PHOENIX, AZ — Refused refunds, denied insurance coverage and even the lack of personal protective equipment, like masks and gloves, has individuals turning to an often last resort - filing lawsuits against companies in hopes of getting answers.
In part with The Rebound Arizona, and making sure businesses do right by you, The Let Joe Know team found there are several cases out there; many looking to reach a class action status.
Shut down by stay-at-home orders, many small business owners took a hit to their pocketbooks.
Many have insurance for disaster situations and one would think the coronavirus closures would be covered, but in most cases owners are seeing a blanket denial.
"Back in 2008, with the SARS outbreak, they changed the verbiage on all of the policies. So now, all these folks who thought they had coverage when they were shut down by the state for this pandemic, might not. So the attorneys are, of course, going after the insurance companies to get this addressed and get this taken care of," said Scott Hardy, founder of TopClassActions.Com.
Scott says there are millions of owners who will be impacted and to make things simpler, the lawsuit against insurers may reach a class actions status, but it may take some time.
"It doesn't become a certified class action until the judge six months, a year down the line actually says yes, this is a valid lawsuit," said Scott.
Now attorneys do get a lot of the money in these cases, but consumers do get some too. Plus, it's a way to hold businesses accountable - like getting refunds from your fitness center, events like festivals and especially airline travel.
"If your flight is changed, or canceled, then if you want to get it refunded, then the airline by law is supposed to issue that refund, not just force you to take a credit," said Scott.
He says you can expect to see a lawsuit for each major company in the coming months, possibly forcing settlements and money back to you.
"A another big issue. We have our employees," said Scott. "A lot of businesses aren't taking care of their people. So now we're seeing lawsuits get filed by the families of these workers."
He says while some employees are getting sick from COVID-19 others have passed away, and family members want to hold the companies accountable for not providing essential personal protective equipment or offering leave to avoid getting sick.
Now these are just a few of the potential class action suits being filed every day, and Scott says even if they haven't been deemed a class action now you can still submit your info to get notified of any updates.
To search for COVID-19 related class action suits, go to TopClassActions.Com and click "COVID-19" at the top of the page.
