Southern California businesses seeking to recover the full amount of insurance for their losses from this year’s wildfires will need to review their policies carefully to assess the scope of recoverable damages, McGuireWoods partner Christopher Pasich and associate Caitlin Oswald wrote in the cover story of the February 2025 issue of Los Angeles Lawyer.
Pasich and Oswald, members of the firm’s national insurance recovery practice, wrote that commercial insurance policies, in addition to physical damages, often cover interruptions to business activity caused by a disaster. Businesses may be entitled to broad coverage for economic losses suffered until business returns to normal, even if their property was not physically damaged.
The authors said that an insurance policy is the most prominent document in an insured’s recovery efforts. In pursuing coverage, an insured will turn to the policy time and again, and so should obtain a complete copy of the policy at the start of the claim process.
“The age-old phrase ‘words matter’ rings true for insureds seeking to maximize their insurance recovery for the property damage and loss they suffered from the devastating 2025 Southern California fires,” the attorneys wrote. “Businesses affected by the fires will need to review their policies to determine the coverages available and the exclusions that may act as impediments to coverage.”
To learn more about McGuireWoods resources to support those affected by the wildfires, click here.