Property Damage Success Story

We sat down with Richard Martin, General Counsel for TCOM, a privately held airborne surveillance company based in Columbia, Maryland, to discuss a recent property insurance claim involving one of their aerostats.

Here, while ground testing a large, newly built aerostat, a rare windstorm caused approximately $10 million worth of damage. After unsuccessful negotiations with their insurance carrier ended with the insurer offering only 25-30% of the TCOM’s evaluation of the loss, Richard Martin engaged Miller Friel based on the strong recommendation of others, noting:

The most important strategy was to be able to show that we had a very good claim, it was well-supported with documentation, which it was, and then obviously, part of that is showing that you had a first class, first tier law firm that was going to be able to proffer the claim.

Once engaged, Miller Friel quickly developed a strategy for recovery, which involved negotiations, followed by the filing of a lawsuit against the insurer in State Court. The decision to file a lawsuit was not taken lightly, but the insurer was recalcitrant, presenting no other viable options for resolution. After the complaint was filed, the insurance company quickly increased their settlement amount, and the suit eventually settled at around 90% of TCOM’s valuation of the claim. As a privately held company, the recovery of nearly all this claim was a huge positive for TCOM’s business, enabling the company to distribute cash both to employees through bonuses and shareholders as dividends.

Richard noted that Miller Friel was a perfect fit for their insurance recovery claim. Miller Friel is a boutique insurance recovery law firm with a stellar reputation derived from handling some of the largest and most complex insurance claims in the country. Here, Miller Friel’s Focus on practicing only in the area of insurance recovery law, and their extensive Experience in this particular area of law, led to an excellent Result for TCOM. In Richard’s words:

One of the advantages of hiring an outside law firm that specializes in a particular area is you know you’re going to get dedication to that particular field, you’re going to have a lot of experience in a lot of the nuances of the particular law and of the particular field, and in this case, that was very helpful.

We appreciate the opportunity to assist Richard and the team at TCOM, and for the kind words he had for Miller Friel. Please watch the video to learn more.