At A.P. Reid, we consider consumer education to be one of our top priorities. An informed insurance buyer will made educated decisions about their insurance - ensuring that you avoid trouble down the road in the event of a claim. A.P. Reid customers benefit from the important information contained in our series of hundreds of Customer Information Bulletins. Below you will find a selection of these bulletins related to Business Insurance. Check back often as this selection will be updated from time to time.
I awoke very early one Saturday in October as a result of a telephone call from one of my staff. Deana was on duty at 8:00am that Saturday and was the first to arrive in our office. Her first official duty of the morning was to make an emergency telephone call to me letting me know that our building suffered roof damage Friday night and she was standing in a pool of water, and water was still coming in the ceiling...
Whether you own a business or own your own home or rent an apartment, there is probably nothing (except fire) that can cause more damage or disruption than a room full of water. But if you know what to do as an emergency response, you can save yourselves, (and us) thousands of dollars in damage, and restore your business or household operations back to normal fairly quickly. Here's what we did –
I instructed Deana to immediately shut down all the computer equipment, minimizing any risk of short circuits damaging our very sensitive customer and policy data. I then instructed Deana to tear apart green garbage bags and completely cover any workstation that was at or near the area in which the water was entering our office. While she did this, I telephoned a few "off duty" staff members, rousing them from a pleasant Saturday morning sleep, asking that they get to the office as quickly as possible. I then drove immediately to the office, stopping first to rent a "wet-vac" on my credit card. (This cost $20.00 for the entire day, that's all)
The rain had been pouring in our office most of the night, so by the time we all arrived Saturday morning, it was difficult to tell exactly where the leak was, but we could follow the trail from the least wet carpet to the most wet carpet and follow the water stains on the ceiling tiles. We began taking down ceiling tiles and tying rags to the rafters in the ceiling. Water, as you know, follows the path of least resistance. We couldn't stop the water from coming in our office, but we could (with deliberate obstacles) direct its path to one central area. The garbage cans through-out the office were quickly emptied and all set out. We now had accomplished something important!
Although the water was still entering the roof through several places, our artificial paths created only one specific area where the water was dropping from the ceiling to the floor. The flow of water to several areas of the office had been stopped. The garbage cans collected the water from this one isolated spot, and we could turn our attention to the damage that had already occurred through-out the office. Confident that no further water damage would occur to our furniture, our computers, or our carpets, we began wet-vacuuming the soaked carpeting, getting as much water up as possible to prevent the carpet from coming unglued, soiled and damaged. Within an hour the carpet was only damp, no new water was entering the office, and we had deodorized the carpet. We then rented two huge fans and lowered the temp
Several pieces of our computer equipment had become wet, but we knew that water alone won't damage a computer unless the humidity gets to it or it shorts. The cool temperature prevented the water in the air and in the carpet from turning into humidity, which enables most of the computer equipment to be rescued. It also kept down the smell from the carpet and aided the fans in drying out the areas.
On Monday morning, our staff were working as usual, and serving your insurance needs. Our actual damage was very little, and there was no damage that prevented us from opening for business as usual. We were extremely lucky. But utilizing good common sense on emergency response accounted for our limited damage more than our good luck did.
You don't need the approval of your insurance Agent, Company or Adjuster to take immediate emergency measures to reduce your damage or minimize your loss. When you call your Agency, Company or Adjuster on Monday morning to report the claim, you can be assured that you will only receive our greatest compliments when you tell us you undertook emergency response measures.
1. If the water is coming from split pipes, turn off all water immediately.
2. If the water is coming from a split roof, isolate the trail and the path of the water takes to one spot only so that no further water damage occurs.
3. Rent a wet-vac immediately and begin getting the water off the floor.
4. Move all office our household furniture to a dry area. If that is impossible, put blocks of wood under the furniture so it won't soak up the water from the carpet which could damage the legs.
5. If you must hire plumbers or roofers to effect emergency repairs, ensure that all replaced parts and pieces are kept to show your insurance adjuster.
6. Remember above all that only certain types of water damage are recoverable under an insurance policy; and in all cases, you should act as if you had no insurance, doing whatever you can to reduce the financial impact of the damage.
I congratulate those members of my staff who were here, who responded quickly and with a great deal of common sense. I am grateful that I have the confidence that my staff will respond even when "off duty", and who came when they were needed. Without them, our disruption and loss would have been greater.