When Your Business Is Forced to Pause, Your Income Should Not Stop With It
A fire, water loss, smoke event, or storm does not just damage your property. It can stop your business in its tracks. And when revenue stops while expenses keep running, every day without insurance support puts your business, your employees, and your future at risk.
At Chris Faber Public Adjusters, we help California business owners navigate business interruption claims from start to finish. Whether you own a restaurant, retail store, office building, warehouse, hotel, or multi-family property, business interruption coverage is often the difference between recovering quickly and closing permanently.
Chris and Jo Faber have over 50 years of combined experience on both sides of the insurance industry. They know how carriers calculate lost income, where they cut corners, and how to build a claim that reflects the true financial impact on your business. When your insurer is moving slowly or offering less than you need, they are ready to step in.
What Business Interruption Insurance
Is Designed to Do
Business interruption coverage exists to keep your business financially stable when a covered property loss prevents or limits your ability to operate. It is not a bonus feature buried in your policy. It is a critical protection that too many business owners never fully use because insurers make the process complicated.
Depending on your policy, business interruption benefits may cover:
Lost Net Income
Revenue your business would have earned during the period your operations were disrupted.
Payroll Continuity
Employee wages you need to maintain so your team is ready when you reopen.
Civil Authority Coverage
Income lost when a government order restricts access to your business, even if your property was not directly damaged.
Ongoing Fixed Expenses
Rent, utilities, loan payments, and other costs that continue even when the doors are closed.
Extra Expense Coverage
Costs you incur specifically to keep operating or reopen faster, such as temporary equipment rentals, emergency repairs, or relocating to a secondary site.
Coverage can apply even when your business is only partially shut down. Reduced hours, limited access, lower customer traffic, or contamination that makes your space unusable can all be part of a valid business interruption claim.
When Business Interruption Coverage Is Triggered
Business interruption claims are tied to the underlying property damage your business has suffered. Common situations that trigger coverage include:
Fire or Smoke Damage
Whether your building was partially destroyed or smoke contaminated your inventory and made your space unsafe, a fire-related loss is one of the most common triggers for business interruption claims in California.
For businesses in communities affected by the Palisades Fire or Eaton Fire, this type of claim is especially urgent and often involves both private insurance policies and California FAIR Plan coverage.
Water Damage
Burst pipes, flooding, or damage from firefighting efforts can shut down kitchens, retail floors, server rooms, and warehouses. Water-related interruptions often come with both a property claim and a business income claim that must be coordinated carefully.
Even partial water intrusion can force closures while extraction, drying, and mold remediation are completed. Restaurants lose perishable inventory, offices lose equipment, and retail stores may need to relocate temporarily while repairs are underway.
Storm and Wind Damage
Structural damage, roof failure, or loss of utilities from a major storm can prevent you from opening or force an unexpected closure.
California’s winter atmospheric river events and high-wind advisories can cause significant damage to commercial roofing, signage, and building envelopes.
Even when the structure remains standing, water intrusion or compromised safety can halt operations for weeks.
Theft or Vandalism
When essential equipment is stolen or your space is damaged by vandalism, you may lose days or weeks of operational capacity while repairs and replacements are arranged.
For restaurants, the loss of commercial kitchen equipment can mean a complete shutdown. For retail stores, damaged point-of-sale systems or stolen inventory can prevent normal operations even if the building itself is intact.
Utility Outages Caused by Covered Damage
Power, water, gas, or internet failures that result from a covered property loss can make your business inoperable even when the building itself is undamaged.
Restaurants without refrigeration, data centers without power, and offices without network access may all qualify for business interruption coverage when the utility loss is tied to a covered event.
Civil Authority Orders
If a government agency restricts access to your area due to a covered event, such as a wildfire evacuation order or a utility shutdown, your business interruption coverage may apply even if your property was never touched.
During the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fire evacuations, businesses outside the direct burn zones were still forced to close due to evacuation orders. That loss of income may be fully covered under your policy.
Did you Know: Many California business owners do not realize their policy covers civil authority losses. During the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fire evacuations, businesses outside the direct burn zones were still forced to close due to evacuation orders. That loss of income may be fully covered under your policy.
Why Business Interruption Claims Are Often Underpaid
Business interruption is one of the most disputed areas in commercial property insurance. Insurers benefit from minimizing payouts, and because these claims require financial analysis rather than just physical inspection, there are more opportunities for them to push back.
They Use Incomplete or Outdated Financial Data
Insurers often base their loss calculations on a narrow look at past revenue, ignoring growth trends, seasonal patterns, new contracts, or market changes that affected your income. If your business was growing before the loss, a backward-looking calculation will understate what you actually lost.
They End Benefits Too Early
Insurance carriers frequently declare the interruption period over as soon as physical repairs begin, not when your business is actually operational again. Reopening a building is not the same as reopening a business. Restoring customer relationships, rehiring staff, and rebuilding inventory takes additional time that is often coverable under your policy.
They Dispute the Cause of Loss
Insurers may argue that the interruption was not directly caused by a covered property event, or that the loss falls under an exclusion. These disputes require a documented connection between the physical damage and the operational impact, which is something we build carefully from the beginning of every claim.
They Ignore Extra Expense and Civil Authority Coverage
Costs incurred to keep operating, costs to reopen faster, or income lost due to government restrictions are often omitted from initial insurer calculations entirely. These are legitimate, covered losses that require a knowledgeable advocate to recover.
They Push for Early Settlement
A quick settlement offer in the first weeks of a claim is almost never a complete one. Business interruption losses often unfold over months. Accepting an early payment can foreclose your ability to claim additional losses later.
