First Notice of Loss: What to Do in the First 72 Hours

A restaurant owner in a mid-sized Ontario city arrived to find her establishment heavily damaged by fire that had started overnight in the kitchen exhaust system, destroying the kitchen and leaving the dining area with significant smoke and water damage. The restaurant had operated for 11 years under a commercial lease, and the owner held a policy with $850,000 in property coverage and $300,000 in business interruption coverage through a national insurer. In the hours following the fire, she permitted a restoration contractor to begin emergency work before notifying her insurer, signed an authorization allowing the contractor to communicate directly with the insurance company, provided a recorded statement within 36 hours without reviewing her policy, and disposed of spoiled food inventory before it could be documented. The insurer acknowledged the claim but reserved rights pending investigation, citing concerns about the sequence of events and available documentation.