Customer Fire Background - Part 1
No matter where you live in the United States, it’s painful to see catastrophic events like the recent flooding in the Carolinas and fires in California. As a local insurance agent in Tennessee, it seems far away, but the reality that something that catastrophic can happen anywhere is humbling. And though not every region of the country has to be concerned about flooding or wildfires, no one is exempt from the possibility of some type of major event.
Here’s a real story about how I saw an event like the wildfires connect with a client of mine in Tennessee. Her name is Mary. That’s not her real name, but I want to share her story because I think there’s value in knowing, not only the short term effects of a catastrophic event, but also the long term effects, from the insurance side of things. The purpose of sharing her story is to give a real life example as seen through the lens of a local insurance agent. And to gain some hopeful knowledge so you can be educated in case you are ever in a similar position. I also want to share how the risk management industry works from my perspective, a local insurance agent.
Mary’s story begins years ago while living in California with her family. She has a thriving business, a strong family and a lot of assets to insure. Beyond the standard family items to insure like a home and autos, she has a second home (also in California), a number of working vehicles including trailers and haulers and she also has her business assets to insure. Commercial policies are specific and funneled into different types of coverages. There is General Business, General Liability, Commercial Auto, Commercial Garage, Commercial Umbrella and Workers Comp to name some. And each of those types of policies have many variables so that the policy can be custom fit to the business owners needs. Her homes were farm-like, not city dwellings. She has animals like cattle and horses so her properties were fenced and cross fenced with multiple buildings like barns. These structures are referred to as Other Structures on a home policy or as Coverage B. This is the coverage for everything not attached to your home, like a detached garage, fences, gazebo or sheds. The amount of coverage is usually a percentage of your dwelling (house). Many companies use 10% as that percentage amount. Some use 20%. For example, If your insurance carrier uses 20%, like Erie Insurance, and your dwelling coverage is $776,000 for your home, then your Coverage B, or Other Structures coverage is $155.200. These different coverages came in to play for Mary when the wildfire event happened for her, in California, though I’m not quoting the actual value of her coverages - those numbers ($776K and $155.2K) are figures that belong to another home here in Tennessee. You can read more in this Business Insider article.
So Mary is living in California, an amazingly beautiful state. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the state through work and spend lots of time there. More than just the well know places to visit like San Diego, LA, San Fransisco and Napa Valley, but also places like Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia, Auburn Hills, Stockton, Red Bluff, Modesto and Eureka (to name some). It’s a wonderful place to live and I see why many people never want to live anywhere else. I’ll end this issue of the blog with Mary and her family enjoying all that California offers.
