Why does it always take a catastrophe to get people engaged!

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Take a moment and read this blog, in its entirety, its in your best interest. And if you don’t see the possible challenges facing you then you should reevaluate the value of your home, personal belongings, insurance coverage, and replacing a life time’s of memories.

The wise person, the logical person upon reviewing what you own, will see the possible, probable outcome, the financial loss on the horizon!

Natural or man-made disasters are severe. An event is designated a catastrophe by the insurance industry when claims are expected to reach $25 million.

For days upon days we have all watched TV and Newspaper coverage about the wildfires out in the western states. This is a disaster, an ongoing catastrophe. People are loosing a life’s worth of homes, personal belongings, memories and more than that precious lives.

I can guarantee you that better then 90% of those who are living in Wildfire country have NO Inventory. Or at best a punch of pictures without the required detailed backup. When your running from fire, after the fire, your not going to remember all the items that make up your home, your memories, all the items that are now gone.

Our firm does not travel to the western states. However, there are firms like oursIn other states like California, Oregon and Washington.Our place is to stand with South Florida. We are here to offer Inventory Services & Home Sitting in South Florida.

Florida is now approaching the heart of the Hurricane season, as usual most of us.Employ the standard line(s). “It never happens here or we haven’t had a Hurricane since Andrew or it’s just a creation of Home Depot’s … Lowe’s, Publix or just getting Costco to buy enough and spending hundreds and hundreds that well never use…

Disaster losses along the coasts all the way from the Gulf to New England will escalate in the near future. Development will increase any open piece of land will become a Condo or a strip mall (as if we don’t have enough). There is one catastrophe modeling company (and there are many) predicts that catastrophe losses will double every decade. This is due to growing residential and commercial entities. The density and more expensive buildings will require more services and more to restore after a major Hurricane.

One study provides strong evidence from 1993 to 2012:

  • hurricanes and tropical storms made up 40.4% of total catastrophe losses
  • tornado losses (36.0%)
  • winter storms (7.1%)
  • terrorism (6.3%)
  • earthquakes and other geologic events (4.7%)
  • flood, wind, hail (3.8%)
  • fire (1.7%)

 A 2013 study of coastal areas found that Hurricane Related Flooding that:

  • 2 million homes with $1.1 trillion in total property exposure are at risk of damage caused by hurricane storm surge flooding.
  • In the Atlantic Coast region alone, there are approximately 2.4 million homes at risk, valued at more than $793 billion.
  • Total exposure along the Gulf Coast is $354 billion, with 1.8 million homes at risk for potential storm-surge damage.
  • Residential properties in Florida have the most exposure to hurricane storm surge damage, followed by New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Louisiana
  • Among the most densely populated metropolitan areas, the New York City metro area, which includes Long Island and the New Jersey coast, has the highest exposure to potential storm surge damage ($206 billion). The next four areas in terms of exposure were Miami ($100 billion), Virginia Beach ($73 billion), Tampa ($55 billion) and New Orleans ($43 billion). *CoreLogic

Standard homeowners insurance does not cover property damage from storm surge. Coverage is available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

The following information chart PCS ranks historic hurricanes based on their insured losses, adjusted for inflation. The chart beneath, estimates insured property losses from notable hurricanes from past years, if they were to hit the nation again today with the same meteorological parameters.

Hurricane Katrina … when occurred $41,100 … in 2014 $48,383 (est)                                     Hurricane Andrew …when occurred $15,500 … in 2014 $23,785 (est)                                      Hurricane Sandy ……when occurred $18,750 … in 2014 $19,307 (est)

Estimated( value) of Insured Coastal Properties Vulnerable to Hurricanes By State. 2012             ($ billions)

New York…coastal total exposure   $4,724.2 …coastal as % of total 60% (est)                          Florida …… coastal total exposure $3,640.1 …coastal as % of total 79% (est)                       Texas………. coastal total exposure $4.580.7 …coastal as % of total 26% (est)

The insured value of properties in coastal areas in the United States totaled $10.6 trillion in 2012, *AIR Worldwide.

TOP 10 STATES, BY POPULATION CHANGE IN COASTAL COUNTIES, 1960-2010

  By number change    By percent change 
Rank State Number change Rank State Percent change
1 California 13,130,000 1 Florida 270.1%
2 Florida 10,360,000 2 Alaska 239.8
3 Texas 3,732,000 3 New Hampshire 198.0
           

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau (www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/039/508.php).  

