The Tea Fires that swept Santa Barbara in November burned 1,940 acres and added to California’s already record breaking 2008 year of 801,726 burned acres. Besides costing almost 6 million dollars in firefighting costs alone, the Montecito Tea Fire destroyed  230 residents homes.   Along with the homes is valuable landscaping on hundreds of properties in the area that have also been destroyed or damaged.

It has been said that it is hard to put a price tag on living things, but with situations such as the current California Wildfires, it is vitally important to replace the live assets such as landscaping that was damaged in the Tea Fires.

We are very happy to see our partners, Horticultural Asset Management (HMI), are working side by side with the wildfire recovery effort and providing Tea Fire support.  We wish that more folks in the wildfire zones had been part of our Live Asset Insurance Programs for wildfire protection.

HMI has issued a press release outlining their unique role as valuation experts for plant material destroyed in the most recent California wildfires.

It’s a great example of how we, as a society and even as part of the insurance industry, cannot continue to ignore landscaping and other plant life as valuable and as necessary to natural disasters.  This sentence alone, speaks volumes;

“HMI was also able to provide emergency solutions for damaged landscaping and erosion protection, which is critical in the Santa Barbara area, due to the fact that the plant material located on hillsides is what stabilizes the earth and prevents mudslides.”

Please read HMI Supports Claims Efforts Following Recent Wildfires in California over at Insurance Newsnet.com

The press release highlights HMI’s “post damage” claim settling expertise. Their real value, however, was apparent to us a long time ago as “pre claim” experts. They provide both services to Live Asset Insurance.

Live Asset Insurance discovered HMI over a year and a half ago when I typed “money grows on trees” into a search engine and they popped up. Doug Cowles the CEO and I instantly saw the potential of marrying our services together, to provide a seamless solution to a “significant market need”. We located an Insurance Company that agreed with our vision, and together we created a protection program that includes inspections; to determine the plant condition, and valuations; to determine the replacement cost of the plant material, and insurance; so we could properly protect them like any other valuable asset.  Even in situations such as the California Tea Fires. Live Asset Insurance is proud of the work HMI performs, and we are very proud to have them exclusively support our Live Asset Insurance program.

Flood zones: love them or hate them, it doesn’t matter, you live in one. But what does it really mean to live in a flood zone? How are they determined? What is the difference between zone A and zone X? Do you really need flood insurance? Without getting too detailed, let’s visit some key areas in the “wet and wild” flood insurance world to answer three important questions: how are flood zones determined, what do the different zones mean, and most importantly, are you covered?

Flood zones are defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). They describe a specific area of land in terms of its flood risk. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) then uses these different FEMA flood zones to determine one’s risk. However, different zones indicate different levels of risk and have a direct impact on lender’s flood insurance requirements.

Understanding the phrase ”major flood” is vital in comprehending how the flood insurance industry functions. A major flood is defined as “a flood with a 1% annual chance of occurring.” In other words, there is a 1% chance of a 100 year flood occuring every year. A 100 year flood describes the peak stream height above normal levels a stream, lake, river, etc. would reach, which statistically, is supposed to occur once every 100 years. This is determined by the recurrence interval, a tool used to predict the probability and severity of floods in any given year. That’s everything you need to know about flooding in the context of flood insurance but to understand more on flooding, please view this website.   More on floods

Low-to-moderate risk zones are defined as having minimal exposure to major flooding.  These zones are Zones B, C, and X. These zones include all areas outside the 1% annual flood risk floodplain. Hence, these areas are outside the 100 year floodplain. In these areas lenders don’t require property owners to carry flood insurance. 

High-risk zones are categorized into zones A and V with numerous subdivisions in each zone. The zone A’s include all areas with a 1%, or greater, annual flood risk. In other words, areas that are located within the floodplain of a 100 year flood are zone A. The zone V’s include the same type of areas, but with the additonal hazard of storm waves. In these zones, all property owners are required to obtain flood insurance in order to get a loan from a federally regulated lender.

