PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENTS — BEFORE AND AFTER A DISASTER
By Steve Trusty
Te Oxford Dictionary defines disaster as: a sudden event, such as an accident or a natural catastrophe, that causes great damage or loss of life. What if disaster hits you and your investments? Are you ready? Whether fire, flood, wind or other natural or man-made disaster, the amount of pre- planning can make the difference between the business surviving or not. Insurance is an obvious first step, but there is much more to consider. We’ll start with insurance and then move on to other steps.
Getting the Right Insurance Look at all the different scenarios that you might insure against. What type of weather events might occur in your area? To what other disasters might you be exposed? Don’t forget break-ins, robbery, theft or vandalism. What are the values of the things that you want to insure? What might it cost to replace them? What would you like to insure against? What can you insure against?
Te answer to the last question will probably need to come from an insurance agent. So, after you’ve made your lists, talk to one. If you already have an agent you are comfortable with, set up your meeting. If you don’t have an agent, talk to acquaintances about their experiences. You might reach out to suppliers, customers or other sod producers for recommendations. Arrange a meeting with those that sound promising and determine what they can offer and how comfortable you feel in dealing with them.
When you sit down with your agent of choice, have your lists ready and discuss your options. Your agent can advise you on what areas you can and cannot obtain insurance. Te cost of insurance for some coverage may be quite expensive. You may need to make a cost/benefit calculation in deciding on some types of coverage. You may need to enlist the services of your accountant to help you make some decisions. For situations in which you can’t obtain insurance, or you decide you can’t or do not want to make the expenditure, you should consider an alternate plan should that event occur.
If you have been in business for some time and already have insurance, you’ll still want and need to review it on, at least, an annual basis. Policies change. New company’s may offer coverage not previously available. A company that is currently covering an aspect of your business may decide to no longer provide that coverage or raise the rates out-of-reach. Replacement costs on certain items may change, requiring coverage adjustments. Record keeping requirements might change. Not knowing any of these things will not help you when it comes time to file a claim.
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Other Insurance Considerations Business Interruption Insurance: What is the potential for lost business due to a disaster? Talk to your agent about coverage for that eventuality. Tere may be coverage for specific periods, for specific occurrences, certain limits, or other variables. Tis is another area where you will need to weigh the cost against exposure and benefits.
Flood Insurance: Floods are not covered as a part of other property insurance policies. Flood insurance is very specific and specialized. Tere are many variables in determining the availability of this specific insurance. In the US, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of Homeland Security, administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). For extensive information on obtaining flood insurance, visit the FEMA website at:
wwwfema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program/ How-Buy-Flood-Insurance.
Earthquake Insurance: Earthquakes also are not covered by general property insurance policies. In some cases, they can be added as a rider to another policy. In other situations, it may be best to go to a company that specializes in insuring against earthquake damage. If your insurance agent isn’t able to offer earthquake insurance, an online search may be the best bet.
Liability Insurance: Another important consideration in protecting your investment is your liability if someone is injured on your property or by yourself, your family members, employees, or the result of any of your activities. Even if you are not found at fault, in some situations, you may still be liable for attorney fees in defending yourself or your business. Sometimes the biggest expense in a liability claim is the cost of defending it. If you are not at fault, or only partially at fault, you will want good representation. Make sure you understand what is—and is not—covered when shopping for liability insurance.
Land Insurance: While you don’t insure the land itself, you do need to think about insurance on any vacant land or hunting land you own. Some liability policies specifically exclude from coverage land that is vacant. If someone is injured on this vacant property, you can be held liable with no insurance to cover you. Te same can be true for land used for hunting. Be sure you check with you agent to know what is and is not covered and look into the need for this specialized insurance.
TPI Turf News May/June 2018
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