Page 20 - BusinessWest September 30, 2024

“We come at
this from an educational standpoint. It’s complicated, so we sit with every client, and we try to relate the information so they understand what a standard deductible is and how it applies in different claim scenarios.”
ALEX BENNETT
Pearson agreed. “The premiums are becoming a more expen- sive budget item for both businesses and personal finances,” she told BusinessWest. “That’s unfortunate, but still, the cost of a loss to a business or a home far outweigh the premium. So it’s important to understand what the replacement cost is. You might want a more expensive premium, but one that will respond to what you need if there’s a loss of business or personal assets.”
That said, Pearson’s agency works with a large number of car- riers. “One customer’s policy went from $3,000 to $12,000, and she wanted an alternative option. We found one that lowered it to the original $3,000 cost she was paying. There are options out there.”
Alex Bennett, vice president of Business Development at Pearson Wallace, agreed. “Every carrier has different rates, and they set rates depending on a lot of different factors.”
One recent change due to climate trends has been a remap- ping of flood zones in Massachusetts and elsewhere, Bennett noted.
“That has changed a lot of the landscape of flood insurance, with the determination that water tables are rising and more floods are popping up,” he explained. “From an agency level, we try to let clients know that certain flood zones are changing, and floods are becoming more and more drastic in terms of actual water flow.”
They also explain that home-insurance policies don’t typically cover flood loss from groundwater, and that clients should con- sider that additional coverage, just as they would consider addi- tional coverage from, say, earthquakes — which some policyhold- ers do, even though such events aren’t common in the Northeast.
“They might come from the West Coast, where they experi- enced an earthquake, or a relative did,” Pearson said. “It’s not a standard coverage; it has to be endorsed in the policy. You don’t see a lot of East Coast activity, but it is available coverage if you want to add it.”
Wind damage is far more common, Bennett added, and wind deductibles can be different from other deductibles. In the case of named storms and other factors, the deductible is typically a
percentage of the property’s value, which can catch policyholders off guard.
“We come at this from an educational standpoint,” he said. “It’s complicated, so we sit with every client, and we try to relate the information so they understand what a standard deductible is and how it applies in different claim scenarios.”
Ounce of Prevention
The other side of protecting property from weather damage — or at least mitigating the impact of that damage — is the broad realm of storm preparedness.
Lisa Eugin, manager of Marketing and Administration at Encharter Insurance in Amherst, recently prepared a checklist of considerations for businesses to protect their assets from severe weather. They include:
Develop a storm-preparedness plan. Identify the types of severe weather most likely to affect one’s area and evaluate how these weather events could impact business operations; compile a list of emergency contacts, including local emergency services, utilities, insurance companies, and key employees; designate evacuation routes and ensure all employees are familiar with them; and establish a reliable communication system to keep in touch with employees, suppliers, and customers during a storm.
Secure your physical assets. Regularly inspect buildings for vulnerabilities and repair any damage to roofs, windows, and doors to withstand severe weather; install protective measures like storm shutters, reinforced doors, and impact-resistant win- dows, as well as sandbags and flood barriers to prevent water intrusion; invest in a backup generator to keep critical systems running during power outages, and move valuable equipment and inventory to safer locations, while elevating sensitive items off the ground to protect them from flooding.
Safeguard your data. Perform regular backups of all essen- tial data and storing copies in multiple locations, including off- site and cloud storage; and implement robust cybersecurity mea- sures to protect against data breaches, which can become more
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