Page 59 - BusinessWest September 15, 2021
P. 59

footage, and contents, and get back replacement-cost numbers that can help guide policy decisions, Dowd said.
And current events may affect that formula; these days, in the case of major, widespread damage, homeown- ers may run into supply-chain issues and shortages of wood and other mate- rials, which can significantly jack up costs.
“If you haven’t looked at your limits in a while and they’re $325,000 and it actually costs $425,000 to replace it, you don’t want that kind of gap in case of a total loss,” he noted. “It’s important to be on top of that.”
But protecting a home from water damage — or any other disaster — extends beyond the policy itself, Vas- sallo said.
“We talk about preparedness — making sure people do the right thing to limit their losses,” she noted, which includes everything from securing movable items to cutting back tree branches that threaten windows and roofs. “This is something we deal with on a day-to-day basis here in New Eng- land. You want to limit your damage as a homeowner.
Griffin agreed. “There’s always a level of preparedness you need to have in order to limit damages in a storm. That’s something you want to think about — it can sometimes eliminate bad things.”
Meanwhile, after an incident occurs, the homeowner can take steps to mini- mize further damage while document- ing their losses.
“Always take photos of loss of every- thing, and make immediate emergency repairs — put that blue tarp on the roof to prevent rain damage,” Vassallo said. “If you do need to make emergency repairs, most insurance companies will honor the photographs. I would rec- ommend you retain damaged materi- als, which can prevent questions from arising. If you rip out the rug in the house, you don’t want the adjuster to pay you for builder’s grade, when you had a high-grade rug. That’s stuff we deal with all the time.”
The homeowner is expected to not just respond quickly to minimize dam- age, but to help prevent it as well, she noted. That means regularly cleaning gutters so they’re not backed up with leaves during heavy summer rains, which can lead to water pouring into the foundation and leaking into the basement — or contributing to ice dams in the winter.
In other words, “if you have gutters, clean them — but be careful on that ladder,” Vassallo said. “If you can do your preventive work ahead of time, you’re ahead of the game.”
Warning Signs
As he noted earlier, flooding has been on Griffin’s mind lately.
“Typically, this is the time of year when we see the biggest uptick in those types of claims, especially in New Eng- land,” he said. “We also see it in March,
“We’ve had so much water this summer — it’s unprecedented, and it’s becoming an issue for everybody.”
something that’s been noted on the carriers’ end.”
They’re not alone, of course.
“Every part of the country is getting hit by extreme weather. And we’re now living in real time what the country’s going to look like,” Biden said in New Jersey last week. “We can’t turn it back very much, but we can prevent it from getting worse.”
And make sure we’re properly insured against the next big storm. u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
     GRIFFIN
when the ground is frozen, and we may get two
or three inches of rain, which slides across the frozen ground and into your home. But we’ve had so much water
this summer — it’s unprecedented, and it’s becoming an issue for everybody.” He said carriers have been sound-
ing the alarm about this topic. “Storms are getting a lot stronger. It’s definitely
  IT'SITW'SHWOHWOEWAERAE,RE,
IT'IST'WS WHAHTAWT WE DEOD.O.
isk imskamnaagneamgenmtent r r
nsunrsaunrcaen&ceb&onbdosnds ii
afetayfety ss
omopmliapnlicaence cc
W We e K e K e e p e p Y o Y u o u S a S f a e f e
OuOr urirscrispclaptflaotrfmormis disedsiegsnigendetdo tboribnrginygouyor ubrubsiunseinssess to tohethnenxtelxetvlelvoefl osaf fseatfyeatynadncdomcopmliapnliacencaenadnmdamkeake i m i p m r o p v r e o mv e e m n e t s n i t n s y i n o u y o r u r i r s k r i s m k a m n a a n g e a mg e e m n e t n p t r o p g r r o a g mr a . m .
LonLogn-tge-rtmermbebnenfitesfiitnscilnucdluedfewfewr einrjuinrjiuersi,else,slsesdsodwonwtinmtiem, e lowloewr einrsiunrsaunracenceosctoss, tbse, bttetrtermepmlopyleoeyemeomraolrea, laen, adnad a wowrkorckulctulrteurtheatht watilwl ailtltarattcrtatchtethbebstetsatletanlet.nt.
      8 N8oNrtohrKthinKginSgtrSeterte,eNt,oNrtohratmhapmtopnt,oMn,AM0A106106|0 4|134-1538-65-8061-101111
  ,
   INSURANCE
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 59
     BusinessWest





























































   57   58   59   60   61