Kadi Quinn

Dear Valued Clients:

In the event of a major hurricane and mandatory evacuation, our agents will also be seeking shelter from the storm with their families and loved ones. Below is a list of the direct phone numbers for our most popular personal lines insurance carriers. The carrier’s claim number can also be found on your declarations page. Please call as soon as you suspect damage to get in the wait line for an adjustor to call you as there will be a significant claim volume.  Upon our return to the office, we will be able to file these claims for you.

Please stay safe and know that we will be back as soon as reasonably safe to help our clients through this catastrophe.

The Aftermath

Sincerely,

Your Agents at McKay Insurance, INC

While we have been lucky to avoid a direct impact from Hurricane Irma, there is much to be prepared for tomorrow especially between the hours of 10am and 3pm. A 4 to 6 foot storm surge is expected in our area coming at a time of an unusually high tide. Couple that with the rainfall and this is a recipe for disaster in many of the coastal areas  and areas already susceptible to flooding in Charleston. Below is a link to find how a 4 to 6 foot inundation will effect your property.

https://coast.noaa.gov/slr/#/layer/slr

FLOOD CLAIMS INFORMATION

The National Flood Insurance Program outlines the steps you should take if you sustain flood damage to you property on their website. These steps are as follows. First file a claim. While waiting for the adjuster to come to your property to inspect the damage, prepare by:

“Before entering, make sure it’s safe to re-enter the building.

Take as many photos and or videos of your flood-damaged property both on the outside and the inside of the building and label them, by room, before you remove anything–including items of exceptional value. For items like washers & dryers, hot water heaters, kitchen appliances, televisions, and computers, make sure you take a photograph of the make, model, and serial number. This information should be provided to the adjuster.

Remove your flood damaged items:

1. For your building items (e.g., flooring), retain samples such as carpet, wallpaper, and drapes for your adjuster’s inspection.
2. For your personal property items, separate the damaged from undamaged items for your adjuster’s inspection.

• Immediately throw away flooded content items that pose a health risk, such as perishable food items, clothing, cushions, pillows, etc. after photographing them.
• Confirm your available NFIP coverage. Some policyholders may only have building or contents (personal property items) coverage; not both.

3. Contact repair services if the building’s electrical, water, or HVAC systems are damaged. It’s important to consult your adjuster or insurance carrier before you sign any agreement/contract with a cleaning, remediation, or maintenance contractor.

4. Contact your community building department and floodplain administrator to get information:

• Whether your property was substantially damaged;
• Tips on how to better protect or repair your home; and
• Obtaining a building permit. This is a very important thing to do so you build or repair in compliance with local ordinances.”

FILING YOUR CLAIM:

Due to the high amount of flood claims that will be placed with flood insurance carriers related to Irma, please call your provider’s claims number as soon as damage is discovered to get in line for an adjuster to contact you. Our office will be open Tuesday to help navigate your claims, but if at all possible, please get your claims in immediately and call our agency to follow up.  Flood insurance carriers most commonly used by our agency and their corresponding claims numbers can be found below. To speed up the claim filing process when calling direct please have your policy declarations page, contact information, property location address and any mortgagees listed on your policy readily available.

• Selective Insurance Company – 877-348-0552 or floodclaims@selective.com
• Assurant/American Bankers Insurance Company – 1.800.423.4403 or myfloodclaim@assurant.com
• Nationwide Flood (Formerly Harleysville Mutual Flood Insurance) – 1-800-892-8877
• Wright Flood Insurance – 1-800-725-9472 or Floodclaims@weareflood.com
• National Flood Insurance Program Direct – 800-621-FEMA (3362)

We are anxious to return safely to the office and help aid in any claims handling. Please stay safe.

In the event of damage to your property, please click the link below that outlines the steps to take. Please also check our previous post for a easy to navigate list of our personal lines carriers and their claims numbers. We are happy to take your claims when we return to the office, but with the abundance of claims that will be reported we recommend to get your claim called in immediately to get in line for an adjustor. The claims will be handled in the order the claims come in.

After a Hurricane Steps

Above all, stay safe! Your “stuff” can be repaired or replaced. You cannot!

Dear Valued Clients:

In the event of a major hurricane and mandatory evacuation, our agents will also be seeking shelter from the storm with their families and loved ones. Below is a list of the direct phone numbers for our most popular personal lines insurance carriers. The carrier’s claim number can also be found on your declarations page. Please call as soon as you suspect damage to get in the wait line for an adjustor to call you as there will be a significant claim volume.  Upon our return to the office, we will be able to file these claims for you.

Please stay safe and know that we will be back as soon as reasonably safe to help our clients through this catastrophe.

