Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog

Hunton Insurance Coverage practice partner Michael Levine will be speaking in an upcoming Strafford live webinar, "Depreciation of Labor in Property Insurance Claims: Guidance From Recent Cases," scheduled for Wednesday, October 30, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT.

Recent decisions are in conflict on whether labor costs may be depreciated in valuing property losses. For example, one court found recently that an insurer breached its obligations under an actual cash value (ACV) valuation provision by depreciating mixed costs (costs representing both labor and materials) in a claim for hail damage and that by doing so, the insurer improperly depreciated the cost of labor. Other courts, however, have allowed the depreciation of labor costs. For example, labor costs for installing a new roof after hail damage were deemed "replacement costs" and were depreciable under a property insurance policy defining reimbursable "actual cash value" as "replacement cost of the property at the time of loss less depreciation."

The panel, which also includes Jonathan C. Held (President and CEO, J.S. Held) and Heidi Hudson Raschke (Shareholder, Carlton Fields), will address the application of depreciation to the labor cost component of estimated replacement cost value in determining ACV under homeowners' and commercial property insurance policies. The panel will provide practical guidance regarding labor costs and other non-physical cost items, such as contractor overhead and profit and whether these items should be depreciated in reaching an ACV adjustment of a property insurance claim. The panel will also address issues from both policyholder and insurer perspectives, discuss ongoing litigation and recent decisions showing that courts continue to reach conflicting results, and explain effective arguments in advocating for or against these claims.

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• Which jurisdictions generally allow for depreciation of labor in property claims?
• What are the most important lessons from recent cases?
• What are compelling arguments in advocating for or against these claims?

After the presentations, the panelists will engage in a live question and answer session with participants to answer your questions about these important issues directly.

For more information or to register >
Or call 1-800-926-7926
Ask for Depreciation of Labor in Property Insurance Claims on 10/30/2019
Mention code: IP1VV3-D9OC2Z