Although the events that trigger winter claims take place duringthe winter months, most insurance companies deal with themthroughout the year. Some winter claims focus on a specific winterweather event that triggered the loss, but many also revolve arounddamaging conditions that occur throughout the whole season. Claimsmay also be just days or weeks old, but in some cases, they requireanalysis for winter weather events that could be 10-15 years old.In any case, determining the exact conditions that existed at thetime and specific location of the loss is crucial to properlymanaging winter weather claims.

Winter weather claims generally can be broken down into thefollowing categories: slip-and-fall cases, motor vehicle accidents,property damage, roof and building collapse, frozen and burstpipes, personal injury, pedestrian accidents, and water intrusion.Slip-and-fall cases account for approximately 64 percent of allwinter weather claims. Winter motor vehicle accidents account for12 percent, and the other six types of cases range fromthree-to-five percent of the remaining 24 percent of all wintercases.

Slip-and-Fall Cases

Slip-and-fall cases can occur anywhere. That includes outside ofa building or inside from tracked in, blown-in, or leaked-in winterprecipitation, which is common for injuries in buildings, lobbies,and restaurants. Many slip-and-fall injuries occur in the winter onsurfaces such as wood decks, cement or slate stairs, stone or brickwalkways, and other different types of building materials. Theyalso may occur in places such as playgrounds, rooftops, or gyms. Insome cases, a weather analysis is used to prove that the cause wasfrom winter weather; in other cases, it is used to prove that thecause was not a result of winter weather. Either way, asite-specific analysis for the exact time and place of the loss isthe best way to properly analyze and document the conditionspertinent to the claim.

When managing a winter slip-and-fall case, adjusters should seeka site-specific analysis that covers the day of loss and a minimumof two days prior (two-to-six days prior to the loss is the averageneeded for most reports). For the period in question, any winterslip-and-fall analyses should include the following: allprecipitation (type, amount, start and stop times) andtemperatures. Other conditions to consider are pre-existing snow orice prior to the event, new snow on top of ice, and freeze, melt,and re-freeze scenarios.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Winter motor vehicle accidents are very similar to slip-and-fallcases, except for consideration of visibility factors. In this typeof case, damage or injury is caused by a motor vehicle whose normaloperation has been affected by winter weather. Sometimes the causeis an event in progress; other times, the cause is from conditionsfrom a recent past event. In cases where fraud or credibility mayneed to be determined, a site-specific weather analysis is a goodtool for this purpose.

Some of the more unique motor vehicle accident cases involvesnow or ice crashing down onto a roadway from an overpass, tree,wires, or a bridge. “White-out” conditions also are something toconsider. These conditions are found during a snowstorm when highwinds are present. High winds also may blow snow across a roadway,causing low visibility conditions, debris on a roadway, or evenunexpected lane shifts by motor vehicles. Still, the mainconditions for most winter motor vehicle accidents remain snow,ice, and poor visibility.

Property Damage

Winter weather-related property damage is a very broad topicthat covers damage to such items as dwellings, structures,roadways, cars, trucks, equipment, trees, wires, and pipes.Combinations of storm damage, wind damage, weight or load damage,and exposure damage all are very common situations that can affectand damage physical property during the winter. Wind damage is verycommon in situations of fallen trees or limbs, downed power lines,blowing debris, equipment damage, structural damage, and roofdamage. Load damage from accumulated snow and ice also may causesimilar failures. Damage from exposure or extreme wintertemperatures can cause damage to underground pipes, undergroundcables, exposed pipes or wiring during construction, exposedstructures during renovation or construction, or in situationswhere heating is inadequate or faulty. Blizzard conditionsgenerally cause property damage due to the weight of the snowcombined with the force of the high winds.

When dealing with a roof or building collapse due to winterweather, the weight of the accumulated winter precipitation isgenerally the factor that needs to be determined. In most of thesecases, an engineer is needed to apply weather data to structuraldata in order to determine the actual cause of the loss. In new orrecently serviced structures, construction defects also may be afactor to consider. In older structures, age may affect the abilityto withstand severe or even normal winter conditions.

When managing a winter property damage claim, it is recommendedthat either a comprehensive storm study or a full winter-weatheranalysis be conducted for the exact point of loss, depending on thetype of claim and whether the damage that occurred was from asingle, identifiable event or from damage that occurred overtime.

Personal Injury and Other Claims

Winter weather personal injury claims usually revolve aroundcases where a death has occurred. Liability cases generally need todetermine whether death was from natural causes or from exposure towinter elements. Temperature is a big factor in these types ofcases, as is wind chill. Wind chill only applies to people, though,not intangible objects. People can be injured in the winter fromexposure while outside, or from the inside when heating isdefective or insufficient.

Claims for frozen or burst pipes are very common in the winter.Compared to other types of winter claims, these are relativelystraightforward to investigate and determine cause. One commonmistake made when dealing with frozen or burst pipes is to considerthe wind chill factor. As previously mentioned, wind chill onlyapplies to people, not intangible items such as pipes.

Another winter weather claim involves pedestrians and motorvehicles. Pedestrians who don't properly use a walkway or sidewalkas a result of snow or ice coverage, pedestrians walking in thestreet due to obstructed sidewalks, and pedestrians stepping inpotholes or puddles are quite common scenarios. Many times,visibility is an element in these cases because low visibilityconditions make it difficult or impossible for a driver topedestrians who are not where they normally should be.

Water intrusion is an odd claim, but a fairly common situationin the winter. Water intrusion is a situation resulting from snowand ice accumulations on the roof of a building. Due to ice dams,faulty gutters, drainage, or shingles, melting water from the roofenters the building and causes damage to walls, ceilings, orfloors. Generally, this is a result of either too much snow or icecollecting on a roof combined with temperatures that are too coldto allow normal melting and drainage. Many of these claims requirean investigation to place blame. Many water intrusion claims areresult of construction defects.

Winter weather claims need to be investigated and documentedproperly to avoid unnecessary payouts by insurance companies. Usingsite-specific weather reports will provide the best informationavailable, which can result in cost savings on your winterweather-related claims. It is important to realize that asite-specific analysis and interpretation by a trained andexperienced forensic meteorologist is required to pinpoint theexact conditions for the specific point of loss. There are no websites or Internet resources that can do this for you. The onlyinformation available publicly on the web is airport weather data,and that is only useful for cases or claims taking place at anairport. Insurance professionals and attorneys can save tremendoustime, money, and resources by properly investigating anddocumenting winter weather claims.

Jess Hurwitz is the director of sales and businessdevelopment for CompuWeather, Inc. More information is available atwww.compuweather.com.