  • The Atlantic Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands are home to the U.S. counties most vulnerable to hurricanes. These counties accounted for nearly two-thirds of the nation’s coastline population in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
  • Of the 11 most hurricane-prone counties, five are in Louisiana, three are in Florida and two are in North Carolina.
  • 7 percent of the Florida population resides in coastal counties, compared with 32.3 percent in Louisiana,  9.9. percent in North Carolina and 47.7 percent for the total United States.

 

TOP COASTAL COUNTIES MOST FREQUENTLY HIT BY HURRICANES: 1960-2008

County  State Coastline region   Number of hurricanes Percent changein population,1960-2008
Monroe County Florida Gulf of Mexico 15 50.8%
Lafourche Parish Louisiana Gulf of Mexico 14 67.2
Carteret County North Carolina Atlantic 14 104.3
Dare County North Carolina Atlantic 13 465.9
Hyde County North Carolina Atlantic 13 10.1
Jefferson Parish Louisiana Gulf of Mexico 12 108.9
Palm Beach County Florida Atlantic 12 454.7
Miami-Dade County Florida Atlantic 11 156.5
St. Bernard Parish Louisiana Gulf of Mexico 11 17.2
Cameron Parish Louisiana Gulf of Mexico 11 4.8
Terrebonne Parish Louisiana Gulf of Mexico  11 78.7

 We are lucky, Danny the Tropical storm soon now Hurricane Danny might never visit the shores of Florida. It might drop dead from wind shear or choke on the dry air. There are more storms on the horizon. But it teaches us that we have time to protect our homes, our personal belonging’s and our memories.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and caused more than $41 billion in insured property damage. In total, the storm caused between $96 and $125 billion in property damage, destroying an estimated 300,000 homes.

Hurricane Sandy impacted more than 12 states in October 2012. Sandy caused $18.75 billion in insured property losses.

How many of those 300,00 homes had a proper professional inventory or for that matter any type of inventory? Twelve states were impacted by Hurricane Sandy how many homeowners had a proper professional Inventory. Remember at the beginning of this piece. This was a massive catastrophe and it only took $25 Million to make it a catastrophe!

Your living in Paradise and it is like freedom, it comes with a cost. That does require action on your part.

We currently have limited time to have an inventory done, professionally, not just with pictures but also with detail and proper detail. It is incumbent upon each of us to do the following:

  • Meet with your insurance agent and read your policy, regularly review, update and review your coverage’s, types and amounts
  • Get yourself organized
  • Review your Estate with your family members
  • Do I have enough insurance to replace all of my possessions?
  • Most homeowner’s insurance policies provide coverage for your personal possessions for approximately 50 percent to 70 percent of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home.
  • Make sure you schedule important jewelry, art etc. with an inventory and appraisal
  • Do a “Full Inventory” with pictures (multiple shots), warranties, invoices utilizing a certified Professional Appraisal & Valuations Company
  • Flooding and earthquake is not covered by standard homeowner’s policies. Coverage for floods is available from the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program.  Look into this coverage.
  • If you are a “Snowbird” find a dedicated Home Sitting provider, because your next neighbor is probably going to have the same problems. The first thing they are going to take care of is themselves.
  • Either hire a professional inventory service or at minimum contact us and we can direct you to other assets to protect your personal contents (contact page)*

Pictures only will not give you the protection you require. Have descriptions, receipts and warranties in a written format. Don’t claim deliberately what you don’t own!

Hire a Professional Home Sitting Service where someone checks the residence from top to bottom. Giving reports and pictures and can address issues in a timely fashion. Insurance Premium credits are available if your home is being visited by Professional Home Sitting Service.

Hire a Professional Inventory Specialist. If you had an inventory, and a disaster does happen, your initial claim can be quickly submitted within 24 – 36 hours … and the more information you provide the quicker you’ll receive compensation. If you have full documentation including picture’s, receipts and warranties you’ll typically recover 20%+ more when settling an insurance claim.

“Nothing Ever Goes According To Plan Then Reevaluate, Revise, Improvise,  Adapt, Innovate    and Change”

Think!  …… Act!

 

All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

 

 

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