Tag: Flood Insurance

Flood Insurance

Flood Insurance

Anywhere it rains, it can flood.  Most of us, when we hear the word “flood” think of overflowing rivers. But for most homeowners, a flood following a heavy rainfall is more along the lines of water spilling in through a window well or coming in through a lower-floor door.  This can cause very much a grey area when it comes to flood insurance.

Flooding is the #1 natural hazard in the US. Even an inch of water can cause thousands of dollars in damage.

The situations that cause flooding—heavy rain, groundwater, or new development —can happen anywhere. In fact, one in five flood insurance claims comes from someone in a low- or medium-risk area. This is why, for many homeowners, flood insurance is an essential layer of protection. Adding flood insurance to your home-insurance package means you’re covered if a water main ruptures or a swimming pool collapses, and your home floods – situations not usually covered by standard policies.

That’s right, most basic homeowner policies don’t protect against flood damage. Neither do most business-owner policies. Only flood insurance can cover damage caused by a water accumulating in your subdivision or a drain burst.

FEMA

FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, recommends flood insurance to everyone. “There are still millions of Americans at significant risk of a flood damaging or destroying their homes. To protect against flooding and its consequences, all at-risk homeowners need to buy and maintain a flood-insurance policy.”

As you can imagine, there are rules and restrictions. For example, damage caused by moisture, mildew or mold may not be covered. Damage to your basement’s contents may not be covered. Especially susceptible things like fire arms or currency may not be covered. The good news is, those coverages are available. The cost of premiums vary based on the amount of coverage you need, what’s covered and your property’s risk. Check with us to find out more.

If you decide to purchase flood insurance, a federal flood policy would cover rebuilding costs up to $250,000. You can also get a NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) policy to cover up to $100,000 in possessions. If your home would cost more than $250,000 to rebuild, you need private flood insurance called excess coverage.

Consider purchasing flood coverage sooner rather than later. Keep in mind there’s often a 30-day wait after purchase for a policy to take effect. So call me today about flood insurance. It’s rainy day protection that could help save your most valuable investment: your home or business.

Carriers Appetites

Carriers Appetites change dramatically from year to year. This goes mostly for different industries, but it can also apply to different coverages as well. For business owners looking for coverage this can be a frustrating and puzzling part of their insurance experience. They are simply trying to obtain proper coverage for their business. Depending on many things external to the business, carriers may change how much they desire certain coverages and industries.  The prices businesses pay for coverage changes accordingly. The main way to navigate this issue is to partner with an agent you trust and an agent who works with many different carriers.

My-Insurance-Question-Carriers_Appetites

When carriers change their appetite for your industry or the coverage you need, it is because they are looking for their ideal client. Carriers want to make it as appealing as possible for those clients to purchase coverage from them and they want to make it less appealing for clients they deem a higher risk.  Industries with high risk tend to pay more and struggle to find coverage while industries that carriers have a stronger appetite for are typically ones that have high premium and tend to have a low rate of claims.

In most cases, carriers are willing to be more aggressive with credits and discounts when your business is in one of these low risk industries.

 

If you are in a high risk industry don’t worry. There are some things you can do to combat the lack of appetite carriers may have for covering your business. First and foremost, you should find an insurance agent who partners with many different carriers and not one or a select few. This way they can shop around to find a carrier who does have an appetite for your industry.  If your agent partners with one carrier or a select few, they may not be able to find the carrier who has an appetite for your industry. There are a lot of carriers who like to find a niche where they can offer to one industry and do it well. Because of this, these niche carriers may have an appetite for your industry where a major carrier will steer clear of those risky industries.

This is common in trucking and construction industries. These industries typically are a higher risk. Any business that has employees driving tend to have more claims and the claims tend to be higher cost. Because of this, some carriers specialize in these industries because they believe they can offer expertise in this niche industry where a larger carrier just does not have the time or the desire to take a risk on covering these businesses. This may be true of certain coverages too. For example, flood insurance is a coverage that is only needed in certain parts of the country. When their is a flood in an area there are typically a lot of claims within a short period of time. Some carriers jump out of the market for a few years when this occurs. Some carriers jump in, in an attempt to capitalize on these areas.

