Prevent, Protect, Recover

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Catastrophes are any misfortune, mishap, or failure and disasters are calamitous events, occurring suddenly and causing great loss of life, damage, or hardship (Dictionary.com). Whatever we call them, when a flood, fire, earthquake, storm or theft occurs, it can cause major financial loss.

You never know when something is going to happen, and rarely is anyone completely prepared. There are three ways, however, to help minimize the loss.

PREVENT

Though no one can completely prevent anything from ever happening, there are levels of prevention that will make your life more secure.

Smoke alarms will not stop a fire occurring, but they will serve to minimize loss by providing warning as early as possible and with it the opportunity to summon assistance – AFTER you get out of course.

An alarm system will provide a level of prevention against theft. Professional burglars know how much time they have to get in and out of a building before Police arrive. With an alarm sounding they know their time is limited, so it will reduce the number of items they’ll be able to remove from your home or business. The less professional burglars might pass by your property as they seek an easier target (one with no alarm).

PROTECT

Purchasing the proper insurance policy will help protect you against financial loss. Make sure you have an annual review with your insurance agent and discuss anything new that has happened over the previous 12 months. If you have added on a room, made major upgrades, purchased high-value or at-risk (collectables, fine art, etc.), you will most likely need to increase your insurance coverage. The intent of insurance is to get you back where you were before your disaster. The proper insurance policies will give you that vehicle. But just having insurance isn’t enough.

Make sure you understand exactly what your policy covers – and what it doesn’t, BEFORE you need to make a claim. Most policies are subject to limits and there are some over-riding insurance industry rules that affect specific items. Some of these can be found on the Insurance Council of New Zealand website on their Frequently Asked Questions page – take a look, you may be surprised.

RECOVER

One of my favourite “insurance quotes” is that “without an inventory of personal property, an insurance premium is just another bill”. This is because without a listing and photographs of your belongings, it will be extremely difficult to remember and list everything that has been stolen or destroyed. A thorough inventory will give you that information so you can file your claim quickly and maximize your claim settlement.

An inventory won’t remove the anger and outrage you’ll feel after a burglary, or the feeling of helplessness after a fire, but it will ease the time, energy and stress you will spend compiling your insurance claim. Have you created your home inventory and/or one for your business? If not, consider hiring a local inventory service provider. It'll be done quickly, professionally, and they’ll provide options to update it for you on at least an annual basis.
Once you have an inventory, make sure you have access to an off-site copy so that it does not get lost along with the rest of your possessions. Here again, a professional provider [such as Kiwi Asset Inventory Services] will include secure off-site storage in their package.

An alarm to lessen the loss, an insurance policy to protect your financials, and the inventory to allow you to file a thorough claim are the full package required to prevent, protect and recover.

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