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Hurricane Season is Here - Are You Ready?
It's
that time of year, the dreaded hurricane season. The official start date of the
Atlantic Hurricane season is June 1 and runs until November 30. Last year, there
were 11 tropical storms and six hurricanes. Out of the six hurricanes, only one,
Humberto, reached landfall in the
U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted that 2008 will
feature above average storm activity. At
the end of July 2008, we have already had
two tropical storms and two hurricanes, Bertha and Dolly. Bertha had the distinction
of being the longest lived hurricane at just over 17 days while we all watched what
a category 2 hurricane can do as Dolly made landfall near
Brownesville, Texas
. At the time of this writing, Tropical Storm Fay has not decided to become a hurricane,
yet.
From
an underwriting perspective, whenever there is a hurricane or a well-fueled tropical
storm bearing down on land, we seem to get a lot of quote requests for adding hull
coverage, increasing hull coverage or moving the aircraft out of the path of the
storm. We also have to question the requests to bind coverage on new business that
is located in the path of a named storm. If the aircraft in question is located
in the forecasted path of a hurricane, the chances are that the request for any
hull changes will not be granted. If the aircraft is a new purchase or we have quoted
the aircraft as a new risk to our company, you will need to discuss with the underwriter
before binding coverage. This will include binding coverage on our G3 on line quoting
system. If the insured has an evacuation plan or some other plan to protect the
aircraft, a binder may be accepted. Most of our commercial aircraft policies and
pleasure and business aircraft policies have a Hurricane Expense Provision endorsement
(AV469). This endorsement will pay up to $500 per aircraft to relocate the aircraft
to an airport which is at least 100 nautical miles away from its principal base not under a hurricane watch or warning.
Also, there is an aggregate of $1,000 per
policy period. The Hurricane Expense Provision endorsement may be viewed
here Take a look and let your insureds know that this coverage is available
to them under their
Phoenix
policy.
Many
of our agents are very pro active and
email their insureds alert notices when there
is a hurricane that may affect them. Hurricanes can be tracked
her e. They advise their insured that this coverage is available. Many aircraft
owners are busy protecting their families, homes and businesses and their aircraft
is sometimes low on the priority list. The fact is, there are probably many pilots
at the local F.B.O. or flight school that would jump at the chance to fly the aircraft
out of harms way. This should be part of an evacuation plan whether it is for an individual or business. If your
Phoenix
insured needs help with an evacuation or emergency plan, please direct them to
Tom
Harris
of our Loss Control & Inspections Department in
Atlanta
. Other resources include
NOAA ; and
FEMA
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