End-of-period preparatory work is required annually. But with more and more individuals moving to remote areas such as forests, grasslands, and hilly sites, the work of preparation and understanding of forest fires is important. Oftentimes, especially when it comes to new homeowners, some people may not be very familiar with the dangers of fire in their new environment. This lack of understanding and preparation combined with the increased risk of wildfires the US experiences each new year, it is important to review what you can do to prepare yourself before, during, and after the fire period.
When Hurricane Harvey struck in mid-August 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, it was so destructive that the tornado was linked to Hurricane Katrina as the most expensive exotic hurricane ever recorded at $125 billion. Since it is also one of the most expensive natural disaster records in Texas today, a close friend who works in insurance needed help and contacted Abbey. As an individual whose true passion has always been to help individuals, Abbey went head-to-head as an independent insurer across Harvey, after which Hurricane Irma struck just 2 weeks later, and Maria after that. Realizing that he had an extraordinary talent for the industry because of his customer-centric outlook, he decided to stay in insurance and study as long as possible. When Abbey decided to jump right into insurtech, the newest insurance front line, he found Hippo.
Homes that survive wildfires often have one thing in common: Property owners proactively take appropriate action to prepare their families, homes and properties for the unexpected and devastating event.
We asked Abbey what customers should know and/or do prior to the fire period, and here’s what he had to say: “Wildfires are challenging. They move quickly, relatively disappear and then pop out again very quickly. From my experience, the way It’s best to protect your home’s waste initially to think more about the outside as opposed to the inside and follow the rules of firescaping. After that get to work on what you can do inside to stay positive and preventative”
Are you asking yourself, what is firescaping anyway? Firescaping is a positive landscape design that helps prevent forest fires from damaging your home. Firescaping is meant to reduce or stop the spread near your home by creating a fire safe area, landscape design using non-flammable plants, and developing open spaces that can prevent fuel burnout.
“I’ve seen periods of bushfires where a client does their due diligence when it comes to firescaping their property, which is probably the exact difference that avoids bushfires from having the ability to get to their home. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen where customers don’t. organize their property with the avoidance of stopping in mind … and their homes damaged or completely destroyed.”
Landscaping your home with a planned defensible space is essential in protecting your home from proper forest fires. Defensible space works by preventing direct fire contact or radiant heat from entering your home.
“Having reasonable activities to prepare for some situations is key. Whether there’s a fire smoke hazard, knowing what to do, or if it’s much bigger and you need to know what to do in your home before vacating, make the effort to plan and communicate that plan to the house can make a significant difference.”
“Every home is different, so being aware of its place and possible risks is something every homeowner should understand. Contacting your local termination or forestry solutions division for advice on precautions and additional information is a good idea.”
If you need to go outside all the time with wildfire fumes in the air, make sure you wear a particulate respirator mask. While you may have a fitted mask from the previous year, a cloth face mask will unfortunately not filter out the particulates in the smoke of the fire. One of the most popular face mask models (since we’re running out of 2020 shortages) is the N95, but the P100 model will work too. N95 certified by NIOSH and filtering system 95% airborne bits.
A forest fire can be an event that causes your home and property to fall in bad shape. Knowing what action to take after the termination has been destroying your home can be confusing. Let’s ask the experts.
“First, if you need to evacuate and return home, make sure you have permission from local authorities to do so.” Ashley explains that once you are activated to return to your home, it is very important to stay alert and be very careful. Keep in mind unstable or dangerous areas; it consists of damp and unsafe surface areas and confined or poorly aerated spaces. And while your first instinct may be to start tidying up right away, don’t do it.
“I know when individuals return home from a fire emergency situation, some of them are very surprised at how bad the points can be with the smell of smoke and everything that people respond to is to start cleaning and throwing away the points. Call your insurance first. Leave the scene undisturbed. will probably allow regulators to see all the evidence of a catastrophe.” You may be asking yourself, what can you do when you return home after a fire? “It would be helpful if the customer started taking stock lists of affected items, taking photos of the problem, because the more paperwork there is, the more it can help adjusters.”
With increased exposure, not only are you safer, but it’s also easier to do a thorough evaluation of your home and entire yard throughout the day; it will also make it easy to take pictures of any damage. Take a video camera or phone to take photos and be mindful of your property matters; This will be a significant help for insurance claims. Remember to document any damage you find. Also a relatively minor problem can cause a fairly large problem within a few months to be discovered.
Realizing quickly that insurance is the type of industry where individuals don’t understand the complexities of coverage and the claims process, Ashley understands that she can make a difference. By deconstructing the “black box” that constitutes home insurance and by breaking down the industry contract language, he wanted to get a clearer and more reasonable claims process for his customers. Disclosure is critical to Ashley when it comes to natural disasters or catastrophes and what homeowners need to know to prepare themselves, but also for their home insurance coverage to prepare for what can happen to homes and how customers can be made whole again. at the same time.
“When unsure it always seems like you can call Hippo. I have had homeowners tell me they didn’t know either that smoke and ash coverage was a thing. The only way they found out was because of the incredible Claims Attendant group of HIPpo called their home ahead of time. great opportunity to let them know they have smoke and ash coverage, what to do during evacuation, etc. The hippopotamus can review your plans and walk you through what you might not know.”
Asking Abbey if there were any particular circumstances she remembers that stood out in her memory of customers who had been through the bushfires, she smirked and replied, “The bushfire days weren’t a laughing matter, but in 2015, a property owner and I were giggling about the state of things in the forest. where they had to flee and luckily the landscape design that had been put in place combined with the quick reaction of firefighters, had avoided severe damage to most of the house.remembered on the front door of firefighters who said birth stays at home, acquired in the fridge, consumes all food and did some damage to the kitchen area floor. The landlord couldn’t help but laugh about it, and was displaying memorable photos and an empty fridge.” The ethic of the story, of course, is that the homeowner has done such a wonderful job of preparing for the time of the fire that a birth has found the home safe enough to live in. After that the home owner has also recorded everything for the home insurance company. Lessons learned.
“Home insurance sometimes gets a bad reputation, but that’s what makes Hippo truly unique. We proactively do what we can to let clients know we’re here for them. It’s not the stereotypical mind of insurance providers to be so positive for them. they’re clients, but that’s what we’re improving.”