When it comes to Property Insurance Claims Litigation, Michael Ciocchetti has been the Client/Insured, the Insurance Defense Attorney and the Policyholder'
We would be more than happy to discuss your situation, advise you of costs involved, and provide you with valuable and practical advice on how best to get the representation you need. This is a no obligation service and we have the utmost respect for your privacy. All contacts are STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. Call us at 386-253-1111 locally or 1-888-301-3166 toll-free, or email at [email protected] and we'll be in touch with you right away.
In Fall 1999, while I was in my last year of college and busy applying for law school, two hurricanes in one month hammered my hometown of Daytona Beach, where I grew up on my family's small oceanfront motel. I watched news broadcasts of the Daytona Pier collapsing into the Atlantic and footage of our motel's blown out marque sign and roof, now in the parking lot. I called to check on my family. Aside from the property damage, for which we always carried adequate insurance, they were stressed but well. The damage was significant but the storm had passed.
At the time, our family had no way of knowing that our biggest battle lie ahead with our own insurance company. In the 3 years following the 2 hurricanes, my family nearly lost our motel and home due to our insurance company's refusal to pay our claim. My favorite position the insurance company took was that the Hurricane was "only a Category 1". Mind you, this hurricane was powerful enough to collapse the Daytona Pier into the ocean and relocate it 1 mile south to our motel's backyard! It took 3 years, tenacious attorneys and experts and my family's testimony over a lengthy arbitration to finally win a verdict against our insurance company. I also finished college and law school in those 3 years.
With the ultimate goal of representing aggrieved policyholders - like my family - and to learn the system, I represented the Florida Department of Insurance and Florida's largest property insurance carrier. Having a part in rebuilding my family's motel and more recently acting as contractor in the renovation of my own home (a long-neglected beachside foreclosure), I understand the complexities of rebuilding a damaged structure and, perhaps more importantly, what a property owner is going through during a property loss.