The most important thing any small business owner can do to insure their business properly is to partner with an independent agent who partners with as many carriers as possible. This will allow them to shop around for you in an attempt to find those carriers who do have an appetite for your industry. Any time you see a spike in premium you should speak with your agent about other carriers who may offer more aggressive credits or discounts. If the agent partners with many carriers they should have good knowledge of which carriers do have an appetite for your industry and they are able to leverage that to get your business better coverage and the lowest rates possible.

Q&A with Tim Davis

Q&A with Insurance Expert Tim Davis

 

What are the most significant Weather Related Risks for Small Businesses?

 

What’s the biggest mistake small business owners make when it comes to safeguarding their businesses from weather-related interruptions and why is that a problem?

The biggest mistake small business owners make is failing to buy business interruption coverage. This coverage is not a stand-alone policy, but is typically included on a business owners’ package (or BOP) policy. The Hartford has some of the best coverage available on their business interruption coverage as a part of their BOP policy, but several other carriers offer great coverage as well.

How can we know if we need flood insurance in addition to business interruption coverage?

Flood insurance will not only provide coverage to replace the damage to your building, but the business interruption coverage won’t respond for flood-related losses if you don’t have flood insurance in place.

What’s a common misconception about business insurance related to weather issues and what’s the truth? 

As highlighted above, business interruption coverage won’t apply to all weather-related issues. Whatever peril (or risk) caused the business interruption must be a covered peril on the BOP policy. If an earthquake caused the damage and interrupted your business, but you didn’t have earthquake coverage on your policy, then coverage for the earthquake damage wouldn’t exist.

Another common myth centers around off-premises power failure. If a weather-related event causes power to fail at a location away from your business (like a blackout or a transformer a mile away gets struck by lightning) … business interruption coverage won’t apply. With most policies, the weather-related cause of the power failure must happen at your business.

Do we need special coverage to protect from wildfires, or will traditional property & casualty cover us? Why or why not? 

A wild fire would be a covered cause of loss on many commercial property policies, but it is not guaranteed.  I would recommend reading over your policy – identify covered causes of loss as well as exclusions in the policy.

What kind of protection do we need related to employees and customers who might be injured on our premises during a weather event?

Your standard workers compensation insurance (for employees) and general liability insurance (for your customers) policies should suffice. These two policies should be enough to protect your business from incidents that occur on your premises.

What documents should we be sure to store safely to make the claims process go faster after a weather disaster strikes? Please describe each document and why it’s important.

Financial records will be the most helpful piece of information to provide to simplify the claims process. Carriers will evaluate the income losses your company sustained based off the company’s past sales history and reasonable projections of your company’s profits and losses for the time your company suffered from the weather-related interruption.  Policy information – including agent and carrier contact information.  Also, it is good to take pictures of the equipment in a building – including serial numbers.  This helps with replacement parts and valuation.

What phone numbers should we keep on hand in the event of a weather emergency and why? 

Make sure you have either your insurance agent’s number on hand, or (even better) the claims reporting phone number for the insurance carrier on your business owners’ package policy.  I would also consider having phone numbers for emergency response/clean up companies.  In the event of a major weather event, it is smart to have a few companies to choose from – maybe even consider a company from a neighboring community so that they are less likely to be impacted by the same weather event.

What’s the first thing we should do if our business is impacted by a weather event and why? 

Life safety is the very first concern – make sure that all employees and guests at your premises are accounted for and safe.  Then, secure your building and business personal property.   If you can help prevent further damage by taking additional steps, those extra expenses can be covered in some policies.

What else should small business owners know about preparing for and responding to a weather disaster? 

A proper BOP policy with business interruption coverage will provide a real sense of relief in the aftermath of a disaster. Loss of business income is the #1 reason that most businesses do not open after a serious loss. This coverage will help provide coverage for the actual income loss sustained; the net income (net profit or loss before income taxes) that would have been earned over that period; and provides costs for things like payroll so you can keep your employees while your company rebuilds.  Be prepared – think ahead – develop a contingency plan.  If something happens, have a plan already in place and make sure that everyone in the business is aware of what steps to take.

What other questions should I ask my agent about this coverage?

Check the time period you have for extended business income. Thirty days is standard coverage, but some carriers can offer up to 12 months by endorsement. Also ask your agent if you need contingent business interruption coverage — this pays out when your company is unable to operate because of an event like a natural disaster that damages the business of one of your suppliers or customers, which causes your company to lose income.