National Hurricane Survival Initiative

Saving Lives & Minimizing Damage -- Is your community prepared?

Floridians lack awareness of hurricane risks from garage doors, generators, insurance deductibles

by

As three hurricanes plow across the Atlantic, a poll released Monday found significant gaps in Floridians’ knowledge about how to get safely through hurricane season.

Few knew that a poorly secured garage door could allow the storm to penetrate their homes. A lower number than in 2017 knew that a badly placed generator could kill their family with carbon monoxide gas. And few knew that the possession of homeowners insurance wouldn’t protect them from a severe financial hit after the storm.

“We’re not going to stop the hurricanes,” said Craig Fugate, former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and former Florida emergency management director, speaking on a telephone news conference to release the poll.

“The way we change the outcomes is to make sure we have insurance to protect our homes and our valuables against losses and we take steps to fortify our homes before storms threaten, that we have our supplies, both for our pets and for our families, and if we’re in an evacuation zone, we don’t hesitate. We head the evacuation.”

— Garage doors: Just 8 percent mentioned garage doors when asked about the most vulnerable parts of their home.

“I think people get the roofs and the windows and the shuttering, but they’re leaving one part of their house vulnerable, and that’s garage doors,” Fugate said. “If you get a breach of those doors, or a breach anywhere in the house, that is going to lead to the most likely devastation of the home. …It’s something that people need to fortify.”

— Insurance: Here’s a scary fact about insurance — the typical hurricane deductible is $5,000. Didn’t know that? Neither did 85 percent of the people polled.

“And a hurricane deductible is one of the largest short-term financial obligations following a disaster than any of us face,” said Guy McClurkan, executive director of the FAIR Foundation, an organization that promotes insurance reform. “There’s a really huge financial risk in just being able to meet post-storm financial obligations in order to protect your home.”

— Generators: Although these are a well-known hazard, 39 percent wrongly believed that it was safe to place a generator in a room with an open window, a crawl space, balcony, garage or attic. That’s an increase from 32 percent last year, and it shows awareness may be fading that portable generators generate lethal gases.

“We thought we had the message out — don’t put a generator in your house or next to your house or in your carport or in your garage,” Fugate said. “But our survey says those numbers are going back up. We’re seeing an increase of people who don’t understand the risk of generators. It’s a potentially fatal mistake to run a generator in an enclosed space or where the exhaust can get into a home.”

— Evacuation: Eighteen percent said they would refuse to evacuate, even if a Category 3 or 4 hurricane was predicted to hit within 10 miles of their home. If the storm were “merely” a Category 1 or 2 hurricane, the number that would not evacuate climbed to 58 percent.

— Pets: People put their pets ahead of a lot of other things. The poll found the number of people who assembled pet supplies “well in advance” to be 80 percent, compared with 61 percent for supplies of food, 60 percent for window protection and 59 percent for water supplies.

“We did get some good news in the survey,” Fugate said. “I think the pets are going to be OK.”

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/fl-ne-hurricane-poll-20180910-story.html

Don’t Go Into Another Hurricane Season Without This Important Business Tool

by

Speed of recovery means everything for businesses. You don’t want to wait days or weeks after a hurricane to reopen, because that’s lost income. What’s more, many businesses see a surge in demand after a hurricane, so they absolutely have to stay open or at least minimize downtime.

That’s why Assured Risk Cover created StormPeace for businesses. It’s designed to give business owners the cash infusion they need immediately after a hurricane so they can get back on their feet quickly.

Business interruption coverage is becoming increasingly popular, yet it has its limitations. Most commercial insurance policies require proof of physical damage before they will pay for business interruption. StormPeace, however, offers business interruption coverage with or without physical damage, because often all it takes is a power outage or evacuation order to force a business to close its doors.

Florida businesses are preparing for this hurricane with StormPeace – because the faster they recover, the sooner their customers and the local economy benefit. They can apply the funds toward a wide variety of expenses, including:

  • Temporary location rental
  • Transportation
  • Debris cleanup
  • New equipment
  • Business income loss or payroll expenses
  • Repairs

Like the StormPeace residential policy, applying for business coverage is simple. Just provide your business name and address and choose a policy limit, up to $60,000 and lower than your hurricane deductible, if you have one. There’s a simple, painless claims process and you’ll receive your payment within hours of the hurricane. The amount you receive is calculated based on the strength of the storm and its distance from your business location. It doesn’t matter how the loss was caused (e.g. by wind, flying debris, water, rain, storm surge, or mold from water), so long as the triggers are met.

According to FEMA, 40% of small businesses never reopen after a disaster, and another 25% that do reopen fail within a year. A small business can be extremely vulnerable to a major weather event, and it represents years of sweat equity and investment. The stakes are too high to leave anything to chance.

