Insurance Blog

Halloween festivities are sure to bring plenty of chills and thrills. However, it could quickly turn into a nightmare if you do not take time to carefully plan for the evening’s activities.

Candles, frightened pets and wet or poorly maintained walkways all can prove dangerous to your family and trick-or-treaters.

“Protecting yourself, your family and guests starts with making sure you have Homeowners Insurance with high enough limits of liability to protect your financial assets,” said Karl Newman, NW Insurance Council president. “After that, homeowners should take every reasonable precaution to ensure that their homes are safe for residents and guests.”

Injuries to guests are covered under the Liability portion of your Homeowners Insurance policy. Most homeowners’ policies start with liability limits of $100,000.

However, regardless of the season, you may want to consider purchasing at least $300,000 worth of liability protection and adding an Umbrella Policy. In many cases, you can purchase up to 10 times more liability coverage for an additional several hundred dollars per year.

Your policy also provides “no-fault” medical coverage. In the event a friend or neighbor is injured in or around your home, he or she can submit medical bills to your insurance company up to the limit you’ve chosen – generally from $1,000 to $5,000. This allows payment of smaller medical expenses without needing to file a liability claim.

However, it’s important to note that medical coverage only applies to guests and does not pay medical bills for you, your family or your pets.

NW Insurance Council offers these common-sense tips to help you avoid the negligence ghouls and safeguard your family, home and trick-or-treaters this Halloween night:

• Ensure safe walkways by raking or sweeping leaves and other debris away from porches, decks, sidewalks and driveways.
• Trim low-hanging branches over walkways.
• Keep walkways well lit.
• Keep pets away from approaching trick-or-treaters. Some pets may get excited or hostile when encountering children dressed in costumes.
• Keep candles away from all combustible and heat-sensitive items. Make sure they are displayed on stable surfaces and out of reach of children and pets. Extinguish candles before leaving a room.

If you’d like more information about your Homeowners Insurance policy or your liability limits, contact your insurance company or agent.

While sunshine continues to fill the Autumn skies, believe it or not, now is the time to consider purchasing Flood Insurance if you live in or near a flood plain.

Standard Homeowners and Business Insurance policies do not cover losses caused by flooding. However, everyone at risk for flooding should investigate Flood Insurance made available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Waiting for flood waters to rise before getting Flood Insurance could be a risky proposition because there is a 30-day waiting period for new Flood Insurance policies. This means any flood damage to your home during the 30-day waiting period will not be covered.

NFIP studies show that people living in flood plains are 27 times more likely to experience a flood during their 30-year mortgage than they are to experience a fire. If you’re in an at-risk area, it makes sense to investigate your options.”

Residents living in or around flood plains are encouraged to review their Homeowners and Flood Insurance policies now before flooding take place.

King County Flood Warning offers free Flood Alerts to King County residents to help them stay abreast of flood warnings for local rivers. Residents can subscribe for Flood Alerts by visiting King County’s website.

NW Insurance Council, NFIP and the Institute for Business and Home Safety offer these tips as you consider purchasing Flood Insurance to protect your home during the long rainy season:

• Be disaster ready. Learn what disasters you’re at risk of experiencing in your region and how to prepare your family and protect your home and belongings.
• Find out if you are located in a floodplain and if your community participates in the NFIP. Contact your city or county government. Start with the Building or Planning Department and ask to see the Flood Insurance Rate Maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine your Base Flood Elevation.
• In low-to-moderate flood risk areas, coverage is available for as little as $100 per year. The average premium in high-risk areas is about $400 per year.
• If you are at risk for flooding, buy as much flood coverage as you can. Primary residences insured for at least 80 percent of their value, or for the maximum amounts allowed, get replacement cost coverage.
• There is normally a 30-day waiting period from the time a policy is purchased until you are covered.
• Become familiar with your community’s disaster preparedness plans and create a family plan ahead of time before a flood threatens.
• Develop an emergency kit that includes a three-day supply of drinking water and food you don’t have to refrigerate or cook. The kit should also contain first aid supplies, a weather radio, batteries, clothing, blankets, medicine, copies of your insurance policies and some basic tools.

President Obama late Thursday signed into law legislation extending the National Flood Insurance Program until Sept. 30—averting what would have been another shutdown of the program.

Without the President’s signature, the program would have expired at midnight Thursday. The NFIP has lapsed three times this year. It has become a political football because it is more than $18 billion in debt, as noted by David Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

“While this bill was an important first step, Congress will still need to address meaningful NFIP reforms in 2011,” Mr. Sampson said.

There is also broad disagreement over how far reforms should go, including the phasing in of market-based rates and whether wind should be added to the program.

The bipartisan extension bill, S. 3814, was sponsored by Senator David Vitter, R-La., and co-sponsored by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Tex.; and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association, noted that the latest extension is long-term, rather than the prior pattern of short-term extensions and lapses that have plagued the NFIP.

“With the program now in place for another year, there is now the opportunity to tackle the larger, more fundamental reforms with federal policymakers like NFIP subsidies and the mapping of flood plains," Ms. Pusey said.

The Independent Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) issued a statement saying the extension “will provide much needed stability and security for the NFIP and its five and a half million policyholders.”

But, Robert Rusbuldt, IIABA president and CEO, said it’s also important to note “that our work with this program is far from over.”

