Name: Raizner Slania LLP
Address: 2402 Dunlavy St Suite 300, Houston, TX, 77006, US
Telephone: 844-554-9099
Price range: Let Our Team Help You

Restaurants provide a place for people to meet up with business associates, friends, first dates, and family to share a delicious meal, celebrate, and enjoy one another’s company. Owners of these operations manage a variety of logistics required to provide an unforgettable customer experience, like the cost of goods, running the restaurant, and managing their employees. While having the proper insurance coverage in place to run the business is essential to any restaurant, unexpected events that cause damage to the exterior or interior of the property can still be jarring for business owners. When these instances occur, owners may be shocked to find their insurance company has denied or delayed their valid claim. However, disputing even the most obvious wrongfully denied claim can be difficult and can ultimately lead to legal action being taken in the form of an insurance coverage lawsuit.

Insuring a restaurant involves obtaining coverage for many different perils. While commercial property damage coverage can help with claims involving natural disasters, severe weather events, and acts of vandalism, restaurant owners will need coverage to address other, more specialized issues that may be excluded under a commercial property policy. Kitchen mishaps and fires can happen at nearly any restaurant, injuries to guests can occur, and food spoilage and equipment breakdowns can happen regularly – these instances and others may require the purchase of additional coverage.

With all these and other perils at play, filing an insurance claim is an essential step toward recovery when the unexpected happens; however, carriers may be quick to deny or underpay a claim simply to turn a profit for themselves, rather than honor their obligations under a policy. At Raizner Slania, we have aided countless clients in Texas and across the country with obtaining the funds they need and are owed for their valid commercial property damage claims. Our firm has a proven track record of successfully handling bad faith claims involving complex properties like restaurants against some of the largest insurance companies in the world.

Some of the notable lawsuits our law firm has filed on behalf of restaurant owners include the following cases:

Commercial Lease Lawsuit Against Local Favorite Restaurants, F/K/A Firebrand Restaurant Group, et al.
Hurricane Harvey Lawsuit Against Capacity Insurance Company, et al.
Bad Faith Insurance Lawsuit Against Blackboard Insurance Company and Texas General Insurance
Hurricane Harvey Lawsuit Against AmGaurd Insurance Company
Water Intrusion Lawsuit Against Scottsdale Insurance Company, et al.

Commercial Lease Lawsuit on Behalf of a Dallas County, Texas Landlord Against Local Favorite Restaurants, F/K/A Firebrand Restaurant Group, Taqueria La Ventana, and Snuffer’s Restaurants

In October 2018, La Ventana and Snuffer’s failed to make timely rent payments and vacated the premises. These acts constituted a default under the terms of the leases. In lieu of filing suit against the defendants, the landlord negotiated and ultimately entered into forbearance agreements with them. Under both forbearance agreements, both Snuffer’s and La Ventana acknowledged they were in default under their leases. The landlord agreed to accept payments of 85% of the base monthly rent, in addition to the tenant’s continued payment of triple net expenses under each lease.

The landlord also agreed to forgo filing suit against the tenants; but, he still retained legal counsel and did not waive his rights with respect to the past or future defaults under the leases. While the tenants made rent payments pursuant to the forbearance agreements beginning in November 2018, they did not make the payments in February 2020 and have not made any payments since.

Hurricane Harvey Lawsuit Against Capacity Insurance Company Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, ICAT Syndicate 4242, and National Fire & Marine Insurance Company

Our client owns six fast food restaurants in Harris, Galveston, Brazoria, and Calhoun Counties. Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on August 25, 2017 and over the next week caused devastation all along the coast. The plaintiff’s properties suffered catastrophic damage as a result of Hurricane Harvey. Sizable portions of the roofs were compromised by the storm’s high winds, which in turn resulted in damage to the interiors of the properties.

However, as devastating as the damage to the properties was, the plaintiff felt fortunate to be protected by millions of dollars in insurance coverage. Unfortunately, this sense of security borne of a pricey contractual relationship would prove illusory.