Sincerely,

Your Agents at McKay Insurance, INC

Personal Lines Company Claims Numbers:

The most common answer from clients when discussing the amount to insure their home for is “Well, I bought it for _______”. Market value has little if anything to do with the amount to insure your home. It is an indication of value when buying and selling, but not an indication of the rebuilding cost of the home in the event of a loss. Insureds may be surprised to see that the rebuilding cost or replacement cost can often be higher than the market value.
Replacement cost is the cost needed to rebuild or repair your home to its original condition. Rebuilding is often more expensive than building new for several reasons:
o Demolition work is very expensive and adds to the total cost to rebuild the home.
o Building a single home is often more expensive for a builder than building multiple homes due to the higher labor costs and material costs than purchasing in bulk.
o Natural disasters with widespread damage promote increased building costs.
o Bringing a home up to current codes can be costly, especially older homes.
o Access to the site can be hindered in the wake of a natural disaster.
The most accurate way to determine the replacement cost of your home is to hire a local building professional to produce a detailed estimate for you. It is important to hire someone locally as building costs vary greatly in different areas.
If you would like to talk more about the difference in market value vs. replacement cost and how underinsuring your home can lead to costly penalties at the time of a loss, call our office today at 843-881-2229!
Kadi M Quinn, CISR

Are You Missing Out on Substantial Wind Mitigation Credits on your Homeowners Policy?

Living in the Coastal Territories of Charleston County, insureds should always be aware of possible ways to reduce their homeowners insurance premiums. A large percentage of the annual premium for a homeowners insurance policy that is inclusive of windstorm and hail coverage is attributed to the peril of windstorm and hail. Due to the high premiums associated with windstorm and hail coverage, there are significant credits to be had on homes with certain features present that make them less vulnerable to wind and hail damage.

As per the 2007 Omnibus Coastal Property Insurance Reform Act, homeowners insurance carriers in South Carolina are required to inform customers of wind mitigation credits that can potentially be applied with acceptable proof of features present. A Wind Mitigation Form completed by a licensed contractor, architect or engineer to be submitted to the insurance carrier would determine which (if any) credits are applicable.

Some of the features that will be observed during the wind mitigation inspection are:

• Opening Protection (ex. Storm Shutters, Impact Resistant Glass on all openings, Retrofitted Garage doors, etc.)
• Roof- Deck Attachment
• Roof –To – Wall Connection (ex. Single Straps, Double Straps)
• Secondary Water Resistance (ex. If Felt or Approved layer of protection between the shingles and roof sheathing that mitigate against water damage is present)
• Shape of Roof

Of course, the professionals qualified to complete the wind mitigation forms will expect to be paid for their time and expertise. How do you know if a wind mitigation inspection is worth the money? It is hard to say with absolute certainty whether the cost of having the wind mitigation form completed will always be outweighed by the credits to be applied to your homeowners insurance policy.

A great time to get a wind mitigation form completed is when purchasing a home. The home inspector hired to inspect the property can complete the wind mitigation form during the inspection, usually for a small fee if requested and provided with the document prior to the inspection. Ask your agent for a wind mitigation form when you begin the quoting process.

If you have any questions pertaining to wind mitigation credits, one of McKay Insurance, INC.’s experienced agents would be happy to speak with you. Call our office at 843-881-2229.

Thinking of selling your home? Real Estate Agent, Stephanie Toole with the Matt O’Neill Real Estate Team, sent us the latest market information for home sales in the Lowcountry! Check out her article below.

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Midyear Sales Continue to Rise

Stephanie Toole with Matt O’Neill Real Estate Team

CHARLESTON, SC—(July 10, 2014) According to preliminary data released today by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR), 1,423 homes sold at a median price of $227,500 in June. Last June, 1,314 homes sold at a median price of $219,340 in the region.

Halfway through the year, sales and prices are up from last year. Data shows 6,613 homes have sold at the midway point for 2014 at a median sales price of $216,273. At this time last year, 6,117 homes sold in the region at a median price of $200,440 – giving the market an 8% increase in home sales and median sales price.

“We are seeing what housing experts expected – sustainable growth in closed transactions and median sales price at the year midpoint. This continues to indicate the Charleston metro housing market is on good footing and a wise investment,” said 2014 CTAR President, Corwyn Melette.

May Adjustment
Preliminary data reported for May 2014 indicated that 1,294 homes sold at a median price of $218,000. Adjusted figures now show 1,310 homes sold at a median price of $217,547.