NU Online News Service, Oct. 1, 11:03 a.m. EDT
President Obama late Thursday signed into law legislation extending the National Flood Insurance Program until Sept. 30—averting what would have been another shutdown of the program.

Without the President’s signature, the program would have expired at midnight Thursday. The NFIP has lapsed three times this year. It has become a political football because it is more than $18 billion in debt, as noted by David Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

“While this bill was an important first step, Congress will still need to address meaningful NFIP reforms in 2011,” Mr. Sampson said.

There is also broad disagreement over how far reforms should go, including the phasing in of market-based rates and whether wind should be added to the program.

The bipartisan extension bill, S. 3814, was sponsored by Senator David Vitter, R-La., and co-sponsored by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Tex.; and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association, noted that the latest extension is long-term, rather than the prior pattern of short-term extensions and lapses that have plagued the NFIP.

“With the program now in place for another year, there is now the opportunity to tackle the larger, more fundamental reforms with federal policymakers like NFIP subsidies and the mapping of flood plains," Ms. Pusey said.

The Independent Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) issued a statement saying the extension “will provide much needed stability and security for the NFIP and its five and a half million policyholders.”

But, Robert Rusbuldt, IIABA president and CEO, said it’s also important to note “that our work with this program is far from over.”

He said, “Congress now has a year to work on a long-term extension and much needed permanent reforms such as an increase in maximum coverage limits and the addition of optional business interruption insurance.”

He also said that in the past Congress has traditionally extended the program for five year periods in order to provide stability for the marketplace.

“Today’s signing will come as a relief for millions of Americans who could be affected by floods or just wish to buy or sell a home,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

“However, the extension only maintains the program ‘as is.’ The NFIP is in serious financial trouble, and a simple extension such as this one will not help make the program self-sufficient or sustainable.”

NAMIC has called for a long-term extension of the NFIP coupled with specific reforms to improve its financial outlook, including a phasing out of premium subsidies for non-residential and secondary residences.

NAMIC has also called for the modernization of flood plain and elevation mapping, incentives for mitigation programs and stronger penalties for financial institutions that fail to ensure that borrowers obtain coverage for properties.

He said, “Congress now has a year to work on a long-term extension and much needed permanent reforms such as an increase in maximum coverage limits and the addition of optional business interruption insurance.”

He also said that in the past Congress has traditionally extended the program for five year periods in order to provide stability for the marketplace.

“Today’s signing will come as a relief for millions of Americans who could be affected by floods or just wish to buy or sell a home,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

“However, the extension only maintains the program ‘as is.’ The NFIP is in serious financial trouble, and a simple extension such as this one will not help make the program self-sufficient or sustainable.”

NAMIC has called for a long-term extension of the NFIP coupled with specific reforms to improve its financial outlook, including a phasing out of premium subsidies for non-residential and secondary residences.

NAMIC has also called for the modernization of flood plain and elevation mapping, incentives for mitigation programs and stronger penalties for financial institutions that fail to ensure that borrowers obtain coverage for properties.

NU Online News Service, Oct. 1, 11:03 a.m. EDT
President Obama late Thursday signed into law legislation extending the National Flood Insurance Program until Sept. 30—averting what would have been another shutdown of the program.

Without the President’s signature, the program would have expired at midnight Thursday. The NFIP has lapsed three times this year. It has become a political football because it is more than $18 billion in debt, as noted by David Sampson, president and CEO of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

“While this bill was an important first step, Congress will still need to address meaningful NFIP reforms in 2011,” Mr. Sampson said.

There is also broad disagreement over how far reforms should go, including the phasing in of market-based rates and whether wind should be added to the program.

The bipartisan extension bill, S. 3814, was sponsored by Senator David Vitter, R-La., and co-sponsored by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; Bill Nelson, D-Fla.; Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Tex.; and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.

Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEO of the American Insurance Association, noted that the latest extension is long-term, rather than the prior pattern of short-term extensions and lapses that have plagued the NFIP.

“With the program now in place for another year, there is now the opportunity to tackle the larger, more fundamental reforms with federal policymakers like NFIP subsidies and the mapping of flood plains," Ms. Pusey said.

The Independent Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) issued a statement saying the extension “will provide much needed stability and security for the NFIP and its five and a half million policyholders.”

But, Robert Rusbuldt, IIABA president and CEO, said it’s also important to note “that our work with this program is far from over.”

He said, “Congress now has a year to work on a long-term extension and much needed permanent reforms such as an increase in maximum coverage limits and the addition of optional business interruption insurance.”

He also said that in the past Congress has traditionally extended the program for five year periods in order to provide stability for the marketplace.

“Today’s signing will come as a relief for millions of Americans who could be affected by floods or just wish to buy or sell a home,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

“However, the extension only maintains the program ‘as is.’ The NFIP is in serious financial trouble, and a simple extension such as this one will not help make the program self-sufficient or sustainable.”

NAMIC has called for a long-term extension of the NFIP coupled with specific reforms to improve its financial outlook, including a phasing out of premium subsidies for non-residential and secondary residences.

NAMIC has also called for the modernization of flood plain and elevation mapping, incentives for mitigation programs and stronger penalties for financial institutions that fail to ensure that borrowers obtain coverage for properties.


National Underwriter
By ARTHUR D. POSTAL
Published 10/1/2010