Author Archives for Michelle Canniff
About Michelle Canniff
Michelle is head of Forensic Accounting at SMW, bringing more than 25 years of experience in the field of investigative and forensic accounting. Her expertise includes analyzing and measuring commercial insurance claims consisting of business interruption, extra expense, property damage, inventory, and fidelity losses from small to complex matters.
Does Your Business Have Enough Ordinary Payroll Coverage?
October 1, 2025 12:53 pm Leave your thoughts Business owners alert: do you have sufficient Ordinary Payroll coverage in your commercial insurance policy? Because you should probably have more – trust us. Most business owners aren’t even sure if they do or don’t have enough Ordinary Payroll coverage. This is a critical endorsement within your standard business owner’s policy (BOP). If you have… View More
One Medical Practice’s Challenging Business Interruption Claim
March 11, 2025 1:00 pm Leave your thoughts As the owner of a business, you know all the ins and outs of your operation. Your insurance carrier, however, doesn’t necessarily know your business at an intimate level. A good public adjuster (PA) knows both. We know how to translate your profit and loss (P&L), and we know how to assemble the pieces of… View More
Extra Expense Coverage: Part II
March 20, 2023 1:04 pm Leave your thoughts In Part 1 of this blog, we told you about a private country club that had a building burn to the ground. As a result, they had an uphill extra expense battle to fight with the insurer. As the public adjusters for the club, SMW regularly – on an almost weekly basis – submitted… View More
Extra Expense Coverage: Part I
March 10, 2023 1:44 pm Leave your thoughts We recently handled a claim involving a private country club that had a maintenance building burn completely to the ground. This large structure housed all of the equipment the club’s maintenance team needed to take care of its upscale golf course: mowing machines, tractors, aerators, and various fertilizers and chemicals. This fire caused a total… View More
When Insurance Carriers Cut Corners, Policyholders Pay The Price
January 24, 2023 1:59 pm Leave your thoughts In March of 2022, Michelle Canniff joined SMW as head of Forensic Accounting. In her role, she’s leading the SMW teams focusing on commercial losses, business interruption, extra expense and time element claims. This gives her a unique perspective on the insurance industry based on her past experience and her new perspective from the public adjuster’s… View More