Bad Faith Insurance Lawsuit Against Blackboard Insurance Company and Texas General Insurance

On September 9, 2017, a catastrophic fire broke out at the restaurant and caused significant damage to the business equipment, which in turn resulted in an extensive loss in income. Soon after the fire, the plaintiff filed an insurance claim and asked that the cost of repairs be covered pursuant to the policy. Texas General and one of its agents sold the policy to the plaintiff. However, Texas General and its agent falsely represented to the plaintiff that damages caused by fire, among other things, would be, and indeed are covered by the insurance policy based on the known facts about the business, including the lack of an internal fire alarm system.

The plaintiff trusted and relied upon the experience of Texas General and its agent to procure the appropriate coverage for its specialized business needs, and Texas General acted as the agent of Blackboard in connection with the procurement of coverage. Texas General and its agent led the plaintiff to believe the insurance policy secured would cover their business personal property and business income in the event of standard perils, including a fire loss. Blackboard conducted an unreasonable and inadequate investigation of the damages to the restaurant and looked to find policy exclusions in order to deny the claim. Blackboard wrongfully denied and delayed the plaintiff’s claim for damages to contents and lost business income. Blackboard has chosen to continue to deny and delay timely payment of the damages. Because of Blackboard’s refusal to the pay the claim, the plaintiff has suffered significant economic loss.

Hurricane Harvey Lawsuit Against AmGuard Insurance Company

On or about August 25, 2017, the 4,300 square foot restaurant was struck by Hurricane Harvey’s extreme winds and suffered damage to sizeable portions of the roof and exterior. The restaurant’s claim for roof and exterior wind damages, along with substantial interior damage, was wrongly denied by AmGuard. Immediately after the storm, the plaintiff promptly filed a claim, alerting AmGuard to the extensive damages and asking it to cover the cost of repairs pursuant to the policy.

AmGuard assigned several adjusters, including defendant Brandon Allen, Jim Richardson, David Nance, and Lisa Fennell, to the claim. None of these adjusters provided a scope of damages or an estimate to the Insured. AmGuard subsequently engaged Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc. to handle the claim, but they were improperly trained as to their responsibilities and were directed to minimize – and in fact, did minimize – claim payments and delay the reconstruction project. Duncan Doss from Rimkus completed a site inspection, and both he and the other adjusters assigned to the claim were unqualified and incapable of adequately assessing the damages to this type of commercial property. Additionally, they were the source of many delays throughout the claim process. AmGuard continued to delay the claim resolution and did not provide the insured with answers. After cursory and substandard inspections, and more than five months after the Property was damaged, AmGuard fully denied the claim on November 22, 2017. To date, no payments have been made for damages from Hurricane Harvey.

Water Intrusion Lawsuit Against Scottsdale Insurance Company, Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Company, and McLarens, Inc.

On or about January 26, 2018, the property suffered severe water intrusion, causing substantial damage to the restaurant’s interiors. Plaintiffs promptly filed a claim with its insurance carrier, Westchester, which was adjusted by their representative in Texas, Mr. Liles. Westchester assigned the plaintiff’s claim to Mr. Liles to adjust the damages under the policy. Mr. Liles confirmed the damages were covered under the policy and “approved” payment of $150,000. Additionally and on behalf of Westchester, Liles confirmed both over the phone and email on June 10 and June 11, 2019 that $74,766.84 in additional money would be issued. Despite this representation, Westchester has refused to fully pay this amount of undisputed damages.

Westchester and Liles failed to provide any scope of damages, failed to complete an adequate investigation of our client’s claim, and refused to retain the appropriate consultants to evaluate the claim. The Carrier, McLarens, and Mr. Liles wrongfully underpaid and denied Plaintiff’s claim for property repairs. Defendants ultimately represented to the Plaintiff that certain damages were not covered under the Policy when in fact they were, thus necessitating a water intrusion lawsuit.

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Restaurant: Lawsuits Filed

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