Did you Know: Once you accept a final settlement on a business interruption claim, recovering additional losses becomes extremely difficult. Having a public adjuster involved early protects your ability to claim the full period of interruption.
How Chris Faber Public Adjusters Handles Business Interruption Claims
Business interruption claims require a different kind of expertise than property damage claims. They involve financial analysis, policy interpretation, and detailed documentation of economic loss. Chris and Jo bring both the insurance background and the analytical skills to manage this process thoroughly.
Financial Loss Analysis and Documentation
We work directly with your accounting records, tax returns, profit and loss statements, and sales data to build an accurate picture of what your business lost. We account for growth trends, seasonal revenue patterns, and industry benchmarks where applicable, not just a simple month-over-month comparison.
Policy Review and Coverage Strategy
Business interruption policy language is often vague, and coverage extensions like extra expense, civil authority, and contingent business interruption are frequently misunderstood or overlooked. We identify every applicable benefit in your policy before the claim is filed.
Claim Filing and Ongoing Negotiation
We handle all communications with your insurance company, respond to requests for documentation, and push back when the insurer tries to limit the interruption period or reduce your calculated losses. You focus on your business. We handle the insurer.
Coordination With Your Property Damage Claim
Business interruption does not exist in isolation. It is directly tied to the underlying property damage claim. A weak or incomplete property claim will undermine your business interruption recovery. We manage both claims together to make sure they support each other and present a consistent, complete picture of your loss.
A Personal Approach to Business Interruption Claims
Every business interruption claim we handle is managed directly by Chris and Jo Faber. You are not working with a junior adjuster or a remote team. Chris spent years inside major insurance carriers learning how these claims are evaluated. Jo’s background in legal claims analysis gives her a detailed understanding of how policy language is applied and where disputes arise. Together, they bring a level of attention and expertise to commercial claims that most public adjusting firms cannot match.
We understand that your business is not just a source of income. It is something you built. Our job is to make sure your insurance responds the way it was meant to when you need it most.
What Business Owners Can Do Right Now to Protect Their Claim
If your business has been disrupted by a covered loss, taking the right steps early makes a significant difference in your outcome.
1. Document the Date and Cause of Interruption Immediately
Note exactly when operations slowed or stopped and why. A clear timeline connected to the property damage event is the foundation of every business interruption claim.
2. Preserve All Financial Records
Save profit and loss statements, payroll records, tax returns, invoices, and sales reports going back at least two years. These records are how lost income is calculated and defended.
3. Track Every Extra Expense
Keep receipts and records for temporary locations, equipment rentals, emergency repairs, accelerated shipping, and any other costs you incurred specifically because of the interruption. These are often recoverable.
4. Be Careful With Early Statements to Your Insurer
Initial conversations with your insurance company may be used to limit your claim later. Do not estimate your losses verbally before you have documentation in hand.
5. Do Not Accept a Partial Payment as Final
If your insurer offers a preliminary payment, review it carefully before signing anything. Accepting it as final settlement may waive your right to recover additional losses that have not yet been quantified.
6. Contact a Public Adjuster Before the Claim Gets Away From You
Business interruption claims are hardest to fix after they have been underpaid and closed. The earlier we are involved, the better we can protect the full value of your claim.
Did you Know: Many California business owners accept partial business interruption payments without realizing that losses are still unfolding. A public adjuster can request supplemental payments if additional covered losses are identified after an initial settlement.
Do Not Let a Business Interruption Threaten What You Built
Your insurance policy exists to protect your business during exactly the kind of crisis you are facing. Chris and Jo Faber are here to make sure it does. Whether your claim is just starting or you have already received an offer you believe is too low, contact us today for a free, no-obligation review. We will tell you where you stand and what your options are.
Contact Us To Get StartedFrequently Asked Questions About Business Interruption Insurance Claims
What qualifies as a business interruption claim in California?
A business interruption claim applies when a covered property loss directly affects your ability to operate. This includes full shutdowns, reduced hours, loss of access, and operational disruptions caused by fire, smoke, water damage, storm, theft, or civil authority orders. The key requirement is that the interruption must be tied to a covered property event under your policy.
Does my business have to be completely shut down to file a claim?
No. Many policies cover partial interruptions, reduced capacity, and slower operations. If your business is open but generating significantly less revenue because of damage, contamination, or restricted access, you may still have a valid claim. We review your specific policy language to identify exactly what applies.
How is lost income calculated for a business interruption claim?
Lost income is typically calculated based on your historical financial records, comparing what you actually earned during the interruption period against what you would have earned based on prior performance. The calculation should account for growth trends, seasonal patterns, and market conditions. Insurers often use narrow or outdated calculations. We build a more complete financial picture to support your claim.
Are employee wages covered under business interruption insurance?
In many cases, yes. Payroll for employees you need to retain during the interruption is often covered as an ongoing operating expense. Coverage depends on your specific policy terms. We review your policy to confirm whether payroll continuity applies and for how long.
What if my business interruption claim is delayed or denied?
Delays and denials are common but not always final. A denied claim can often be challenged with additional documentation and a more detailed presentation of the financial impact. If your claim has been underpaid or improperly closed, we can review what happened and pursue additional recovery.
Can a public adjuster help if I already accepted a partial payment?
It depends on what you signed. In some cases, a partial payment can be supplemented if new losses are documented or if the initial settlement did not fully account for the interruption period. We review what you accepted and advise on your remaining options.
Does business interruption insurance cover losses from the Palisades or Eaton fires?
If your business suffered a covered property loss or was subject to a civil authority evacuation order related to those fires, your business interruption coverage likely applies. Many businesses in affected and adjacent communities have valid claims that were either not filed or were underpaid. Contact us for a free review.
