For those of us living in North Carolina, earthquakes are generally thought of as an overseas or perhaps a west coast phenomenon.  We have just not had much experience here in our lifetimes with earthquakes and the types of damages they can inflict on our society.  But this year and last year mark the 200^th anniversary of the strongest earthquakes ever to occur in the continental United States.   And those earthquakes shook the entire East Coast from Missouri to New England.

In 1811 and 1812, three earthquakes on the New Madrid fault line were estimated at magnitudes above 8.0.  These shocks were so strong that the mighty Mississippi river actually reversed course and flowed north for a time.  Most of the loss of life occurred on the river where boats were capsized by the huge waves created by these quakes.  Most of the damages occurred to crops where entire fields were churned to soup and rock falls buried fields.  The aftershocks went on for several years.  But without the complicated and intricate infrastructure of our time there were no great fires and no huge loss of life figures to keep these earthquakes fresh in our memories.

The New Madrid fault line runs in the vicinity of St. Louis to Memphis but due to the nature of the subterranean rock on the east coast, tremors and shocks from New Madrid are felt for thousands of miles.  In 1811 the New Madrid earthquake is said to have rung church bells in Boston.  For this reason, those of us living in North Carolina are more threatened by this fault line than most of us think. 

Experts now estimate that an earthquake registering an 8.0 or higher would likely leave behind damages well above $100 billion.  Yes, that is billion with a B.  Here in the east we simply have not built or prepared for earthquakes in the same way as has been done in California and Alaska where more recent earthquakes have occurred.   And worse still, most of those losses would be uninsured losses so recovery would be much slower and less efficient.

What does this mean for you?  The first thing you should consider is that your North Carolina homeowners policy does not include protection for you from earthquakes.  The same is true for those of you who own commercial property insured by the standard businessowners or commercial property insurance policies.  If you own other homes that you rent to others, then you should understand that the standard dwelling fire insurance form also does not include earthquake as a covered peril.  Imagine trying to borrow money to rebuild your home and having to compete with almost every other citizen doing the same thing.

In almost all cases though, you should be able to add earthquake coverage to your existing NC property insurance policies whether for your home, your rental houses or your commercial property.  Earthquake coverage is generally more expensive for homes and buildings that are of masonry or brick veneer construction because those types of structures don’t flex as well with the shaking ground and usually result in greater damage.  Also, be aware that many earthquake endorsements will have their own deductibles, some employing a deductible that is based on some percentage of the total damage caused to your property by the tremblor.

We are currently sitting on the 200 year anniversary since a major earthquake in the New Madrid fault.  While some people might look at this and think it means that we are pretty safe, most seismologists will tell you that it is just a matter of time before the earth moves under New Madrid again and that we are all becoming more vulnerable and unprepared for this type of disaster with each year  that passes.   If you would like help protecting your home or business from earthquake risk, please call our office, toll free at 877-687-7557 or visit us on the web at www.ClinardInsurance.com.

If you have followed my blog in the past you know that I believe that workers compensation insurance is a different animal in the insurance world and that your best course of action when shopping for workers compensation insurance is to choose an insurance company that specializes in this type of insurance coverage.  One reason for this is that with their expertise and understanding of this insurance product they can reduce claims costs, get you employees back to work sooner and usually provide you with a lower rate, all at the same time.  These features all work together and the synergy of this arrangement manifests itself in lower rates for you in the short run and in the long run.    In this blog I want to get into a bit more detail about what these extra services are and why they will cut your claims costs and save you money on your workers compensation insurance rates.  That way, if you are considering one of these insurance companies for your business, you will know which questions to ask as not all of these specialty companies are created equally.

Let’s start by talking about the in depth medical bill review process that many of the specialty insurance carriers have adopted.  Many have found that there are huge savings to be found simply by reviewing and challenging the medical billing process.  Applying national guidelines for coding edits can often reveal huge savings by stopping some of the catch all codes that have inaccurate billing items included in them.  One insurance company recently reported that unbundling overcharges found by in house bill reviews saved 49.8% on the medical costs of injuries.  Applying medical limits and rulings to fees generated savings of 38.46% on fee schedules.    Verifying the diagnosis according to medical records and examining medical records to ensure bill coding accuracy saved additional money on the medical portion of claims.

But what are some other techniques that have been successful in reducing the costs of workers compensation claims?  Online notice of injury and fast claims reporting has also reduced the severity of claims significantly.  Individually assigned claims adjusters for each employer has not only helped to reduce the costs of ongoing claims but has been beneficial in helping the employer prevent accidents and injuries.  Also, proactive return to work programs that get the employee back to work in some kind of capacity sooner have proven to save the employer money both in terms of claims costs but in down time and replacement worker costs and this leads to the injured employee returning to work full time much more quickly.    Last of all, many of the workers compensation only insurance companies have highly trained and very experienced special investigation units.  These units investigate possible fraudulent claims to control unnecessary expenses associated with these kinds of claims.

Many employers who stumble on to a mono-line workers compensation insurance company to protect their business may only see the lower price on the front end.  But the true value of these types of insurance companies to an employer is in the techniques and training that they have to help reduce the frequency and severity of claims as well as to reduce the costs of a claim once it happens.  If you would like help with your workers compensation insurance policy, please feel free to call us, toll free, at 877-687-7557.  We look forward to hearing from you!