Monthly Archives: July 2009

Smoke Damage: The Aftermath of a Fire

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According to the U.S. Fire Administration, in 2007 alone, there were an estimated 530,500 structure fires in the United States, resulting in a direct loss of more than $10.5 million.

Fire-related damage and loss can leave a family homeless or a business bankrupt if insurance coverage is not obtained. Even with complete fire insurance coverage, however, smoke damage can put a huge dent in out-of-pocket expenses.

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According to Shay Kalmanovich, CEO of 911 Restoration, a certified mold, water and smoke damage restoration company:

Smoke often finds its way through plumbing systems, using holes around pipes, ventilation systems and heating and cooling systems, to move from floor to floor, damaging the equipment throughout a home or building. Items salvaged after a fire have the potential to be more damaged from the smoke rather than the fire.

After contacting your insurance agency following a fire, Kalmanovich recommends families and business owners keep the following in mind:

  • Adjusters should come within one week to take photographs and assign a restoration company by the second week.
  • It is very important to take your own photos of everything.
  • There are two types of fires in the insurance world, “in-house” and “disaster.
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    ” In-house fires are usually limited to a single home or business while disasters affect many. Find out what kind of fire coverage is appropriate to your situation and then make sure your insurance company or a government agency will cover the costs of your damage.

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  • Your insurance coverage should include coverage for both the structure — walls, carpet, cabinets, fixtures, air conditioner (anything you can’t pick up and take with you) — and personal property (all of your personal belongings).

The Institute for Business and Home Safety has a very informative and continuously updated Disaster Safety Blog, which not only provides pertinent information on fire safety and insurance issues, but other natural and not-so-natural disasters as well.

fire damage

Storm Summary #2

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Welcome to the second “Storm Summary” post of the hurricane season.

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 Each Friday from now until the official end of the season (November 30) I will post an update on past and present storms, like the following:

NAME PEAK STATUS DATE LOCATION DAMAGE
Ana TD 28-May Mid Atlantic None
Blanca TS 7/6 to 7/8 East Pacific None
Carlos Cat. 2 7/10 to 7/16 East Pacific None
Dolores TS 7/15 to 7/17 East Pacific None

In another interesting development, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced the arrival of El Niño, which is “the periodic warming of central and eastern tropical Pacific waters [that] occurs on average every two to five years and typically lasts about 12 months.” Although most people think of this phenomenon in negative terms for the damage it can spur on the West Coast, it is actually beneficial to the East Coast/Gulf Coast in the sense that warmer waters in the Pacific usually create conditions that suppress Atlantic hurricanes.

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Why exactly this occurs is not something I’m qualified to explain but, as I recall, it has something to do with warm and cool air mixing in a different way and creating a “wind shear” that helps prevent storms from developing. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society can probably explain it better.

NOAA breaks down some other benefits.

El Niño’s impacts depend on a variety of factors, such as intensity and extent of ocean warming, and the time of year.

Contrary to popular belief, not all effects are negative. On the positive side, El Niño can help to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity. In the United States, it typically brings beneficial winter precipitation to the arid Southwest, less wintry weather across the North, and a reduced risk of Florida wildfires.

El Niño’s negative impacts have included damaging winter storms in California and increased storminess across the southern United States. Some past El Niños have also produced severe flooding and mudslides in Central and South America, and drought in Indonesia.

Hopefully this will help keep the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season mild.

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For constant, up-to-date storm information, visit NOAA. And for breaking information on the insured losses the storms create, check out the Insurance Information Institute and the Insurance Services Office.

Most importantly, don’t forget to check back next Friday for our second “Storm Summary” installment.

CIT Following in the Footsteps of AIG

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Though CIT Group, a New York-based commercial lender, provides loans to only small and medium-sized businesses, it is still a major player in the lending game, a major player with some major financial troubles. And apparently, the government doesn’t think it’s big enough to qualify for a government-initiated rescue.

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Because of this, it is likely the troubled firm will file for bankruptcy tomorrow, taking away a key source of credit for thousands of U.

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S. firms. On top of that, it appears J.P. Morgan (which recently posted surprising earnings) has a stake in CIT, just as Goldman Sachs had a stake in AIG. Let’s just hope J.P. Morgan’s interest isn’t quite as big.

The Reuters blog puts it most eloquently:

The pairing of almost certain bankruptcy of the little guy lender with the blow-out earnings of Wall Street giants, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, makes a strong argument for smaller financial institutions to beef up their operations so they, too, can be too big to fail.

Trading in CIT was halted yesterday and it remains to be seen exactly how its almost-certain failure will affect J.P. Morgan and the rest of the market.

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CIT Group — big, but not big enough.

Workers Plan to Blow Up Factory

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If you’re facing unemployment and are trying to persuade your employer to ante up a payoff you feel you deserve, threatening to blow up your workplace may not be the best idea.

But for workers at New Fabris car parts plant in Chatellerault, France, it seemed like the only option.

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The workers gave a deadline of July 31 for Renault and Peugeot, the plant’s biggest clients, to pay ,000 to each of the 366 workers facing unemployment.

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Renault and Peugeot have refused to pay the workers, claiming it is not their responsibility.  So, employees have rigged up gas canisters inside and outside of the factory and are threatening to detonate unless their demands are met.

Guy Eyermann, member of the hardline CGT union that appears to be leading the protest, insisted that the battle would not be abandoned. “Are we capable of blowing up the factory? Yes we are,” he told a gathering of about 100 workers yesterday. “Renault and Peugeot have killed us.

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We want a share of the cake. They have been helped by the state.”

Government officials are skeptical as to if the canisters are actually full, but are taking the threat seriously nonetheless.