Weathering the Storm

Long Island agents’ priorities have shifted. The storm that has devastated my friends and neighbors is a top priority. While much of the Insurance Advocate’s readership is in affected areas, I still want to share my observations and invite you to share yours with me. After the storm, we have had a minor earthquake, and even a Nor’easter. I’m waiting for locusts, but they may not appear, since there’s nothing left for a locust to feed on. On a personal note, I had just a little damage to my own home, which wasn’t earth-shattering—a tree fell on my garage (pictured on the right). I called my carrier’s 800-number and received two calls from adjusters within three hours of making the call. The adjuster would come, I was told, in nine days (which I am fine with). The delay, I was told, was because the adjuster was coming from out of state and there were no hotels that could accommodate him. My family has been living with me while they wait for power, like so many others on Long Island, New York City and New Jersey.

These past few weeks, we’ve experienced post-apocalyptic scenarios including lines for gasoline with people using 5-gallon jugs and picnic coolers to hold the gas (who knew alternate plate rationing would work so well?); cars with license plates removed and labeled with insurance companies so salvage crews can pick them up; debris piled up on sidewalks, front lawns and curbs; stores and businesses with inventory disposed outside; intersections without signals and drivers relearning the rules of the road (sometimes the hard way). I, like my neighbors, have learned that the thick cables carry power and can’t be touched, but the thin lines are for phone and internet service—we are learning personal safety lessons about security, mold, food and other necessities we never thought we’d need to know. As of Nov. 15, my clients in Oceanside still are without electricity/power. Others have power, but have lost their oil burners, which are not available anymore. National Grid can’t help them put gas into houses because they are working on more urgent matters, and its getting very cold.

But, we are safe and have roofs over our heads. My heart goes out to so many people, fellow agents included, who have lost everything and have unexpected needs this holiday season. While we’ve seen many heroic and selfless acts of kindness everywhere, we are learning some important lessons I wish we didn’t have to learn.

The most heartbreaking incident to me was when one of my clients—a friend I’ve known since before I was married—called me two weeks after the storm. Furious and frustrated, he threatened to sue my agency because his home was not covered for flood. I explained that our agency had urged him repeatedly to purchase the coverage; I explained it to him face-to-face; we reminded him in our newsletters sent to clients; and through special letters about the need for flood insurance—but his home was not on the water and it had never flooded so he opted not to buy it. His $2 million home is now gone. I fear, so is this longtime relationship that I valued so much.

We also learned (or at least had reinforced) that perception is important. I saw and heard some very smart advertising by insurance companies, pre- and post-storm. Unfortunately, most of it came from direct writers. The weekend prior to the storm, I found myself listening to my radio—it seemed every couple of minutes GEICO or Allstate ran an ad with safety messages to the public. The only thing that came to my mind was where are our big national independent carriers, who are making record profits this year and couldn’t spend a couple of bucks on radio advertising in the metro area and attain a beautiful PR coup? I, and those who had power, did hear one carrier ad on the radio about five days after the storm. These companies lost the opportunity to look good to clients and prospects alike. And they wonder why the direct writers get more business.

I would like to tip my hat to agents who were able to contact their clients through their email addresses and those agents who used the PIA disaster kit, so they were prepared (as much as possible) to deal with frustrated clients. PIA also did a great job, issuing consumer press releases before and after the storm about claims and coverages, and most importantly, compiling Storm Info Central, a website full of information including carrier claim contacts, storm-related coverage details and public policy changes, news and consumer materials for agents to use. The association made this all publicly available to agents and even created a mobile version for those of us using our cell phones and tablets while our landline phones and Internet were down. Many of my fellow agents have already told me this site made dealing with the aftermath of the storm easier for them. We also learned that communication is paramount in these times of crisis. Agencies all up and down the coast are now dealing with client calls at volumes we have never seen before. Social media, email and the Internet are tools we all are using on a daily, if not hourly, basis. If we weren’t convinced of the necessity to keep current with these technologies, we should be now.

Our experience with clients working with adjusters has provided us several lessons, starting with tolerance and patience. It seems a little unfair to complain, given the wave of service men and professionals who came from around the country (and Canada) to provide assistance with utilities and adjusters, but there were challenges. One of my insureds has no electricity and has been staying at her daughter’s house. When she was contacted by her carrier’s adjuster to set an appointment she went to the property that used to be her home to wait for the adjuster. He never showed up. She later found out the carrier had switched adjusters and changed her appointment. She was uninformed, waiting in a freezing uninhabitable house, not knowing what was going on. This and so many similar stories demonstrate the need for better communication from carriers and adjusters with insureds. While everyone was overwhelmed, increased communication could go far to ease frustrations and even reduce what will no doubt become a litigious climate around here very soon.

Looking back at my friend who lost everything, the lesson we need to learn is that no matter how much we try to convince them, clients who don’t have property in obviously wet areas don’t buy flood insurance unless they are forced to. We will need to revisit the National Flood Insurance Program. Last spring, less than six months after Irene hit, PIA told lawmakers that streamlining the NFIP claims process, giving affected policyholders a single point of contact, and improving public education about flood insurance were necessary before another storm hit. How many times will this have to happen before changes take place? The damage of Sandy reaches far beyond infrastructure. I hope we’ve learned some lessons.