Property Damage Lawyer Panama City, FL 
If someone has caused damage to your property, you should consider hiring a trusted property damage lawyer in Panama City, Florida from Childress Loucks & Plunkett. Our lawyers are dependable and can help you when someone else has damaged your property and you are unsure of what the next steps are to take. Determining liability in property damage cases is not always clear, and you may need the help of a qualified attorney for gathering evidence so that you do not have to pay out of pocket for your property damage. For more information on how a Panama City, FL property damage lawyer can help you, contact us now.
What if I’m not sure who is liable?
It may be possible that liability is not obvious when it comes to who damaged your property. Perhaps you believe you might be partially at fault or it simply is not clear who is at fault. Especially if you were injured in the same accident that caused property damage (like a car accident), you will want to hire legal representation from a property damage lawyer Panama City, FL residents rely on. If you are found partially at fault, you should discuss this with your attorney. It is possible that you can collect a percentage of the damages for your case. This may even include pain and suffering.
When should you hire a Panama City property damage lawyer?
This is a great question, and you may be wondering if you even need to hire an attorney at all. However, many property damage accidents also involve personal injury, which is why it is important that you hire an attorney sooner rather than later. Especially when the details of the accident can seem unclear and you are unsure of who is at fault, you want the help of one of our attorneys to answer your questions and represent you should you go to court.
Further, it is possible that your own insurance or the other party’s insurance company may deny your claim entirely. When this happens, you do not want to be left without a lawyer.
What if I am already in the process but not getting a fair settlement?
If you have already been speaking with insurance companies and are not getting a fair settlement for your property damage, you can count on our Panama City, FL property damage lawyer. An insurance company is in business specifically to ensure your property, so when they fight your claim, we will fight back on your behalf.
For more information on how a property damage lawyer in Panama City, FL from Childress Loucks & Plunkett can help you, please set up a consultation now.
How Do I Hold An Employee Accountable for Damaging My Business’s Property?
When you hire employees to work for your business, you are entrusting them with significant responsibilities. That can include entrusting them to use costly equipment or supplies that the business paid for. What happens if company property is damaged or broken while the employee is using it? Can you force the worker to cover the costs?
As with most legal questions, the answer depends on numerous factors, including your state’s laws, how much money the employee earns, whether the employee is salaried or hourly, and the details surrounding how the property was damaged/broken. Before making assumptions about your particular case, it’s generally a good idea to consult with an experienced Panama City, Florida property damage lawyer before pursuing action against the employee. The experienced team at Childress Loucks & Plunkett is here to answer your questions and help you explore your legal options.
Proving fault, negligence or willful destruction
Before you demand that an employee reimburse you for damaged or broken property, you must first prove that he or she actually broke or damaged it. In some cases, damage that becomes apparent while the employee is using it is not damage that was caused by the employee. Security video or reliable eyewitness accounts may be necessary here.
Some states require that you also prove that the damage was caused by negligence or willful destruction rather than pure accident. If it was an accident, replacing the equipment/property might need to be written off as a business expense rather than passed along to the employee. As you can see, there are a number of factors at play in any damage scenario. Working with an experienced Panama City, FL property damage lawyer can provide clarity about how best to move forward.
How and how much is the worker paid?
It might be tempting to try and recoup your losses by taking them out of the employee’s paycheck. But be careful that you don’t run afoul of the law. All employees must earn at least the federal minimum wage, which means that you cannot deduct any more money than that which your employee earns above the federal minimum wage.
Additionally, if your employee is salaried, he or she is paid a fixed wage on regular basis. Taking any money out of his or her paycheck would violate the agreement by changing the predetermined wage. This is one of the many reasons why it’s important to consult with an experienced Panama City, FL property damage lawyer before taking action. Your employee may have damaged your property, but acting without first receiving legal guidance can be a far more costly situation than your property damage is.
Firing is sometimes the best or only option
If your employee damaged company property, it is not always possible to compel reimbursement from that worker (for the reasons mentioned above). In such cases, firing the employee may be the only remedy. Even so, it is wise to discuss the details of your case with a Panama City, FL property damage lawyer before making any determination of next steps so that you don’t leave your business vulnerable to potentially costly unintended consequences.
Your Options after Your Insurance Claim is Denied
If you suffered costly damages in an accident or some other type of incident, you are likely counting on the compensation you expect to receive from the insurance company. If they deny your claim, that may be catastrophic for you. Unfortunately, claim denials happen all the time, and they are more likely to be denied when the damages represent a large sum of money. There is a simple explanation for this: insurance companies make money when receiving payments from their customers, and they lose money when they payout on claims, therefore they make every effort to avoid paying them.
If your claim was denied, or the insurance company refuses to compensate you for the damages that you understand to be covered by the insurance, you have the right to resubmit your claim, addressing the reason or reasons they gave for denying your claim or the full damages. You also have the right to hire property damage lawyer in Panama City FL to represent you in all communications with the insurance company as well as the claim they submit on your behalf. If you are unsure of which path to take, call Childress Loucks & Plunkett and request a free consultation with our property damage lawyer. After a review of your case, we can tell exactly what we can do for you.
Common Reasons for a Claim Denial
Though an insurance company may use a number of excuses to not pay out a claim, but some denials are more common than others. Regardless of what reason the insurance company used to deny your claim, consider contacting a Panama City FL property damage lawyer for a no-obligation consultation about your case. Here are the most common reasons used by insurance companies when they deny a claim:
- – A lapsed policy. If the insurance customer had not paid their premiums at the time of the accident, the insurance company may state that they will not honor the claim.
- – Policy exclusion. An insurance policy is rarely an all-inclusive umbrella policy where everything is covered under all circumstances. If the accident appears to have fallen outside the fine print of the insurance policy, your claim may be denied. Along these lines, insurance companies usually have a clause under which if an accident is caused by an “act of God” then the company will not be held liable for paying damages. This is a grey area, but is generally referring to hurricanes, earthquakes, and other events.
- – Liability dispute. Though you may have no doubt that another party was responsible for causing your accident, their insurance company may disagree and deny your claim accordingly. Similarly, if the insurance company responds that your damage was not caused by the accident, or that it is not as serious as you say it is, they may deny your claim.
If your claim was denied, or if you prefer to not submit the claim yourself, contact Childress Loucks & Plunkett to request a free consultation with a property damage lawyer Panama City FL clients trust.