This summary does not constitute a legal opinion. The information it contains may not reflect the current state of the law.

The insured is the owner-occupant of a duplex. She lives in one flat and rents rooms in the other to students. Upon returning from a week-long Christmas vacation, she sees that major water damage has occurred in the upstairs flat, which had also been empty during her absence.

One month after filing her claim with the insurer, the insured hires a public claims adjuster to assess damages to the building and quickly settle this part of the claim with the insurer’s claims adjuster. The adjuster hired by the insured then attends to assessing her “personal property” and “rental income” losses.

When it comes time to finalize the rental income loss, he informs the insured by e-mail that he is reducing the payment by seven weeks since she had engaged the services of a public adjuster and this had delayed the settlement.