Insurance Counseling and Recovery

When Insurers Deny, Delay, or Underpay: Experienced Policyholder Advocacy for Businesses and Professionals

Ward and Smith, P.A. represents business and professional policyholders in insurance coverage disputes, bad faith claims, and insurance litigation across North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond. The firm’s Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team has written and spoken extensively on policyholder rights under North Carolina’s insurance laws, including N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 58 and the unfair trade practices protections of N.C. Gen. Stat. §75-1.1. The Team handles everything from pre-suit coverage disputes and carrier negotiations to declaratory judgment actions and bad faith litigation in North Carolina state and federal court.

When an insurer denies, delays, or underpays a legitimate claim, the financial consequences for a business or professional can be severe. Insurance policies are contracts, and North Carolina law gives policyholders real tools to fight back. Claims for breach of contract, bad faith, and unfair and deceptive trade practices under N.C. Gen. Stat. §75-1.1 can recover not only the covered loss but, in appropriate cases, treble damages and attorneys’ fees. Ward and Smith’s Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team routinely litigates these claims against insurers, and they bring that experience to every coverage review, demand presentation, and negotiating position they take on behalf of policyholders.

Coverage Disputes and Litigation

Whether defending against insurer-initiated declaratory judgment actions or prosecuting affirmative claims for coverage, Ward and Smith represents businesses and professionals in civil litigation against their insurers in North Carolina and South Carolina state and federal court.

Our litigators regularly handle:
• Declaratory judgment actions arising from insurance contract disputes
• Breach of contract claims against insurers who deny or underpay valid claims
• Bad faith and unfair and deceptive trade practices claims under N.C. Gen. Stat. §75-1.1, which can support treble damages and attorneys’ fees awards
• Pre-suit coverage disputes and claims handling assistance, including carrier negotiations, proof-of-loss submissions, demand presentations, and policy-interpretation, with the objective of resolving disputes and claims efficiently and without litigation where possible

Coverage Review and Counseling

The strongest insurance disputes are won before the claim is filed. Ward and Smith’s Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team conducts independent reviews of existing insurance portfolios for businesses and professionals, identifying coverage gaps, policy limitations, and potential exposures before a loss occurs. This counseling is informed by the Team’s experience litigating policy language and helping clients navigate the claims process when a claim arises.

Coverage counseling and review topics include:
• Identifying gaps between what a business believes it is covered for and what its policies actually provide
• Advising on policy selection at renewal and around changes in risk that impact the business
• Assessing compliance with the insurance requirements imposed on the business through its commercial contracts with the policies obtained
• Reviewing and drafting additional insured endorsements, waiver of subrogation requirements, and certificate of insurance obligations in commercial contracts

Policy Types We Handle

We regularly advise policyholders on disputes and coverage issues involving the following policy types:

• Builder’s Risk and Contractor’s Liability
• Business Owners
• Commercial Auto
• Commercial General Liability (CGL)
• Commercial Property
• Commercial Umbrella and Excess Liability
• Crop and Agribusiness Insurance
• Cyber and Technology Liability
• Directors and Officers Liability (D&O)
• Educators Legal Liability (ELL)
• Employment Practices Liability (EPLI)
• Errors and Omissions / Professional Liability (E&O)
• Fidelity and Crime
• Key Person Insurance
• Long-Term Care and Disability
• Private Flood Insurance
• Product Liability
• Pollution Liability
• Representations and Warranties (R&W) Insurance

What Sets Ward and Smith Apart for Policyholders

We represent policyholders only. Ward and Smith’s Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team does not represent insurance carriers. Our exclusive focus on the policyholder side means our attorneys are not hedging any institutional relationships with the insurer on the other side of your dispute.

Published on the issues that matter to businesses in the Carolinas. Ward and Smith’s Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team has published practical guidance on flood insurance pitfalls, hurricane preparedness for Carolina businesses, cyber liability insurance, D&O insurance for nonprofits and community associations, EPLI coverage, own-occupation disability insurance, considerations for insuring an equine business, cannabis insurance, wind and hail coverage, insurer insolvency and receivership, and recent changes to North Carolina’s insurance laws under N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 58. That depth of published content reflects attorneys who are immersed in the issues, not generalists.

The full firm when the dispute crosses practice lines. Insurance disputes rarely arise in isolation. A denied commercial property claim may hinge on an underlying construction defect. A D&O coverage dispute may implicate a securities matter. A crop insurance denial may turn on the terms of an agribusiness contract. A cyber claim may involve simultaneous questions about data breach response obligations under North Carolina’s Identity Theft Protection Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. §75-60, et seq.).

When these intersections arise and where appropriate for a client, the Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team can draw directly on Ward and Smith’s Construction, Health Care, Agribusiness, Community Associations, Litigation, and Privacy and Data Security practice groups.

Clients We Serve

• Agribusiness operations
• Community and homeowner associations
• Contractors and construction companies
• Corporations and closely held businesses
• Employers
• Healthcare providers, physicians, and licensed professionals
• Limited liability companies and partnerships
• Nonprofit organizations

Why Ward and Smith

North Carolina and South Carolina policyholders deserve counsel who understands both the insurance policy language and the legal landscape that governs how insurers must handle claims in each State.  Ward and Smith’s Insurance Counseling and Recovery Team combines that dual knowledge with a track record of publishing on insurance law developments, presenting at leading insurance law CLE programs, and litigating against insurers when pre-suit resolution is not achievable.

For businesses and professionals who need a team that will fight for the full value of their coverage, Ward and Smith brings the experience, the advocacy, and the full-firm depth to do it.