Live Asset Insurance offers flood insurance in low-to-moderate risk zones but not in high-risk zones. But how do you know if you need flood insurance? There are many variables to consider when making this decision. At the same time, many policies are very vague at explaining what exactly does flood insurance protect. To more thoroughly investigate whether or not you need flood insurance you can visit the NFIP website or call your local insurance broker who can help you determine your flood zone.

Surprise! This year there’s an estimated record number of natural catastrophes predicted to occur in the United States. It seems this is becoming old news. Summer arrives with twenty some odd large Atlantic storms, 12-16 becoming hurricanes, and 6-8 expected to make landfall causing “significant damage”. At the same time, the forecasts are proving to be accurate. The number of hurricanes we’ve had in the past few years is very significant. Can’t think of any recent hurricanes? Ask somebody from New Orleans about Katrina. With potential catastrophes on the way and potential damage inevitable, what does this mean for the insurance industry?

First, according to Carl Hedde, head of risk accumulation for Munich Re America, the number of incidents in the United States will result in record losses for the industry. The number of incidents reported for the first half of 2008 (109 in total) exceeds all years dating back to 1980. The direct economic loss from natural disasters  has been $8.1 billion from thunderstorms and $30 billion from wildfires in 2008 alone. www.propertyandcasualtyinsurancenews.com

The insurance industry has openly stated global climate change is a contributing factor in causing these extreme weather patterns. They have even cited human activity as a factor for worsening the situation. Interestingly enough, however, industry experts don’t see these events inducing a “marketwide turn from soft pricing”. In other words, premiums are following a downward trend and not expected to rise! Even though a record number of losses, of both insured and uninsured property, are anticipated to occur this year the prices are going to remain relatively static or even go down. What’s wrong with this picture?

I don’t know, but understanding the cyclical nature of the business, the rebound effect will happen. When it does the prices for insurance will be ascending toward our ever-changing atmosphere. Enjoy the calm before the storm!

Anybody in the tri-state area would be able to tell you about the hectic weather we had this past June. Sweltering heat, severe thunderstorms, and everything in between wrecked havoc in our daily lives, or so it seemed. While I found myself on a quest for air conditioning one week, the following week I found myself scampering out of the rain in search of shelter. I bet many others have felt the same way I have, however, from what I have witnessed; people have not been the only ones being affected by this extreme weather.

While reading the June 18th New York Times I came across an article that discussed the tree damage in Central Park during a mid-June storm.New York Times In total, the park lost 33 trees, including a handful of trees that were three to four feet in diameter. There was a considerable amount of maple trees damaged, as well. At the same time, I saw dozens of trees down in my town of Stamford, CT. I even had to change driving routes three times one night due to road blockades as a result of fallen trees! However, the extreme weather damage in the tri-state region paled by comparison to nationwide events.

Flooding in the Midwest dominated the news; displaced thousands, and will end up costing billions of dollars. According to a study done at Ball State University the total crop damage could reach $2.7 billion. The following week, it was the ballooned Mississippi River that we saw all over the news. On June 19th CNN.com reported that eleven levees, both natural levees and man-made, on the Mississippi have been breached around St. Louis. The number of overflowed levees was up to twenty in Iowa and Missouri alone. CNN.com The damage caused by the flooding of the Mississippi had already ruined 25,000 acres of crop in Adams County, Illinois, while flooding in Oakville, Iowa, covered over 20 square miles of crop fields.

While the trees lost in Central Park were miniscule in dollar value to the crops lost in the Midwest, each loss could have been remedied through Live Asset Insurance. For example, the trees in Central Park could have been insured and replaced with replacement trees of the same size and species. Crops lost from flooding in the Midwest could have been replaced as long as they were inventories insured under our live asset policy.

The trees in Central Park are gone and farmers in the Midwest are left to rely on their Federal Crop Insurance policy. However, they are going to suffer greatly due to its high deductibles and nominal protection. With Live Asset Insurance, the covered live asset would be subject to replacement from the tornadoes and flooding. The trees in Central Park could be replaced, along with the covered crops in the Midwest. Unfortunately, they are lost forever.