Get started at www.stormpeace.com today!

Parametric Insurance Puts Money in Your Pocket

by

What’s the one thing you can’t live without? It probably took you .07 of a second to answer, “My phone, of course!”

Our phones are indispensable. Without our phone, we can’t look anything up, listen to music, communicate with others, or purchase anything. It’s our lifeline and your constant companion.

So why are we still asked to abandon the “smart” part of our smartphones and use the same old dialing method when transacting with insurance companies? Admittedly, some are getting better at putting the customer experience on the smartphone. There are some great examples, like Lemonade, Metromile, and GEICO.

But – and here’s the big but! – there’s still too much friction when you try to file a claim after disaster occurs. You have to look up a phone number, call the number, sit on hold, speak to three different people, provide your policyholder number (and who knows where to find that number anyway?) and wait another 15 minutes until you’re given some kind of assurance that you’re being taken seriously and someone will look into your claim.

Or maybe you go to your insurer’s website and open up one of those dreaded chat windows. You can bet the uncertainty and delays only get worse when hundreds of other people are trying to get answers online after a major disaster.

As J.D. Power notes, “most insurers’ digital offerings are lacking in insurance-specific capabilities such as processing claims, effective shopping and servicing of policies.”

It shouldn’t be this difficult for the consumer.

Fortunately, two breakthroughs have converged to ease the pain of the interminable claims process:

  1. Parametric insurance has shortened the time to payment.
  2. Mobile technology has made it immediate.

You can now have a claims payment hitting your bank account within hours, with no hassle or human interaction.

The problem has been around forever: Too many things happen during a disaster that aren’t covered by a typical homeowners policy. With the exception of the dwelling and contents, few things damaged or destroyed are covered. Historically that put consumers in a bind, until advanced data science and computing came along and made it possible to insure all these additional risks. In fact, if it doesn’t appear in your homeowners policy, a supplemental hurricane policy will cover it.

Here’s an example of how parametric and mobile are teaming up to help people recover faster. Let’s say you live in Florida and a hurricane passes through your town, toppling a huge tree in your driveway. Now you’re stranded because your car is stuck in the garage. To make matters worse, you lost power, your food is spoiling, and you can’t get out to restock until the tree has been removed.

Few of us would have the cash sitting around to take care of these urgent matters quickly. If you’ve been through a hurricane, tornado, or similar disaster, you know the first 24 to 48 hours can be paralyzing. Your world is turned upside down.

However, if you had purchased a StormPeace policy, you can get the money you need almost instantly. There’s a painless claims process because the computer instantly calculates how much dough you’re eligible to collect. The amount is based on the strength of the storm and its distance from where you live.

So, you’re sitting on your front step lamenting your situation when all of a sudden you get an email saying you’re eligible for a claims payment. All you have to do is click “accept” attesting to the loss claims amount, and the money is wired to your bank. It’s like “found money” because you even forgot you purchased that parametric policy! And it’s a good thing your insurer notified you electronically, because your phone is about the only thing you own that’s working at the moment.

Applying for a StormPeace policy couldn’t be simpler:

  • Submit your name and address
  • Select a limit
  • Click buy

Parametric insurance has been around for a while, used by many businesses. But StormPeace is one of the first companies to deliver this valuable tool to homeowners and other consumers. It provides the peace of mind that they’ll have money in their pocket to handle those surprise expenses that pop up, like needing to buy a generator, repair a pool cage or boat dock, or replant landscaping. They can also use the funds to meet their homeowners’ deductible, which can run into the thousands. Without meeting that deductible, repair work on your house will be delayed even longer.

Thanks to StormPeace, all you need is your smartphone to buy an insurance policy and get paid after the storm! You can still call us, too. Visit www.stormpeace.com to get started.

Six Tips for Preparing to Protect Your Family and Home This Hurricane Season

by

When it comes to protecting what matters most, FedNat Insurance Company wants to use its 30+ years of safeguarding experience to remind homeowners how they can best be prepared for the unpredictability of hurricane season in Florida.

1. Review your insurance policy

Discuss your policy with your insurance agent to make sure you understand what is covered and how much your deductible is. Flood insurance is a separate policy and typically has a 30-day waiting period, so don’t wait for a storm to develop before you seek to obtain coverage.

2. Create a disaster supply kit

The kit should include items such as flashlights, batteries, cash, first aid supplies, sunscreen, bug repellent, trash bags, medicine, chargers, water and non-perishable food.

