Author Archives for Swerling Milton Winnick
About Swerling Milton Winnick
If you’ve had a fire, flood or other property loss resulting in an insurance claim, and need a public insurance adjuster in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New England or anywhere in the U.S. or Caribbean, call Swerling Milton Winnick. We are the oldest and largest public adjusting firm in New England, and our team of experts will give you personalized, 24/7 attention to successfully resolve your residential or business insurance claim.
Homeowners Beware: Don’t Let Your Thanksgiving Turkey Fry Turn into a Fireball of Property Destruction
November 21, 2023 1:56 pm Leave your thoughts Here at SMW, we love turkey and we love Thanksgiving. And though oven roasting is an endorsed technique, we are not without affection for the savory, oil-filled repast that you can get from deep-frying your holiday turkey. It’s delicious. It’s also, however, incredibly dangerous. Do you doubt us? We have seen the damage firsthand –… View More
Assignment of Benefits
November 14, 2023 1:57 pm Leave your thoughts When homeowners suffer a property loss, one of the first things they do – even before they know the amount of coverage they will receive from their insurer – is call a contractor. The contractor looks at the damage, and estimates the likely cost of repairing the property. Maybe that estimate is greater than the… View More
Subrogation
November 7, 2023 2:03 pm Leave your thoughts If a third party damages your property, the first thing you do is go to your homeowners or commercial insurance policy and check your coverage. Sometimes you will find that you are underinsured, and don’t have enough insurance to cover all your losses. What happens then? You look for a third party who may have… View More
Vacant vs. Unoccupied
October 31, 2023 1:01 pm Leave your thoughts Trick or Treat? Or, perhaps more relevant for homeowners: Vacant or unoccupied? What’s the difference? For insurance coverage purposes, “vacant” means without goods or personal property, while “unoccupied” means that no one is living in the premises. This is a critical distinction, because if a property is vacant for more than 60 days, you do… View More
Condo Coverage Options
October 24, 2023 1:11 pm Leave your thoughts In this installment of our condo blog series, we want to address the one predominant problem that we run into most often: a lack of adequate coverage for the unit owners. How can this be? Well, most unit owners have purchased insurance to cover their personal property and loss of use of their unit…. View More
Per Unit Deductible
October 17, 2023 1:05 pm Leave your thoughts Imagine that a major fire ravages a large condominium complex, damaging 70 of the 400 total units. The property manager (wisely) calls in a public adjuster, and gathers all the condo owners together to discuss the repairs and related insurance claims process. There’s a good chance that few, if any, of the condo owners will… View More
Maintenance Fees
October 10, 2023 12:55 pm Leave your thoughts We recently handled a property loss at a large condominium complex. The building suffered a huge fire, and all unit owners had to move out. The structure was uninhabitable and there was no building left to maintain or common area lights to keep on. But the association still had to pay property taxes. It also… View More
Condo Documents
October 3, 2023 1:01 pm Leave your thoughts All condominiums in the state of Massachusetts must have a Declaration of Trust and Condominium Bylaws. In our profession, we read the bylaws – specifically the Insurance Section – related to every condominium loss that SMW handles. The wording in this section may tell us what items are and are not covered in each condo… View More