Personal Lines Tips You Can Use
One of the best ways for agents and brokers to impress and build credibility
with their clients is to provide advice and suggestions that help them reduce
their risk of loss and their insurance expenditures. And if you are like many
insurance professionals, you are continuously seeking unobtrusive ways to contact
your customers to remind them that you are there for them. Providing cost-saving
risk management advice is certainly one way to do this. Many firms are also
in search of high-quality content to include on their websites to encourage
people to visit and to attract search engine traffic. Thus, we offer you the
monthly "Tip You Can Use" in each issue of Personal
Lines Pilot to help you achieve all of these objectives. You are free
to use this month's tip any way you wish, subject to the
license terms included below. Simply copy the tip, paste it into your Web
site or newsletter, and make any formatting adjustments, being sure to leave
the copyright attribution and Web links as per the license agreement below.
This Month's Tip
Protect Your Landscape Investment
One of the more common complaints heard from insureds after a major
property loss is a lack of homeowners coverage for valuable trees and
landscaping. Most homeowners policies provide only limited coverage (with
restricted perils) for this loss exposure—usually 5 percent of the dwelling
limit subject to a maximum of $500 per tree or shrub. Peril restrictions may
also preclude coverage; for example, there is no landscaping coverage for a
loss to landscape arising out of windstorm. Unfortunately, many trees, in
particular, can be valued in the thousands or even tens of thousands of
dollars. To protect this investment, consider the following risk
management tips.
-
If you have valuable mature trees, consider asking a licensed or certified
arborist to appraise their value. Trained arborists use guidelines to value
these trees, and such guidelines are recognized by insurance companies, the
courts, and, in most cases, the Internal Revenue Service.
- Once you have the valuation, consider asking for an endorsement to
provide higher limits and enhanced coverage for your valuable trees and
other landscaping.
- Practice sound loss
control for your trees. For example, topping of trees should be avoided.
(Topping is the indiscriminate cutting of trees to stubs or lateral branches
that are not large enough to sustain the remaining branch.)
- Hire a tree specialist to
properly prune and thin out your mature trees. This action makes your trees
less susceptible to disease and insects. For extremely valuable trees,
consider hiring an arborist for this work. When selecting an arborist, check
for his or her membership in professional organizations such as the
International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), or the Tree Care Industry
Association (TCIA).
- Recognize tree hazards to avoid injuries and damage to
property. For examples, dead or dying trees are more likely to fall into
utility lines, which could cause power outages, surges, and fires. Dead or
dying trees are also likely to damage homes and could even injure people
should they fall. Hiring a reputable tree specialist to remove dead or dying
trees is a smart move. Get copies of the contractor's certificates of
insurance for workers compensation and general liability before work begins.
Get more
personal lines insurance and risk management tips and ideas from IRMI.
Copyright 2010
International Risk Management Institute, Inc.
*****
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If the tips are included on a website or in an e-mail or electronic newsletter,
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active link in one place on that page.
While these tips were carefully researched by our personal lines experts,
they are of necessity general in nature and not intended as legal, consulting,
or other professional advice. They may also become outdated over time as business
conditions and insurance industry practices change. We provide them to you "as
is," and it is your responsibility to assure that the advice they provide is
applicable to your geographic area, the insurers you represent, your state's
insurance regulations and environment, etc. If you place them on your website,
you should also review them from time to time to assure that they are still
up-to-date and correct given changes in the insurance marketplace, regulatory
environment, or practices. We are providing you with the use of these tips at
no cost to you, and your use of them indicates that you agree that you will
not attempt to hold IRMI responsible for any liability or damages arising from
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Lastly, while we assume no obligation to notify you that any of these tips
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