Category Archives: Insurance

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Preventing Burst Water Pipes

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Unrelenting frigid weather often means frozen water pipes – one of the biggest risks of property damage. In fact, a burst pipe can cause more than $5,000 in water damage, according to IBHS research.

Structures built on slab foundations, common in southern states, frequently have water pipes running through the attic, an especially vulnerable location. By contrast, in northern states, builders recognize freezing as a threat and usually do not place water pipes in unheated portions of a building or outside of insulated areas.

Freezing temperatures can be prevented with the installation of weather stripping and seals. This offers two major benefits: keeping severe winter weather out of a structure, and increasing energy efficiency by limiting drafts and reducing the amount of cold air entering.

These areas should be inspected for cold air leaks to determine where sealing is needed:

  • Windows and doors
  • Vents and fans
  • Plumbing
  • Air conditioners
  • Electrical and gas lines
  • Mail chutes

IBHS recommendations:

  • Provide a reliable back-up power source, such as a stand by generator, to ensure continuous power to the building.
  • Interior building temperature can be monitored by a central monitoring company to ensure prompt notification if the interior of the building reaches low temperatures during after hours, power outages or idle periods.
  • Recessed light fixtures in the ceiling below the open area that is directly under a roof, such as attic space, should be insulated to prevent the release of heat into the attic.
  • Check to see if there is any visible light from recessed light fixtures in the attic.
  • If there is, they are not adequately sealed or insulated. Sometimes, especially in low sloped roof buildings, the space above a suspended ceiling located below the roof may be heated and cooled like the occupied area below.
  • If that is the case, there is no need to insulate above the suspended ceiling or seal the ceiling’s penetrations.
  • Insulate all attic penetrations such as partition walls, vents, plumbing stacks, electric and mechanical chases, and access doors that are not properly sealed.
  • Ensure proper seals on all doors and windows. Depending on the building or room size, fan tests can be conducted to ensure room and pressurization tests.
  • Seal all wall cracks and penetrations including domestic and fire protection lines, electrical conduit, other utility service line, etc.
  • Sprinkler systems should be monitored by a constantly attended central station to provide early detection of a sprinkler pipe rupture due to freezing.
  • Insulation and/or heat trace tape with a reliable power source may be installed on various wet sprinkler system piping. This includes main lines coming up from underground passing through a wall as well as sprinkler branch lines.
  • UL-approved gas or electric unit heaters can be installed in unheated sprinkler control valve/fire pump rooms. If backup power is provided, the heaters should also be connected to this power source.
  • A monitored automatic excess flow switch can be placed on the main incoming domestic water line to provide early detection of a broken pipe or valve when the space is unoccupied.

 

Can Your Organization Survive a Natural Disaster?

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In the wake of a natural disaster, about a quarter of businesses never reopen.

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Whether due to primary concerns like a warehouse flooding, secondary complications like supply chain disruption, or indirect consequences like transportation shutdown that prevents employees from getting to work, there are a broad range of risks that can severely impact any business in the wake of a catastrophe that must be planned for.

Planning and securing against natural disaster risks can be daunting and exceptionally expensive, but researchers have found that every dollar invested in preparedness can prevent of disaster-related economic losses.

Check out more of the questions to ask and ways to mitigate the risk of natural disasters for your organization with this infographic from Boston University’s Metropolitan College Graduate Programs in Management:

Survive a Natural Disaster

Tenn. Legislators Introduce Workers Comp Option Bill

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A bill that would give companies in Tennessee a free market alternative to state-mandated workers compensation insurance was introduced yesterday by Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville), a physician and vice-chair of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, and Rep. Jeremy Durham (R-Franklin), House Majority Whip.

The Tennessee Option draws from the best practices of Texas nonsubscription and the Oklahoma Option, according to the Association for Responsible Alternatives to Workers’ Compensation (ARAWC). The Option is designed to provide Tennessee employers an alternative for funding and responding to occupational injuries while still protecting employees and their families. The key components are employee accountability, medical management, employee-employer engagement, and free-market competition.

“The core focus of the Tennessee Option is to help injured employees get back to work faster,” Sen. Green said in a statement. “Making that happen requires good benefits, strong communication, and will lead to higher employee satisfaction. An Option will also give job creators a way to save more than 50% on workers’ comp costs, so they can invest in growth and more employees.”

