Why You Should Engage a Specialist Property Damage and Insurance Lawyer
Why engage a specialist lawyer?
Most of my clients are professionals, business owners, property owners and homeowners.
Most professionals understand that you’re not simply engaging a lawyer for legal advice. You’re engaging someone who has seen the same problem repeatedly and can provide counsel, perspective and a pathway forward.
Success leaves clues.
When you’re facing a difficult, complex or high stakes dispute, you need someone who can cut through the noise, identify what matters, challenge assumptions and guide you through the process.
The two key problems I solve are:
- Property damage disputes involving residential, commercial and development property.
- Professional indemnity and liability issues affecting professionals facing claims, investigations or potential claims.
At the core of both areas is a common theme: insurance.
Insurance brokers play an important role and I spent more than a decade as about broker. They understand insurance products, policy placement and renewals.
An insurance lawyer who works for brokers and policyholders exclusively does something different.
I analyse evidence, cover and investigate causation just like defendant panel lawyers BUT I pursue indemnity and recovery.
I do not work for insurance companies. Never.
I act independently for property owners, businesses and professionals who need advice on whether insurance should respond, whether indemnity is available and how recovery can be achieved.
For professionals facing claims, the immediate dispute is often only part of the problem. The longer-term impact on professional reputation, future insurance renewals, policy terms, excesses and contractual risk can be far more significant. Actually, it’s the long game for business with claims made.
Your insurer’s panel lawyer is engaged to protect the insurer’s interests and defend the claim.
Your broker is engaged to assist with placement and renewal.
My role is different.
My role is to identify avenues for indemnity, maximise recovery opportunities, analyse legal and contractual exposure and help clients navigate the intersection between liability, insurance and commercial risk.
The same applies in property damage disputes.
Too often I see parties obtaining expert reports without understanding what evidence is required to prove liability, causation, indemnity and loss. Expert evidence is critical, but evidence alone does not build a legal case.
I have a growing team behind me that specialises in investigations that are directed toward the issues that actually matter and that ultimately support a successful recovery.
At Brockhill & Usherwood Lawyers, we focus on solving a specific problem:
Identifying who is responsible, determining who should pay and pursuing recovery.
I continue to do the high value work with professionals and large professional firms that goes beyond the intersection with the broker, insurer and defendant lawyers.
This article is a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
Recent articles
-
Why Plumbing in Victoria Has No Insurance Safety Net
The amount of plumbing related building defects I see in Victoria is astonishingly high. Often they exceed all other defects. Yet the insurance that should respond has become a farce.
-
A Neighbour Is Building and Why a Protection Works Notice Is Never Just a Form
More and more I am seeing protection works disputes become disputes about access to land, adverse possession, boundary issues, building defects and property damage.
-
A New General Insurance Code of Practice but Will It Change Anything
The headline change is that many of the Code's obligations are proposed to become legally enforceable. On paper that is a significant shift.
-
The Case for a National Civil and Administrative Tribunal for Australia
Burns v Corbett and later decisions mean tribunals are not Chapter III courts and cannot exercise federal jurisdiction. It is time to consider a national tribunal.