Denise H. Sze is a licensed attorney in California and Hawaii with nearly two decades of experience representing policyholders in first-party property insurance and bad faith matters. She is General Counsel for Hawaii Public Adjusters and a Principal of Onyx Law Group.
Throughout her career, Denise has focused on advocating for homeowners, business owners, and disaster survivors navigating complex insurance claims. Her work has included major catastrophe losses such as Hurricane Harvey, Woolsey Fire, Getty Fire, and the 2023 Hawaii wildfires. She has represented policyholders in disputes involving multiple insurers across the country and has extensive experience litigating unresolved insurance claims and teaching insurance adjusting and claims presentation through continuing education programs nationwide.
Before transitioning into claims advocacy and consulting, Denise practiced at nationally recognized law firms representing insureds in complex insurance recovery and bad faith litigation. She has also remained deeply involved in public policy and legislative advocacy affecting insurance consumers.
From 2014 to 2019, Denise served as General Counsel for the California Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (CAPIA) and continues to participate in legislative and consumer protection efforts impacting insureds in California. She also serves in leadership roles with national public adjuster and consumer advocacy organizations, including the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (AAPIA) and the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (NAPIA), where she has contributed to education and ethics initiatives.
Denise earned degrees in Sociology and Business Administration from University of California, Los Angeles and received her law degree from Loyola Law School. She maintains offices in Maui and Los Angeles and regularly works with policyholders affected by wildfire, hurricane, and other large-loss events.
We had a water leak and there are going to be pretty major repairs going on for at least 3 months. They have to replace all the flooring, sheetrock, and the entire kitchen is unusable. We asked insurance about loss of use and they said…
I’m in California. I had a total loss fire and I am building back with twice the sq footage then was there before. I understand that they only pay for what was there before but for example the architect doing the plans is one fee…
Thank you Denise Sze for your answer to my previous question. I truly appreciate it. Forgive me for my follow-up question. Another document that the restoration company requires me to sign states that “Contractor will negotiate with your insurance company in an attempt to evaluate…
Hi, I am located in California and worked with a restoration company on a covered water loss that damaged my kitchen. After they completed the remediation/demolition of the kitchen, I’ve discussed with the restoration company that I would like to retain their services for the…
Hello, I am a homeowner in the Palms Nohl Ranch HOA neighborhood in Anaheim Hills, CA. Our HOA has been mismanaged and are now requiring us to pay for fire insurance for the surrounding hazardous land around us. Fire insurance is not the only issue,…
Hi there! After an electrical fire, which led to a total loss of our California home in April, 2021, we still feel as though we have not received a fair settlement from State Farm. We plan to purchase a home elsewhere instead of rebuilding. Our…
When applying depreciation, is an insurer right to add the cost of labour to the cost of materials required to repair a damaged old building, whilst computing the depreciation?