While Live Asset Insurance is not yet available nationwide, these natural disasters show how a catastrophic loss can effect the lives of so many. Don’t get caught in Mother Nature’s crossfire! Protect your important live assets.

I don’t think anyone is ever ready to handle what Mother Nature will do if she gets angry and decides to let loose. It also doesn’t make it easier when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces that they are laying odds from 60% to 70% that there will be 12 to 16 named storms, with a 90% chance of a “near normal or above normal hurricane” season this year for the Atlantic Basin.

Hurricane season, officially from June 1st to November 30th, happens to coincide perfectly with the growing season.

The American Nursery and Landscape Association, which represents growers, greenhouses and landscapers nationally, is collectively growing more anxious about significant weather events. Many of their members have suffered dramatically from recent freeze, wind and hail losses. Now hurricanes loom on the horizon.

With almost certain landfall potential for these predicted storms, there will be significant losses for hundreds of thousands of residents in coastal areas. For families that earn their living from the land; such as farms, nurseries, greenhouse, golf courses, vineyards, orchards, etc, these whirlwinds of disaster can do more than damage homes. Even a weaker hurricane has the potential to economically destroy the very foundation from which they have built their lives.

Live Asset Insurance can’t stop the wind, but it can help you rebuild after a loss happens. Enthusiastically endorsed by the ANLA, our policy provides important coverage for wind, flood, freeze, fire, hail, and other named perils associated with these nasty weather events. Our policy could be just the “hedge” you and your family need to beat the odds.

Our “natural disaster” insurance policy, called Live Asset Insurance, will respond when Hurricanes and Mother Nature destroys “live asset” inventory; field grown, containerized or greenhouse grown plant material.

If you are a golf course with signature trees, this policy is the only one of its kind in the nation that will respond with replacing your trees with the same like, kind and quality. We also include debris removal.

The beauty of the policy is that it can be used as a stand alone policy; covering all trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers, or, as a supplemental policy; used to fill the coverage gaps or vacancies in the government crop insurance policy. This makes us uniquely positioned to help protect the Green Industry in ways never commercially available before from a private insurance source.

If someone has purchased a “Catastrophic” Crop Insurance Policy, it only covers approximately 25% of the total exposure.

Live Asset Insurance can provide 75% coverage to eliminate that portion that is self insured. The same scenario applies for those who have bought the governments increased or “buy up” limits. The government’s crop insurance policy is a subsidized, taxpayer supported program and 100% coverage is unavailable. The most anyone can purchase is approximately 75% coverage. We can provide coverage for the remaining 25% for near complete coverage.

This 1/4 coverage gap may not seem like a big deal, but when you are talking about 10 million or more at risk from a storm, and a quarter of that will have to come directly out of the owner’s pocket before the other policy even responds, then that gap becomes a 2.5 million dollar deal breaker. Even for a much smaller investment, a great portion of people cannot fork over the first 75% of any loss and then wait to get the other 25% back. Not when they have no way of earning income while they dig out of storm rubble and floods, it’s just too much.

No one can stop a hurricane or the damage they bring, but together we can minimize the long term effects of their losses and try to make it right again.

Almost 100 years ago, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, one of the countries’s first true risk management firms offered information and expertise about risk and how to avoid it, minimize it or transfer it. It is that same firm that is again leading the way with the exciting and revolutionary Live Asset Insurance program for the Green Revolution of today. This progressive and forward thinking behavior is why The JLS Group, Inc. is the proud parent company of Live Asset aiming to provide solutions for another 100 years.

We do best when we work with what nature intended us to be. Farmers and growers stick to their roots, and wait for things to grow organically, relying on nature and the elements as they have for centuries. Hurricanes have no choice, but to do what they were created to do and they are natural disasters, made to destroy. The hurricanes will come this season and the two will clash, but JLS and Live Assets are also doing what comes naturally to us as well: We have created the perfect risk management solution again.

So let the winds and rains of the hurricanes come; Live Asset Insurance will allow you to rest easier.