3. Develop emergency plans

Map evacuation routes and set up family communication plans. Remember that phone service might not be available, so think of other ways of communicating such as email, social media or texting. Include pets in your plans. Store insurance information and other important documents (such as passports) in an easily accessible location and on the cloud.

4. Conduct a home inventory

Create a paper or digital inventory of your home’s contents. Include photos or videos of your home and belongings along with receipts, descriptions and estimated values.

5. Prepare your home

Keep tree limbs trimmed away from your roof, so large branches don’t fall and damage your home. Be prepared to fortify your doors, windows, roof and other vulnerable points with protective devices and have extra parts for hurricane shutters and other storm-proofing tools on hand. Remove any debris or items from your yard that could become projectiles in a storm.

6. Stay connected

Consider downloading weather-monitoring apps and subscribing to your local community’s wireless emergency alerts. Listen to local officials for updates and instructions.

Download PDF

The impacts and costs of flooding

by

By: Craig Fugate

In an era of increasingly intense and frequent severe weather, tens of millions of Americans are all too familiar with the impacts and costs of flooding.

Unfortunately, Congress has failed to update flood policy to meet the challenges of this new norm, instead choosing to continually extend its own deadline for reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides federally backed coverage for homeowners and small businesses in 22,000 communities nationwide.

The program, which is more than $20 billion in debt, is in dire need of reform. In its current form, the NFIP has failed in two of its goals — decreasing the costs from flood damage and improving the federal government’s management of flood risk — and without major improvements will continue to burn through taxpayer dollars while incentivizing policyholders to live in at-risk areas through subsidized premiums.

And yet, Congress has kicked this can down the road for the seventh time in less than a year.

This continued delay comes despite the fact that some in Congress are proposing fresh ideas for fixing the program. Pending bills would require sellers to disclose flood risk to homebuyers, require repeatedly flooded communities to develop localized plans to reduce risk, enhance mapping of risk areas, boost investments in resilience — for example, through a revolving loan fund — and engage private insurers, all viable strategies to keep people safer while decreasing the costs of disasters.

The failure of Congress to act on these proposals should be particularly concerning to the tens of millions of Americans who live in areas with a 26 percent chance of flooding during the life of a 30-year mortgage.

And there’s a more immediate threat: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts a 75 percent chance that this year’s hurricane season, which began June 1, will be equal to or worse than average (the season has already produced two hurricanes, a benchmark that isn’t reached until Aug. 28 in an average year).

Last year’s destruction from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused more than $270 billion in losses. Even now, 10 months after the last of those storms, many Americans continue to grapple with their losses and unsettled insurance claims, and many communities struggle with how and where to rebuild.

Americans deserve better from the NFIP. Established in 1968 to compensate for a lack of available private insurance and to promote sound floodplain management, the program is where most people turn for flood insurance. And in the five decades since the NFIP’s creation, it has grown to cover roughly 5 million policyholders nationwide. Unfortunately, in that time it also has largely failed to mitigate flood risk while becoming fiscally unsustainable.

Each month, people unwittingly buy homes in areas likely to flood, learning only at closing that they’re required to carry flood insurance on their new property — coverage that isn’t included in a standard homeowner’s policy.

Some, due to a perceived lack of flood risk, feel they should not be required to purchase the insurance, and many who have flood insurance policies — even those who pay federally subsidized premiums — believe the costs are too high. And others who are not required to buy insurance because they live adjacent to — versus in — designated flood-prone areas are often unable to pay for repairs and rebuilding when major storms flood their properties.

Fiscal conservatives who support self-sustaining government policy and programs largely want the NFIP reformed and point to the billions in losses that the program has racked up, including the recent forgiveness of a $16 billion debt to the federal Treasury.

Others who are similarly concerned about wasteful spending note that the program functions as a perverse incentive, encouraging people to live in high-flood-risk areas and to rebuild, sometimes again and again, after their homes are damaged or destroyed — rebuilding that is financed through subsidies and payouts.

Floods don’t choose political sides or respect jurisdictional boundaries, nor are they confined to the coasts. In the past decade, landlocked states accounted for eight of the 10 states that experienced the most flood-related disaster declarations. And allowing the federal government to fund repairs and rebuilding for policyholders that repeatedly flood — in some cases to the tune of exponentially more money than what their property is worth — will drive the NFIP deeper into debt.

With the historic flood costs our nation suffered last year, and the potential for billions of dollars more in damage this year, Congress must act now to authorize a modernized NFIP with effective policies regarding disclosure and repetitive-loss properties. That is one surefire way to help communities prepare for flooding and break the costly cycle of rebuilding the same structures time and time again.

Craig Fugate was administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2009 to 2016.

Source: https://amp.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/5/the-impacts-and-costs-of-flooding/?__twitter_impression=true