The Agents Approach To Mold
By Mark E. Ruquet
Independent agents facing questions from clients about what to do when faced with mold questions need to do one important thing. They need to become educated on mold, advises Mark Hodgson, a director with Clayton Group Services, an environmental consulting firm in Edison, N.J.
"That is one big thing that I find. Underwriters and adjusters are caught off guard when it comes to dealing with mold," said Mr. Hodgson. "They are not getting solid, reliable sources of information."
One thing that everyone involved with the issue must remember is that "mold is always linked to moisture incursion into the property," he said. Therefore, an agent needs to encourage the insured to have a moisture and water control in place, he said.
Not understanding the conditions under which mold grows allows problems that could be minor to "blow up" into very expensive remediation programs, he said.
The insured needs to know who to call to begin an effective remediation plan, he said, noting that there are carrier-approved vendors, professional companies and investigators who can take care of a situation before it "turns into a disaster."
Another issue that leads to an aggravation of the problem is slow response, he said. Typically, conditions where mold could grow should be dealt with within 48 hours. The policyholder should have a disaster plan in place to respond to the situation and keep moisture out.
"Plan for a disaster and if it does not happen, be happy. And if it does, you will know what to do," Mr. Hodgson said.
Recently, the Insurance Brokers & Agents of the West, based in Oakland, Calif., announced a series of seminars on the subject that will be offered through November. The courses, offered by Insurance Skills Center of Huntington Beach, Calif., cover liability and legal issues. They are also approved for continuing education credit in California and the state of Washington.
More information is available at www.insuranceskillscenter.com.
"If you know what you are doing, it is relatively easy and straightforward to know the cost of dealing with this problem before it runs into ridiculous amounts of money," Mr. Hodgson said.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Edition, February 17, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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