We are all watching the disaster continuing to unfold in Texas with extremely heavy hearts. Seeing the pain and suffering of fellow Americans is heartbreaking. We have employees and many friends in the midst of this crisis and our prayers are with them. We are doing what we can to ease the burden on those we know personally, and donating to the Red Cross, but the feeling of helplessness still resonates.
As a 30+ year veteran in the Insurance Industry, my thoughts inevitably extend to the pain yet to come. It is estimated that only 20% of those affected by the flooding have flood insurance. Yes, FEMA will step in with low interest loans, but they are loans that will need to be paid back. For families struggling to make their mortgage payments, this additional monthly payment will be too much.
For the insurance agencies serving these clients, the months to come will be extremely difficult. Not only do they have their own personal recovery to deal with, but agency clients are counting on them to deliver on the promise to be there for them. For those agencies that have documented and practiced procedures of offering flood insurance to all customers with homeowners insurance or business property insurance, the burden will be lighter knowing that they did everything they could do for their clients. For those agencies who have not been pro-active and diligent about offering flood insurance, the
trauma of their own recovery, the heartbreak of having to tell customers they do not have coverage will be compounded by the inevitable E&O Claims that will follow.
I urge all agencies countrywide to learn from this disaster!
Use the power of your management system to find coverage gaps not only Flood, but Umbrellas and Business Interruption – and notify clients of these gaps. Make sure your staff is following your documented procedures regarding coverage offerings and obtaining rejected coverage signatures.
If you do not have documented procedures, please make that a priority!
We want to help both those affected by the storm and our customers who do not currently have a procedure manual; we will donate 10% of revenue from all Procedure Manual projects purchased in September to the American Red Cross.
Contact us about your Procedure Manual today.
(888) 485-7779