Not telling consumers about risks may be an agent’s biggest risk

Every year, just before daylight savings time rolls around, I get a package in the mail with a 9-volt battery.

The package is from my mortgage company, sending me a reminder to change the battery in my smoke detector.

That customer service makes life a little easier. My home is safer and I don’t have to hunt for batteries, while the mortgage company protects its own investment.

In our business, too, it’s noteworthy that agents who do the right things — often the small things — serve clients and themselves best.

Let me give an example.

Several months ago, my firm was reviewing claims from the hurricane season of 2005 — a season that was both damaging and deadly.

As a wholesaler of collector-vehicle coverage, my firm saw a number of claims filed after the storms had passed. As claims adjusters visited those customers, a trend became clear: The damage to the collector vehicle stored in the garage was only a small part of the overall damage. Yes, our customers’ prized collector cars and trucks were damaged. But worse, many of these customers also had filed a claim with their homeowners insurance carrier for significant damage to the home itself.

It turns out those claims had something in common: The garage door didn’t hold up in the wind.

Yes, the garage door.

Here’s the scenario
The negative-positive air pressures of the hurricane caused a “tug of war” on the garage door(s), the largest entry to the house. The garage door(s) collapsed. The attic entry in the garage ceiling collapsed, damaging vehicles below. The “tug of war” in the attic collapsed or damaged the roof of the home.

The Florida Alliance for Safe Homes notes that 80 percent of residential hurricane wind damage starts with wind entry through the garage door.

The damage to a collector-vehicle in the garage — for example, from trap doors in the garage attic that fell onto the vehicle — was minor compared to the havoc in customers’ homes and the uprooting of their lives.

Lesson learned the hard way: The center top of a garage door can be the weakest point in a house.

I bet if you asked 10 clients, the majority would not be aware of that fact. Clients who are watching the Weather Channel as the next hurricane approaches should probably know about that risk.

But consumers aren’t paid to know about, monitor and think ahead about risks. We are.

Agents can make a big difference by educating their client base long before the hurricane warning.

Proof is in the exposure
Here are some other examples of things agents might know but their clients might not.

1. Use a waterproof/padded tarp on a vehicle in a garage to protect against saturated drywall and debris falling onto it.
2. Remove heavy objects from shelves and items (such as bikes) hanging from the ceiling. Place tools and other large objects on the floor.
3. Secure the openings to the attic from the garage with latches or lumber.
4. Use plywood to protect the windows in the garage. Window films provide some protection against shattering. But half-inch- or three-quarter-inch-thick plywood is a better option. Hurricane shutters usually protect better than sunshades on windows.
5. Keep automobile titles and other documents sealed in bags in a safe or a large, heavy container that won’t get lost in a storm.

We’ve got hundreds of things to do as insurance professionals. One of the most important is to help clients manage their risk when they are in harm’s way. Agents are in a prime position as risk management experts to help their clients avoid or minimize hurricane damage.

Do you contact your clients with newsletters, e-mail messages, review letters and billing statements? All of those are good places to communicate tips to clients that can save the heartache, lost time, and property damage that go along with claims.

It is our obligation to tell clients about risks — and not assume that people know what those risks are and how to deal with them. With hurricane season already upon us, I hope you take the opportunities when communicating with clients to help them become more aware and manage their risks.

In our business, the biggest risk is not telling clients about the risks they face.

Laura Bergan is a licensed insurance producer and director of marketing for American Collectors Insurance. E-mail:Laura.B@AmericanCollectors.com. Web site:www.AmericanCollectors.com.

Topics Catastrophe Auto Agencies Hurricane