Berkeley County
316 homes sold at a median price of $183,995 in Berkeley County in June. The most active area in the county was the North area bordered by Jedburg Road, Highway 17A and College Park, with 87 sales at a median price of $194,580.

Charleston County
In Charleston County in June, 798 homes sold at a median price of $291,000. Mount Pleasant was the most active area where 242 homes sold at a median price of $398,750, followed by West Ashley outside I-526 with 114 sales at a median price of $223,500 and James Island with 91 sales at a median price $257,310.

Dorchester County
271 homes sold at a median price of $187,900 in June in Dorchester County. The most active area was Summerville/Ridgeville, where 133 homes sold at a median price of $225,000.

The past few hurricane seasons have left some of us complacent. We have been lucky to dodge bullets in the past years, but what impact will a hurricane have on our area? A wonderful article was published in the Post and Courier on  Wednesday, March 5 of 2008. Tony Bartelme wrote the following article outlining the various categories of hurricane strength and how each will effect Charleston.

“A Category 2 hurricane would turn much of downtown Charleston and Mount Pleasant into a soggy flooded mess, according to special computer-generated maps used by emergency officials.

A Category 3 storm surge, meanwhile, would flood all but a few patches of higher ground east of the Cooper and turn Savannah Highway into Savannah Causeway.

And a Category 5? Break out the snorkels.
Wet and Wetter

View the map of which areas would flood in different hurricane-intensity scenarios.

The National Hurricane Center generates these storm surge maps using the little-known but well-named computer model called SLOSH, which stands for Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes.
Government agencies then use the SLOSH data to decide which areas to evacuate and when.
A poster of an interactive version of the model is being displayed at the federal Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference in Charleston this week. The version allows users to single out individual landmarks and get a vertical look at how deep the water would be at that landmark. The model is in development.
Hurricanes are notoriously fickle and can arrive in an infinite number of directions, speeds and tidal levels. This makes predictions of their impacts just as tricky.
Still, a SLOSH map obtained by The Post and Courier and generated for a hypothetical direct hit on Charleston provides an intriguing snapshot of how the city might fare in certain hurricane scenarios. It’s also a bit of a reality check for Hurricane Hugo veterans.
When Hugo spun into South Carolina, the storm’s sustained winds in downtown Charleston were 87 mph with a 108-mph gust, and a 10.4-foot storm surge in the harbor.
By most measures, Hugo put downtown Charleston in Category 1 and 2 conditions. It was a different story in the Francis Marion National Forest, 30 miles north of downtown. There, winds were at Category 4 levels — 130 mph and higher. The storm surge in McClellanville hit 19 feet, so high that shelter seekers in Lincoln High School nearly drowned.
Partly because of Hugo and the Lincoln High School incident, the National Hurricane Center created SLOSH to simulate storm surges for different hurricane intensities and directions, said Doug Marcy, a scientist at National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Coastal Services Center in Charleston.
The newspaper obtained SLOSH calculations for a hurricane with an eye coming in south of Kiawah Island. This reflects more of a worst-case scenario for the city because surges are higher in a storm’s northeastern quadrant.
In a Category 1 storm, a surge of 7 to 10 feet would have a relatively minor effect on the area, the calculations show.
Floodwaters would fill the area’s marshes and low-lying areas on the peninsula and the sea islands. But parts of the Isle of Palms and other barrier islands would still remain above water.
That changes dramatically in a Category 2 storm with a surge of 12 feet. In this scenario, the barrier islands all but disappear and most of downtown Charleston and James Island flood.
In Mount Pleasant, the only dry ground would be along Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, which is built on an ancient sand ridge. In this Category 2 scenario, floodwaters would begin to march into North Charleston toward Park Circle. And for the first time since it was developed, most of Daniel Island would temporarily lose its island status and become a seabed.
In Category 3 surge, most of West Ashley goes under water, along with a few specks of downtown Charleston.
In a Category 4 scenario, a 15- to 20-foot surge inundates much of Johns Island, while floodwaters on the Charleston Neck are neck deep.
A Category 5 scenario? Some parts of Charleston would be under more water than the low areas of New Orleans after Katrina.
Forecasters caution that SLOSH maps aren’t perfect. They say the calculations have a 20 percent margin of error, and they also don’t take into account tides, which could add or subtract a few feet of surge depending on a hurricane’s timing.
Still, they offer an important lesson: For much of the immediate Charleston metro area, Hugo wasn’t a worst-case scenario.
“Hugo was an awful storm but had it moved south and come in over Kiawah, we could have had 18 to 20 feet of storm surge, instead of the 10 feet we got on its backside,” Marcy said.
Reach Tony Bartelme at tbartelme@postandcourier.com or 937-5554.”