Prepare for an Active Hurricane Season by Strengthening Your Property & Limiting the Potential for Damage

CHICAGO - National Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 5-11) serves as an important reminder for consumers to take action to protect their homes and prepare their finances before the start of hurricane season on June 1. With forecasters at Colorado State University predicting a very active hurricane season ahead, it is critically important for residents of hurricane-prone states to take steps to strengthen their property against potential hurricane damage. Limiting the potential for damage and reducing losses from natural disasters is critical to improving the affordability and availability of insurance long-term, says the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA).

"An active and costly hurricane season could exacerbate the challenges that many policyholders across the U.S., but particularly in disaster-prone regions like the hurricane coastline, face with rising insurance costs and availability challenges," says Michael Richmond-Crum, director of personal lines at APCIA. "This is why it is so important for residents to take steps to reduce the potential for damage to their property. To help make insurance more affordable and available long-term, we must all work together to increase our resiliency and reduce losses from severe weather."

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has developed scientifically proven standards that enable homes and businesses to withstand increasingly severe storms, including specific upgrades that exceed most current building codes. "Strengthened building codes are critical to improving resilience against natural perils. More homes and communities in hurricane-prone states can and should be strengthened to be more resilient," continued Richmond-Crum.

Many insurers offer discounts for mitigation measures that help reduce the likelihood of a loss or the extent of damage. Discounts vary by company, so policyholders should talk to their insurer or agent to see what discounts are available.

According to Aon, insurers incurred a record $381 billion in natural catastrophe losses over the last four years, the highest ever four-year total for U.S. insurers.In 2023 alone, the U.S. experienced 28 separate billion-dollar-plus weather events, which surpassed the previous record of 22 events seen in 2020 (source: NOAA). The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters is exacerbated by the rapid population growth in areas that are disaster prone, such as the hurricane-prone coastline.

Not only are more homes being built in areas that are at high-risk for natural disasters, but these homes are increasingly more expensive to repair and rebuild. In the last five years, construction labor has increased 38.4 percent while building materials are up nearly 37.8 percent. "Policyholders can safeguard against being underinsured after a natural disaster by reviewing their insurance policy to make sure their policy is keeping pace with inflation and elevated building costs," added Richmond-Crum.

Take the following steps to be more prepared for hurricane season:

1. Strengthen your home against hurricane damage.Start by checking around your home or business and trimming back any nearby branches or trees, especially ones that hang over or close to your home. Additionally, inspect the roof and repair any loose or damaged shingles, secure loose gutters, and seal gaps and cracks around windows and doors to prevent water intrusion. Installing a wind-rated garage door or hurricane shutters and upgrading the home to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety's FORTIFIEDconstruction standard are additional measures to consider.
2. Review and update your homeowners insurance policyto ensure you have an appropriate amount of coverage to recover if your property is damaged. Ask if your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value. Actual cash value takes depreciation into account and replacement cost is the amount necessary to rebuild your home with materials of like kind and quality. Consider adding key additional coverages, such as automatic inflation guard, extended replacement cost, and building code/ordinance coverage.
3. Make a home inventoryusing your cell phone to take pictures and videos of your home and your home's contents.
4. Gather copies of your home, auto, and flood insurance policiesand keep them in a safe, accessible place.
5. Save your insurer's contact infoto your phone's contacts so you can easily and quickly start the claims process if your home is damaged.