Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Squirrel Causes Damage to a Home: Would You be Covered?
It’s not often that homeowners’ insurance topics make news, but when they do, it’s usually because something odd, bizarre, or weird happened. Such is the case very recently, when a family’s home was destroyed not by flood, sewage backup, hurricane or tornado…but by an invading squirrel. Squirrel Tears up Home The incident happened while… Read More »
Tipped Employees: Are You Being Paid Fairly?
You may already be aware that federal law requires most workers be paid for every hour that they work, and to be paid extra for working overtime. However, that rule applies a little bit differently if you are a worker that gets tips. If you are a worker that gets tips, you may be… Read More »
Police Need a Warrant to Use a Stingray Location Tracking Device
The law has caught up to technology when it comes to cell phones, and our constitutional rights to privacy in the data and information contained in our cell phones. When law enforcement stops us, they cannot search cell phones, unless they have a legally recognized exception, the same way that they would need to… Read More »
Obtaining Damages for PTSD
If you are in an accident, you may immediately be considering only your physical damages. Certainly, physical damages are important and you deserve compensation for them if they are caused by someone else. But what about mental and emotional damages, specifically, what about post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Do you have PTSD, and if… Read More »
When Does a Homeowners’ Insurance Company Act in Bad Faith?
When your insurance carrier fails to pay what it should for damage to your property, or when it agrees to pay something but not the correct amount or make the correct repairs, there is almost always a breach of contract action against the insurance company. However, many people don’t realize that an insurance company… Read More »
Can I Be Fired or Let Go From Employment For No Reason?
A common question asked by Florida employees is whether they can be fired for any reason, or whether their employer has to have a good or valid reason for firing them. This is a broad question that often depends on the specifics of your situation, but a quick review of the relationship between an… Read More »
Foreclosures and the Professional Witness
In court, to win a case, you need witnesses. As a general rule, in order to testify, witnesses have to have some basic personal knowledge about whatever testimony they are giving in court. When it comes to foreclosures, banks have developed a special way of getting around this hurdle: professional witnesses, whose sole job… Read More »
Florida Courts Don’t Like Homeowners Who Delay Making Claims
If you have damage to your home and have to make a homeowner’s insurance claim, it goes without saying that you should act as quickly as you can. However, many people do not, and they make their claim too late—sometimes even years after the damage. Is a delay in reporting a claim an automatic… Read More »
Sewage Backups: Do You Have Insurance Coverage?
When we talk about damage to property and the kind of losses that lead to homeowner’s insurance claims, we often talk about wind, storms, or water leakage (and sometimes even damage by wild animals). But there’s an even more repulsive form of damage: backed up sewage. You would think that most insurance companies would… Read More »
Criminal Activity Can Lead to Personal Injury Claims
When someone is a victim of criminal activity, we know—or at least hope—that the criminal justice system will bring the wrongdoer to justice. As a victim, you may expect the wrongdoer to go to jail (or worse). However, simply putting someone who commits a crime in jail does little to help the family that… Read More »