June 18, 2008 The Value of Trees; Worthy of Protection

As families moved from the cities to the suburbs and planted “beautiful” trees in the same spots that farmers removed “nuisance” trees a hundred years before, the “Live Asset” movement started to take shape. New trees were viewed as welcome additions to the family. They became a part of our lives and connected us in ways we probably never thought about until now. They were always around, but we never saw their true value or never really appreciated them as a true asset. Now that we have grown and the trees have too, we have a deep affection for them, but it has been historically difficult to establish the commercial value of trees.

If you have ever suddenly lost a tree to a storm, and experienced the deep sense of loss, and the “what do we do now?” thoughts and feelings, then you understand the impetus behind our product from an emotional perspective. If you have ever lost a significant tree and only felt anger at the prospect of having to remove the debris, or were thankful that “nature’s natural pruning” didn’t hit your house or damage your car, then you will appreciate our debris removal coverage. If you have ever bought a new mature tree, paid more for a property with landscaping, or witnessed the improvements of a barren plot of land with the planting of various flowers and shrubs, then you can appreciate that live assets are assets, not liabilities.

Anyone who has purchased significant landscaping understands that as well.A 2007 Wall Street Journal Article reports that “homes with colorful flowers and tall palms typically sell for 10% to 15% more than those without these features and that overall; a lot with trees adds about 7% to a home’s price……. Nearly 20% of buyers say they consider landscaping to be a “very important” factor in their decision to buy a house, according to a new study by the National Association of Realtors.” The article then goes on to discuss the lack of professional and uniform method of valuing, insuring and protecting living things such a large live oak tree.

The cost of extensive landscape can be more money than a car or even a house, but these live assets are almost always uninsured. How many people would plunk down $40,000 dollars on a new car or truck and not insure it? How many would build a new addition on a house for $200,000 and not insure it? Yet, all across the country people will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on live plantings and then pray that a strong wind or freeze does not wipe out their investment.

Over the past 50 years the insurance industry has been unable or unwilling to insure “Live Assets” because they were “living”. The industry felt that it was incapable of determining the “existing health condition” of the live asset in question, and therefore the industry chose not to deal with the issue. This is where we believe the paradigm is shifting from ignoring trees to acknowledging them as live assets; to be protected and insured, not ignored and left unprotected.

After speaking with hundreds of professionals in the Timber, Landscape, Nursery, Vineyard and Greenhouse industries we discovered a dire need to protect “Live Assets” in a way that did not previously exist. The problem is: natural disasters happen everywhere around the globe. Living organisms like trees, shrubs, vines and flowers are extremely vulnerable to the elements. Picture yourself standing alone outside 365 days a year in one spot with no clothing depending on the right amount of sun, water and general avoidance from bugs and other nasty forces trying to attack you. Now you understand the problem, and also why insurance has been hard to find.

While Live Asset Insurance was establishing our “ecocredentials” in the industry in 2007, we discovered that our new and exciting natural disaster insurance policy (covering trees, plants, shrubs, flowers and vines destroyed by Mother Nature’s wrath) was going to invoke a significant paradigm shift; one which we believe will encourage conservation, natural resource renewal, and reduce the tax burden of farm subsidies, all while protecting living organisms in ways that were never done before. We believe our product will stimulate awareness of the value of live assets in general, and will help spawn “live asset businesses” that will be formed specifically to grow replacement inventories; now that there is insurance to pay for the lost live asset.

The “paradigm shift” from trees as “non entities” to true “live assets” will happen as these live assets get replaced with an exact duplicate tree, because there was insurance money to pay for the debris removal, the purchase of a like, kind and quality replacement, and the cost to reinstall the replacement tree in the same spot as if nothing had ever happened.

Everyday across the country thousands of businesses and individuals are self insuring their “live Assets”. Once they learn about our insurance product they will transfer that risk for pennies on the dollar. Please spread the word about Live Asset Insurance.  Hug a tree, better yet insure it.

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Subject: Earth

“Earth, Wind, Fire and Water are Mother Natures best attributes; sometimes.

When the earth “quakes”, and the wind “screams like a freight train”, and fire and water are raging out of control, it conjures up memories of the margarine commercial where mother nature says, just before she unleashes her fury, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”. When Mother Nature is angry there is no telling what she do, and it is best to get out of her way until she calms down. [d1]   Sometimes that is not possible, and that is where Live Asset Insurance has found its place in the green revolution.