After a devastating loss, policyholders expect their insurance company to be there for them which is why the Coterie Insurance claims experience is built around empathy. Recently, Coterie was able to demonstrate our claims philosophy when several flooding claims came in.
After parts of California experienced torrential rains in December 2022, several Coterie policyholders reported claims from flooding in an antique cooperative building in Jackson, CA. Coterie Claims Adjuster Mark Miller received a claim from a business owner in the building who told him to expect to hear from the three other business owners in the same location also insured with Coterie.
“She mentioned that the creek behind the building overflowed, with six feet of water entering the building,” Mark said. “She lost everything.”
Sure enough, Mark soon received three other claims from the additional business owners whose businesses were severely impacted, including Jennifer Fox Fritz who owns Jackpot Jen Vintage.
“It was a devastating flood and very destructive,” explained Jennifer. “I’ve never been in a natural disaster and to lose your livelihood along with 85% of your inventory is catastrophic.”
Mark jumped into action knowing that standard commercial policies do not cover flooding. Mark pursued the claims’ investigations with a strategy of full transparency. He told the policyholders that their policies do not cover flood, but Coterie was sending out a field adjuster to complete a full investigation on-site.
The field adjuster looked at the building, property, creek, and surrounding area and even got up on the roof to see if it was possible that the storm had damaged the roof. There was a possibility the claim would be covered if the cause of loss was weather damage to the roof allowing rainwater to enter.
However, once the field adjuster completed a full investigation, the cause of loss was indeed flooding.
Mark knew he had four tough phone calls to make to explain that the claim was not covered. However, he was surprised when one by one, each of the policyholders took the news well. They had been prepared for the possibility, and throughout the experience, truly felt that Coterie was on their side.
Mark explained that Coterie is not in the business of getting out of paying claims, rather Coterie is in the business of trying to pay them. The investigation was thorough, but in the end, the cause of loss was not covered.
Understandably, many policyholders would be upset considering they’d just suffered a massive loss destroying much of their business property. Instead, because of Coterie’s comprehensive investigation and empathy, the business owners completely understood.
“Mark was extremely compassionate, and I know he went to bat for me and went above and beyond the call of duty to get us some sort of coverage for the claim,” said Jennifer. “I am super grateful for everything Coterie did.”
So much so, that Jennifer has moved her Jackpot Jen Vintage business to higher ground and is keeping her policy with Coterie. Her agent, Kristi Roots of Kristi Roots Insurance Services, shopped her policy around, but they ultimately decided to stay with Coterie because they know what to expect.
“I would tell other small businesses that Coterie is a very trustworthy, reputable company,” Jennifer said. “Rest assured that your policy for your small business is a wise choice through Coterie.”
The Coterie Insurance claims experience supports small businesses across America as well as the agents and brokers who service these small businesses. Learn more about our claims process and resources we provide to help policyholders in the event of a claim.
