American Insurance Services Agency Blog

Record breaking rain amounts caused many areas of the country to flood even the northeast. Rain brings mud and water, lots of it. In 2007 22% of property insurance claims were because of water damage, and the average claim, $5,531!

Joe’s Crab Shack in Tennessee had to shut down for over a month after four feet of water destroyed the inside from floods. After 1,000 hours of work and over $1,000,000 it was re-opened to the public. Joe’s was covered and able to donate money from their proceeds to victims of flooding in the area whom have been displaced, and even continued to pay employees while the restaurant was shut down.

Knowing how to protect your building from water damage with correct commercial insurance is important, along with knowing some prevention tips:

• Check your faucets and outside hoses. Replace those with cracks or leaks, and replace them all every five to seven years.

• Install an emergency pressure release valve in your plumbing system to protect against the increased pressure caused by freezing pipes.

• Remove debris from downspouts. Turn off and drain outside faucets to protect against frozen pipes.

• Install gutter guards to protect the clogging of the roof gutter so water flows easily off the roof.
• -Check your building envelope.

On June 16 Senate voted against the provision to re-authorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The provisions were thought to cause more deficits to the national budget. Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, replied to the decision by saying, “The lack of action by Congress is unacceptable, particularly when were in the first two weeks of hurricane season.”

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration predicts this season to be one of the most active ever. Knowing how to protect and insure your business from water damage will be an important issue this season.

This past Wednesday the House has voted to extend the NFIP until September 30, 2010. Senate still has to vote as they voted it down twice before.