GBW Insurance's Blog

Here’s the notice we just got from Travelers as a servicing company for the National Flood Insurance Program:

“Dear Travelers Agents,
We are pleased to report that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been reauthorized to May 31, 2010. The bill that was passed by Congress and signed by the President includes retroactivity to March 1, 2010.
This means that Travelers Flood can resume processing transactions using the dates that items were received during the lapse for calculating effective dates. The National Flood Insurance Program waiting period rules will be used to determine all effective dates. We will resume sending renewal offers and will also send those renewal offers that were being held during the lapse.
Because Congress made the bill retroactive, Travelers will be allowed to go back to fix transactions that were impacted due to the lapse. March 1st and 2nd can now be used in determining effective dates according to the National Flood Insurance Program waiting period rules.
Travelers will continue to work with industry trades, legislators and FEMA to help support a longer term reauthorization of the NFIP prior to the expiration on
May 31, 2010.”

Installation of solar panels on homes has become more popular, especially with the tax credits available. Here’s a link to an engineering company that does installations. We’re linking to them because 1) we know a client who said their brand new installation held up in the recent wind storm while other people’s panels were blowing down the street. And 2) their web site is helpful in reviewing how such installations work. 3) they do seem to give more complete help in getting the project done. Entech Energy.  But the first point is really important.

http://www.entechgroupinc.com/energy/solarhome.html

www.gbwinsurance.com 1-800-548-2329

GBW Insurance topped out with about 2% of our clients reporting claims on Flood Insurance, Homeowners Insurance for wind/falling branches damage, or Homeowners Insurance for backup of sewers and drains (water up through the sump pump for example). What have you seen?

Congress let the National Flood Program lapse, again. But this time they went on break and did not fix the problem. So the servicing insurance companies can not issue new policies. Good luck until April 14, which is the earliest that Congress can act. If you want advice, give us a call at 1-800-548-2329.

Someone searched that question. Basic answer, no. If you are in a Federal disaster area, you may qualify for loans (Note LOANS) to deal with damage. But you need flood insurance or backup of sewers & drains insurance (depending on the circumstances) to be paid for the damage. And start with a pump, which is very unlikely to come from FEMA.

A flood, according to the NFIP, is surface water affecting two or more acres or two or more contiguous properties.  At the moment, most of the Northeast qualifies.

Here’s the direct quote from FEMA/NFIP:

Flood–

• A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land area or of two or more properties (at least one of which is the policyholder’s property) from:
  –Overflow of inland or tidal waters; or
  –Unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source; or
  –Mudflow;or
• Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in a flood as defined above.
• http://www.fema.gov/business/nfip/19def2.shtm#F

For questions call GBW Insurance at 1-800-548-2329

Well, the mighty Rockaway River seems to have crested at a few feet above flood stage http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?01381000 so it’s off to work. The automated systems say three client claims were reported Sunday, which means many more today. Insurance carriers have been notified and we’ll be there.

For you flood watchers, here’s the United States Geological Survey web site for real-time water gauges in New Jersey.

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nj/nwis/rt

Click on a dot to find the data for that location. As an example, the Passaic River near Chatham, NJ jumped from 12 feet on March 12th, to 16 feet on March 13th.

A very bright guy we know in the construction management field (Andre Grebenstein at the Martin Group, look him up on LinkedIn) made an excellent suggestion.
For small operations, contractors or others managing a project, keep track of vendors’ and contractors’ insurance expiration dates on an Outlook calendar. This way you can make sure you get Certificates of Insurance from them to keep your protection up to date.

From our side, advising on risk management and insurance, an agency management system should keep track of where and when to send COIs. But addresses change, requirements change, insurance carriers and agents change, and clients drop coverage. For the company that should be getting a renewal COI, keeping track for yourself is very important. Our thanks to Andre.

www.gbwinsurance.com  1-800-548-2329

We just received this from Travelers Insurance:

“We are pleased to report that the National Flood Insurance Program has been extended to March 28, 2010. The bill that was passed by Congress and signed by the President does not include retroactivity to March 1, 2010.
While this short-term statutory authorization will allow us to resume issuing flood insurance policies, the bill did not include specific language that would make the extension retroactive to March 1, 2010 at 12:01 a.m. Travelers is working with FEMA to determine the correct way to handle new business and changes in coverage that were received after February 28, 2010 to be effective before today.
As soon as we have direction from FEMA on how to handle this issue, we will provide another update to you!
Travelers will continue to work with industry trades, legislators and FEMA to help support a longer term reauthorization of the NFIP prior to the expiration on March 28, 2010.”

PIA producer update
President signs stopgap for NFIP as part of COBRA subsidy extension
This morning, President Obama signed into law (H.R. 4691), which provides a stopgap extension of federal subsidies of COBRA health-care premiums until March 31. The law also extends the National Flood Insurance Program for just 30 days, until March 28. PIA recommended that the interim extension be for at least six months.
The flood program slipped into a technical lapse at midnight on Feb. 28, 2010, after Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) blocked passage under unanimous consent of a bill to extend unemployment and COBRA benefits. The extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was attached to that bill.
Congress has been extending the flood insurance program for short intervals over the past two years. Efforts to enact comprehensive reforms to the NFIP have been stymied in recent years over two issues: proposals to add coverage for wind damage to the flood program and forgiving the nearly $20 billion debt amassed by the program as a result of catastrophic storms in 2004 and 2005. PIA opposes inclusion of wind coverage in the NFIP program and supports debt forgiveness.
PIA has decried the lapse and continues to call for a comprehensive flood insurance reform, including a five-year authorization.
PIA is the Professional Insurance Agents national group.

For more information on Flood Insurance, call us at 1-800-548-2329

www.gbwinsurance.com