your business claim was denied, have the letter and the policy reviewed before the clock does the deciding.
Call the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. to discuss a denied business insurance claim.
