Miami Business Alliance - Zachary A. Emmanouil - Best First Party Property Insurance Mediator in Miami.

First Party Property Insurance Mediator

Zachary is also a First Party Property Insurance Mediator with 15 years of experience. Zachary has also mediated, and settled, countless first party property insurance cases involving the following insurance companies:

Universal

Heritage

Citizens

People’s Trust

Tower Hill

Florida Peninsula

National Specialty

Progressive

State Farm

Olympus

Avatar

Southern Fidelity

Prepared

Anchor

SafePoint

First Protective

United

Homeowners Choice

St. Johns

RGI

MetLife

Zachary has a near perfect settlement rate. The single most significant reason for this is because Zachary treats these claims with the same passion and vigor as he does his multi-million dollar international commercial litigation cases.

Zachary is not the type of mediator who simply “splits the baby in half,” or the type who acts as a mere “mail man” going “back-and-forth” relaying counter-offers and messages. Instead, Zachary takes a very comprehensive and pro-active approach with each case, evaluating and weighing all of the evidence, and the strengths and weaknesses of each side - the policy holder's side, and the insurance carrier's side.

Moreover, if warranted, Zachary engages in a very “aggressive” approach in both his Commercial Litigation and First Party Property Insurance cases. Having mediated First Party Property Insurance cases for a decade, Mr. Emmanouil has seen and heard just about everything. Accordingly, Zachary unapologetically calls “B.S.” when he sees it.

For example, if a PA’s estimate is 3 to 5 times more than the Insurance carrier’s estimate (or, conversely, if an insurance carrier's estimate is 3 to 5 times less than a PA's estimate), then Zachary takes the time to compare the differences. Sometimes both parties do not want to take the time discuss the specific items in their estimates in any great detail; but Zachary does. Although Zachary acts as a Mediator, he is also an Attorney and an Arbitrator, so he applies his thinking as a Judge and Jury, and he evaluates all of the evidence that is presented before him. Each case is unique, and depending on the specific facts of each particular case, Zachary may find that a fair settlement number may be closer to the Insurance carrier’s estimate. In another case, the particular facts may cause Mr. Emmanouil to find that a fair settlement number may be closer to the PA’s estimate - it all depends on the law, the evidence, and Zachary's extensive experience.

Continuing with this example, if an insured’s kitchen counter-top had formica, but the P.A.'s estimate includes a much more expensive granite or quartz counter-top, then Zachary will call "B.S." and state that the insured is not legally entitled to receive a substantially larger amount of money just because the PA’s estimate includes granite counter-tops. On the other hand, if a flooring had expensive marble tile, but an Insurance Carrier's estimate calls for a much cheaper laminate, vinyl, or linoleum flooring, then Zachary will similarly call "B.S." because an insurance carrier should compensate an insured for the cost for what the insured had at the time of the loss - the more expensive marble tiles.

More common 'gray areas' occur in 'scope of damages' issues such as repair vs. replace (i.e. roof, cabinets, etc.), continuous tile vs. matching tile (roof tile or flooring tile), fair market cost to repair, etc. In such instances, Zachary looks beyond each party's estimates, and further evaluates each party's expert witness reports, and deposition testimony as evidence.

After having mediated countless property insurance claims, the examples themselves are also countless, but these few examples provide a very brief explanation of how Zachary pro-actively evaluates each and every part of all of the evidence to settle a first party property insurance case as a Mediator. The parties will have to present all of their evidence at trial, so if they really want to settle their case, then they must present and explain their same evidence to Zachary at mediation.

As a Mediator, Zachary is a neutral party, and his only goal is to settle a case at a fair and reasonable number that both sides can live with.