fire and smoke damage mitigation

Fire and Smoke Damage Mitigation

A Moment of Silence….

Mitigation?

• Consists of two segments.–What can be done before the claim to lessen

severity.–What can be done after the loss to stop

secondary damage and lessen severity.

05101520253035404550

hail49.3%

water40.3%

fire5.7%

other4.7%

Insurance Claims Types

Less Claims

• It’s only 5.7%• Approximately 18 Billion in residential losses

in 2006.

The largest %

• Inattentive Behavior– Children– Candles– Holidays• Thanksgiving• Christmas• 4th of July

Result

The Fire Department

Goals and Concerns1) Save Lives2) Protect Surrounding Properties3) Save this property4) Contents

Mitigation

• To make less severe.– Psychological damage.– Smoke damage.– Fire/Burn/Combustion.– Physical hazards.– Hazmats.– Open files.– Poor loss ratios.– Lost clients.

Psychological Damage

After an emergency we all tend to get a bit lost. Most of us will never have to live through a fire but we’ve all been touched by some kind of disaster and understand how hard it is to focus after a terrible thing has happened. Every insurance professional should be working towards helping make the policyholder whole in every sense of the word.

Smoke Damage

Air volume doubles for every 10 degree rise in temperature.

As the heat increases the pores in materials open and smoke/odor molecules are driven into surfaces.

Fire/Burn/Combustion

Two types of fires.- Simple- Complex

Two types of burns.- Chemical- Heat

Two types of combustion.- Complete- Incomplete

Physical hazards

Are there holes burned in the floor? Are the overhead rafters still structurally sound? Is the floor wet and slippery? Is the fire still smoldering? Did anything burn that may cause contaminants?

Hazmats

What burned?Plastics and other materials that are

commonly found have toxic fumes.

What's in your house?

Open Files

An adjusters perspective:Adjusters are bombarded by new

claims on a daily basis. There are approximately 17,000

claims per day in the US.That’s 340 claims per day/per State.

Poor Loss Ratios

Everyone perspective:If loss ratios are not balanced

everyone in the system ends up losing. Carriers won’t be profitable. Agencies will lose money. Adjusters will have to re-examine files. Policy holders will pay increased premiums.

Lost Clients

The agents perspective:What does the policy holder buy?

When do you loss policies?

How do you avoid it?

Factors of Fire Mitigation

• Time

• Humidity

• Temperature/pressure

• Type of combustion materials.

At Risk Surfaces

• Metal and glass surfaces

• Faucets• Towel bars• Aluminum window

frames

• Chrome trim• Marble• Porcelain• Tile/Grout• China• Crystal.

Emergency Cleaning

Also called a pre-clean.

The goal:Neutralize the acid residue• Use A Surfactant Agent• Or Cooking OilProtect surfaces and reduce claim costs.

Wall Coverings and Smoke Mitigation

• Test cleaning or you might “set” the soot permanently!

• The famous “chem sponge”

Tools of the Trade

Ultrasonic Cleaners

• Mild cleaning solution agitated with sound waves in a tank. Used to clean non-porous and/or delicate items.– Jewelry.– Ceramics.– Computer equipment.

Dry Ice Blasting

• Similar to sand, aggregate or water blasting but can be very delicate.– Furniture.– Glass.– Paper.– Structure.

National Claims Assignment Center: 1-888-4-PDR-NOW

Ozone Generators

• Used to remove odors. Normally items are stored in a sealed room with ozone generator.– Not safe for natural rubber.

National Claims Assignment Center: 1-888-4-PDR-NOW

VaporTek

• This unit uses the Vaportek patented essential oil membranes to release non-toxic, odor-neutralizing dry vapor into the air.

Thermal Foggers

• Used to cover odors in areas and on items.

Air Scrubber

• Air scrubbers are used to remove particles in the air. They are HEPA filtering devices.

ResourcesIICRC - http://www.iicrc.org/

ACGIH - http://www.acgih.org/home.htm

ASCR - http://www.ascr.org/

OSHA - http://www.osha.gov/

EPA - http://www.epa.gov/

NAHB - http://www.nahb.org/

Your Local Paul Davis Representative!

Questions?

National Claims Assignment Center: 1-888-4-PDR-NOW

Thank You For Coming!

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