Within These Walls

Provided by Willis North America

Protect your facility over Thanksgiving and Winter Break

What is the damage?

• Freeze, water damage and vandalism claims are the most frequent occuring claims from November through January.

Why did this happen?

• Chapter members turned off the heat thinking they would save some money.
• The pilot light on the furnance blew out.
• No one was in charge of checking on the house over the holiday breaks.
• The chapter house was not securely locked making it an attractive target to vandals and thieves.

No one got hurt, what is the problem?

• Chapter members return from Thanksgiving and/or Winter break to a mess, or worse yet, no place to live because of the significant extend of damage.
• A significant deductible is incurred, causing further strain to an already stretched budget.
• Property premiums increase, because of these claims, which every member helps to pay.

How do we prevent this from happening?

• Turn the heat down to no less than 60 degrees, don’t turn the heat off.
• Have a house corporation officer or undergraduate member stop by the house daily to make certain the house is secure, there has not been a loss and the heat is working.
• Spend a little money to save a lot of money not mention avoid a hassle.
  • Have the furnance or boiler serviced this fall.
  • Fix all broken windows.
  • If a local undergraduate or alumnus can’t be counted on to check the house, hire someone to do it for you over the break.
• Call your heating contractor immediately if there is a problem with the furnace and take immediate action to prevent further damage.

It is important to also be aware of your outside property. To help reduce the risk of injuries of members, guests, or other people just passing by your house, make sure that snow is removed and ice is treated in a timely fashion.

During the winter of 2008-2009 (November-January), 49 claims were reported under the FPMA (Fraternal Property Management Association) property insurance policy resulting in over $3,000,000 in claim payments.

In many cases, the extent of the damage was exacerbated resulting from little to no oversight of the facility over the extended winter break. In one case, a facility was not inspected regularly during the break period. A passerby noticed water pouring out the front door from a leak on the second floor. Damage totaled more than $300,000 and would likely have been significantly less had the problem been identified earlier. In another case, the heat was turned off in a chapter house locted in a part of the country where the weather does not typically dip below the freezing mark. Unfortunately for this chapter, the weather became unusually cold, leading to frozen pipes and water damgage. There was no insurance coverage for this claim, as the owners failed to maintain heat in the building.

Article was originally published on Within These Walls on November 20, 2009