Winds topping 110 miles an hour struck Ursuline College, the first women’s college established in Ohio and one of the first established in the United States, causing devastating damage to several buildings. Among the buildings damaged was the O’Brien Center, the centerpiece of intercollegiate athletics on the 100 acre campus in suburban Cleveland, Ohio.…
The Board of Education building for the Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools caught fire, as many fires start, in the middle of the night. Several local fire departments were called in to fight the fire, but soon, due to its ferocity, they had to withdraw from the building and just fight it defensively from ladders on the outside of the building.…
The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, a charitable human relations organization dedicated to eliminating bias, bigotry and racism (the successor to the National Conference of Christian and Jews) experienced a significant flood that resulted in the destruction of some of its business personal property and the interruption of business operations. After unsuccessfully attempting to resolve the loss claim with its insurance company, The Diversity Center turned to the Alex N. Sill Company’s Cleveland office to help settle the claim. The Sill Company’s team was able to dramatically increase, by 261%, the property and business income settlement over the last offer by the insurance company prior to Sill’s involvement.…
As Greg Ardisson sadly found out, insurance claims (even those that seem no-brainer, straight-forward, policy limits claims) are far more difficult to manage and resolve than an insured could ever anticipate. A disastrous fire struck The Night Owl Food & Spirits restaurant and lounge that not only threatened the Ardisson family livelihood, but, in fact, threatened to change their whole lives. As Mr. Ardisson commented: “Our family depended on those businesses for not only our livelihood, but it was indeed our lives. My two sons were born and raised during my tenure as a small business owner and our plans were for them to carry on the family business…”.…
The Trout Club in Newark, Ohio suffered a major fire in its cart garage that spread and did excessive structural damage to two levels of the club. The facts that: 1) the structure was made up of precast panels that were integrated into an old farmhouse built in the mid-1800s, 2) there was a significant amount of inventory and business personal property spread over the 7000 sq. foot building, and 3) that club had not even been operating a full year, so there was very little business history to show for its business loss claim, made this claim especially daunting for Trout Club owner, Brent Dewey.…
One of Cleveland, Ohio’s best known, respected and loved restaurateurs, Doug Katz, suffered a catastrophic fire to one of his restaurants, the Katz Club Diner, as a result of what was determined to be a set by a third party. The loss provided unique issues in calculating the building damage and repair or rebuild cost inasmuch as the restaurant consisted, in large part, of a vintage railroad car.…
As stated most succinctly by our client, “It all started in the middle of the night. The fire began when nobody was around. A phone call from the fire department and your business is up in smoke.” So began the saga of Myron & Phil’s Steakhouse, a family owned institution in Lincolnwood, Illinois which had served Chicago’s best steaks for nearly 40 years and now in need of recovering from a major fire.…
A devastating fire destroyed one of America’s most beloved barbeque restaurants — The Original Famous Dave’s in Hayward, Wisconsin. This landmark restaurant situated on Round Lake was the birthplace of the Famous Dave’s chain. The beauty of its natural setting, authentic timber construction and popularity hosting as many as 6,000 diners per week made it one of Wisconsin’s most photographed restaurants.…
Water and burst pipes go together in the insurance claims industry. Binta Patel, owner of the Econo Lodge of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, found that out, as burst pipes caused water to rush all over his hotel. The Alex N. Sill Company, quickly on the scene, warned the insured that the restoration contractor, who was already wielding ax and shovel, hacking away at the hotel, was doing work that may not be in his best interest. That some of the work being done might not be covered by the insured’s policy, might not be necessary, and might, therefore, have to be paid out of the insured’s own pocket. Recognizing that Sill’s advice was in his own best interest, Mr. Patel put a halt to the reckless restoration work and immediately hired Sill to take charge of the claims adjustment. Sill sent in its team of adjusters, building experts, contents estimators and forensic accountants to handle the claim. Mr. Patel was thrilled with the help provided by Sill, as well as the final result, recovering more than 2x what he anticipated the loss damages originally to be.…
