The New Jersey shore towns of Seaside Heights and Seaside Park, made famous by the reality show “Jersey Shore,” were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Resilient business and homeowners have spent the past 11 months repairing and rebuilding – only to see their hard work destroyed by a recent fire that ravaged both towns.
Determined NJ Shore Store Owner Admits, “It Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than It Is Now.”
Those were the words of Nick Dionisio, a third-generation Boardwalk resident whose newly opened fish restaurants were recently destroyed by the fire. According to the New York Times, before Hurricane Sandy, Dionisio and his then retired father had opened a small fried fish restaurant along with another more upscale fish restaurant. But Hurricane Sandy flooded both restaurants, and they were without electricity and gas for over six months.
Dionisio’s luck took a further turn for the worse. His father passed only five weeks after Sandy. Still, he rebuilt the restaurants to take advantage of New Jersey’s summer season. However, the expected summer crowds didn’t show up in the numbers they normally do. Then, the unthinkable happened. A massive fire damaged and destroyed between 30 and 50 businesses, including Dionisio’s and other Jersey Shore institutions such as Jack-N-Bills Bar, Maruca’s Tomato Pies and Berkeley Sweet Shop.
Asked whether he will rebuild a third time, Dionisio, who is married with two young children, admitted that he’s just not sure. He said he would like to rebuild, but didn’t know if he could swing it financially. “You spend all this money and then this happens, it doesn’t seem you can catch a break.”
Have You Caught A Break?
Despite his inconceivable bad luck, Dionisio’s resolve is a lesson to us all – he would do it all over again if he could make it happen financially.
Unfortunately, that’s the situation many New Yorkers and New Jerseyans are facing. They have not been able to make anything happen because their insurance companies have not acted responsibly. Many insurers have engaged in bad faith insurance practices such as disputing settlement amounts, improperly calculating deductibles, undervaluing claims, proposing unfair settlements and simply denying claims for no good reason.
If your insurance company hasn’t treated you fairly or in good faith, contact Belluck & Fox and let one of our experienced New York insurance dispute attorneys analyze your situation, get your claim settled once and for all and determine whether you might be entitled to other compensation for bad faith insurance practices. You can fight back – and we can help. Call us today at 855-287-4505 for a free consultation.