ARAWC spokesman, Brent Buchanan told the Monitor that the bill has been in the works for about six months and the next step is a committee hearing. Because of its strong sponsorship, there is a good chance it will pass this legislative session, he said.

Janine Kral, president of ARAWC and vice president of risk management at Nordstrom said in a statement, “The Tennessee Option is a local effort driven by the bill sponsors with the support of Tennessee employers and associations. ARAWC will serve as a resource to this local group that is focused on providing a free-market alternative to workers’ compensation insurance.”

Oklahoma passed Option legislation in 2013. Texas has allowed alternative injury benefit programs for more than 100 years, ARAWC said, adding that Texas employers using the Option have saved billions of dollars while increasing return-to-work rates.

According to ARAWC:

Private employers can elect the Tennessee Option. Current Tennessee law allows cities, counties and school districts to opt out of the workers compensation system and several have elected to do so. Tennessee law already exempts employers with less than five employees from the requirement to provide workers compensation insurance. The Tennessee Option legislation will not amend those current exemptions. The Option will not be available to construction or coal mining companies due to their unique industry requirements.

By removing various third parties from between the true stakeholders – employees and employers – the Tennessee Option will encourage more collaboration between the parties. At least a mandated level of benefits must be paid. Many Option employers will pay higher wage replacement benefits than workers’ compensation. The employer must prove that financial security is available to pay the benefits, and a guaranty fund will be established. Stringent appeal rights are included in the Option to provide employees due process. Due to disclosure requirements, employees in an Option will be more aware of their injury benefits and the processes for procuring them. And more employee accountability will lead to better medical outcomes, which is good for all parties.

 

Flurry-Down Economics: The Real Cost of Blizzards

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Winter Storm Juno New York City

Despite predictions of a “historic” snowstorm this week, the Northeast – and the insurance industry – largely dodged the blizzard bullet. Over the past 20 years, winter storms have caused an average of $1.2 billion in insurable losses every year, the Insurance Information Institute reported. Last year’s polar vortex and significant snow accumulations came with a price tag between $15 and $50 billion, and winter weather caused $3.7 billion in overall losses, of which an estimated $2.3 billion was insured, according to MunichRe.

NATURAL DISASTER LOSSES IN THE UNITED STATES, 2014

Ahead of what could have been record snow, seven states preemptively declared a state of emergency for what some dubbed Winter Storm Juno. Authorities shut down many major cities, canceling thousands of flights and closing major roads and mass transit systems.

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Though Boston was pummeled by about two feet of snow, New York City and most of the region emerged relatively unscathed.

“We think the economic impact of the storm is going to be relatively small,” said Evan Gold, senior vice president at weather advisory firm Planalytics. “We’re estimating at about 0 million, and that’s simply based on the duration of the storm, the timing of the storm and the population centers that are impacted.”

Others estimate the cost may be closer to $1 billion, considering the lost business, wages and taxes, and snow removal costs. According to a new report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer, in the past 12 years, every inch of snow cost New York City an average of $1.8 million to remove. From 2003 through 2014, the city spent $663.2 million just to clear the snow. Lighter snowfall actually takes a greater toll per-inch. “It’s a lot more expensive on a per-inch basis when we get a little snow because we have startup costs and we have fixed costs. We have to have plows and salt,” Stringer said. As a result, the city saw 55.5 inches of snow in 2003 and paid $740,000 per inch in cleanup costs, while the city had 6.8 inches of snow in 2012 and paid $4 million per inch.

In a press conference on Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shrugged off the financial implications of preparations for and recovery from Juno, calling it one of the “costs of doing business.” He explained, “We factor that in—things like snow removal, salt purchases, overtime for crew to handle storms, these are factored in the budget and this was not exceptional to that process.”

The cost of overpreparation is hefty, however, and it primarily falls upon the public. A one-day storm in Massachusetts costs the state economy about $265 million, while the total cost in New York is around $700 million, according to the Boston Globe. A significant portion of that is due to lost wages for hourly workers, who tend to be hit the worst by snow-related shutdowns.

Travel cancellations have a similar impact.

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According to research firm masFlight, it costs an airline about ,000 to cancel a typical domestic flight on a full-size jet, but the total tab for all the passengers who were supposed to be on board is about ,000, due to the additional costs of lodging and meals.

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More than 4,700 flights were cancelled Tuesday after about 2,800 on Monday ahead of the storm, CNN reported. Amtrak also suspended service between New York and Boston because of the weather.