Day: September 18, 2008

So, will claims handling really be different with Gustav and Ike?

Yesterday, we were getting comments that caused me to suggest some might find it helpful to read Chip Merlin’s September blog posts.  As an afterthought, I decided to make another visit myself.

I’m a big fan of Merlin’s and have read most, maybe all, of the posts on the blog. Nonetheless, although I understood and generally agreed with most everything in the post he’d added since my last visit, I’m not certain I got the message in State Farm Gears Up for Ike.

All of the companies with policy holders in the areas hit by Gustav and Ike appear to have geared up.  Allstate was actually the first to go public with an announcement they were ready and State Farm followed.  I wrote a post on the subject at the time.

Last night I found an interesting article from the Palm Beach Press indicating the gear up also included Hanna: Past failures spur insurance changes.

The current storm season is turning out to be the most active in terms of landfall since eight storms slammed into the Sunshine State in 2004 and 2005. But major homeowner insurers say they are ready to respond quickly to damage claims, a result of learning some tough lessons in those years.

The goal: Pay policyholders faster so that they can fix up their homes.

Indeed, four of the top five Florida insurers – Citizens Property Insurance Corp., State Farm, Allstate and USAA – say they are, among other things:

  • Expanding the use of mobile satellite vans that can process claims from affected areas wirelessly.
  • Switching from paper to electronic files.
  • Using the Internet to reach customers with damage.
  • Adding to the number of claims adjusters on call.

    • It’s all to be more responsive, the insurers say. As a group they came out of the busy 2004 and 2005 storm seasons with a collective black eye on claims handling. From customers of the five largest insurers alone, state regulators received more than 10,000 claims-related complaints after the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes…

    Still, there is no guarantee that homeowners won’t have problems.

    Paying policy holders faster, according to Merlin’s post, is a cost saving measure for insurers. Continue reading “So, will claims handling really be different with Gustav and Ike?”

    Galveston Meets Gulfport

    This morning’s Sun Herald has several stories of interest including a report on Mayor Warr’s trip to Galveston, a City of 58,000 Ike impacted residents. Mayor Warr is “passing it on” so to speak.  I well remember him saying at a post Katrina community meeting in Gulfport how much the city leaders in Pensacola, which was 18 months or so past Hurricane Ivan at the time, had helped him immensely sharing their experiences.

    From the looks of things in the press the first political leader to fail at leadership is Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas. Prior to landfall she was came under severe criticism for not forcefully pressing the residents to evacuate the island. Her look and leave plan was called “a disaster” by the Galveston newspaper. After Katrina there was a complete leadership failure in Pass Christian. As we slabbers know all too well the smiling face that got the most votes is not always the best person to lead a city or state in a time of crisis.  Ryan LaFontaine with the Sun Herald was there and reports the story with full benefit of the Katrina experience:

    The nauseating smell of thick mud, the eerie buzz of chain saws and shocking sights of debris-filled streets on this island is very familiar. Continue reading “Galveston Meets Gulfport”

    Mark Davidson, Ike survivor, Welcome to Slabbed!

    Our original post is here – with comments from your friends.

    We’ve added your story to our “Stories file” – link here or under at Mark Davidson’s Ike Story – 17 hours at sea under Stories on the left sidebar.

    Mark and his wife will be visiting today or tomorrow.  Friends of Mark can add comments to page or post.  We’ll make sure he gets messages at both sites.

    State windpools may offer little more than political hot air

    And, here from Texas via the Sun Herald is news that further supports Congressman Taylor’s HR3121.

    The Texas windpool can cover $2.3billion of the estimated $16billion it will take to cover claims from Hurricane Ike!

    Hurricane Ike caused as much as $16 billion in property damage, by some estimates, but the state-led insurance pool that will pay much of the cost has only $2.3 billion, leaving the Texas government on the hook potentially for billions of dollars in claims.

    Insurance companies all but stopped offering hurricane coverage for property on the Gulf Coast after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 cost them billions of dollars in claims and as property values soared, raising their exposure to disaster claims.

    The pullout of commercial insurance carriers forced most property owners on the coast to turn to the state-run insurer of last resort, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, or the wind pool, as it is called. Continue reading “State windpools may offer little more than political hot air”

    Worth a 1000 words of hope after Ike the cowboy hurricane

    The New York Times has several sets of pictures showing what happened in Texas when Ike didn’t take a hike.

    Many look very much like the “after” in the before-after-now Katrina series in the Biloxi Sun Herald.

    If you want to see the Coast of the future, take a look at the pictures and illustrations here.

    more about that "sick feeling" – and the cure for the ail

    Sop knows the “sick feeling” he wrote about all too well.  The picture at the top of the page is his slab – all that’s left of the home he’d always wanted near the beach.

    Hurricane Katrina’s wind and water reduced it and all that was in it to the pile of rubble you see in this picture of the man and his dream.

    The only thing not in the pile is the section of his roof that he used to surf his family to safety. (story here)

    He’d be the first to tell you the man who survived Katrina was not the same man he was before the storm.  When you have nothing but those you love, what you lost is not as important as what you have.

    Consequently, what Ike took from those in its path pales in comparison the number of people who survived the storm.

    We mourn the lives lost -30 in Texas as of the most recent report and an estimated number of at least 50 nationwide including those in Texas according to the this report – as we stand in awe of the unexpectedly small number of deaths. Continue reading “more about that "sick feeling" – and the cure for the ail”

    more about that “sick feeling” – and the cure for the ail

    Sop knows the “sick feeling” he wrote about all too well.  The picture at the top of the page is his slab – all that’s left of the home he’d always wanted near the beach.

    Hurricane Katrina’s wind and water reduced it and all that was in it to the pile of rubble you see in this picture of the man and his dream.

    The only thing not in the pile is the section of his roof that he used to surf his family to safety. (story here)

    He’d be the first to tell you the man who survived Katrina was not the same man he was before the storm.  When you have nothing but those you love, what you lost is not as important as what you have.

    Consequently, what Ike took from those in its path pales in comparison the number of people who survived the storm.

    We mourn the lives lost -30 in Texas as of the most recent report and an estimated number of at least 50 nationwide including those in Texas according to the this report – as we stand in awe of the unexpectedly small number of deaths. Continue reading “more about that “sick feeling” – and the cure for the ail”