After the storm: Hurricane Ian brings out the personal side of commercial insurance
Climate and EnergyArticleFebruary 15, 2023
It was the largest and costliest disaster in the United States in 2022, and it’s estimated to impact Zurich Insurance Group to the tune of $550 million.
Hurricane Ian was also an opportunity for Zurich to be there for its customers when they most needed it.
“They need advice. They need support. They need professionals that can actually help them bring in the services that they need,” said Zurich North America CEO Kristof Terryn, who visited affected customers in Southwest Florida area after the storm.
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida on September 28, 2022, as a Category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. Areas along the coast were hit hardest with strong winds and a storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico that rose one to two stories high and spread as far as 60 miles inland. Ian caused more than 150 fatalities in the U.S., and overall damage estimates are well above $50 billion, making it one of the 10 costliest Atlantic hurricanes on record.
Terryn and other Zurich executives and Claims professionals visited customers in Fort Myers and Venice, Florida, in November. Damage from the storm was evident, though sporadic, throughout the region. It was not unusual to see one building covered in blue tarps with debris piled by the curb next to another building seemingly untouched by the ravages of Ian.
Before meeting with customers, Terryn toured some of the hardest hit coastal areas with Alex Wells, Head of U.S. Middle Market, Vince Santivasi, Head of Direct Markets, and Keith Daly, Chief Claims Officer for Zurich North America.
“Having grown up in Florida, it's always good to come home and to see the resilience of the communities,” Daly said during the visit. “We got a chance to drive through Fort Myers Beach today. The devastation right along the coastline is extensive. It's going to be, I think, years for recovery there. But as you move off the coastline you can see recovery has already started.”
“You’re only as good as your people”
Indeed, at Kane's Furniture in Fort Myers, the store was preparing to open its doors to customers in a day or two when Zurich stopped by to meet with company CEO Irwin Novack. The building sustained wind damage to the roof and water damage inside the showroom. Most of the furniture on display was spared, but the carpeting throughout had to be replaced.Inside the building, the ceilings were festooned with large plastic tubes, a makeshift air conditioning system until the building’s HVAC system is restored—because you can’t shop in Florida, even in November, without air conditioning.
Novack was eager to resume providing services to his customers, but his number one priority when the hurricane hit was his employees.
“The first concern is the people,” he said. “You're only as good as your people, and you want to make sure that they're taken care of and that they're safe. And after we ensure that is the case, we want to assess the damage, see what it's going to take to get back in business safely for our consumers, our employees, for everyone.”
Novack appreciated the visit from Zurich executives. “We have a long-term relationship with Zurich, and I believe it goes beyond the business aspect of it. It's also personal.”
“It’s really hard to understand the magnitude of an event like this if you don’t come here and really connect with our brokers and our customers to get a feel for what’s going on,” he said. “You can’t appreciate the level of devastation in the community, and this is such a core part of the community. Our ability to get in and understand this and be able to help them rebuild is really critical.”
“Culturally, we match”
There was little evidence of storm damage at Starling Buick GMC in Venice, Florida, when the Zurich entourage arrived. Hurricane Ian caused wind and water damage to the showroom, service center, collision center and carwash. Mitigation was completed throughout, except for the carwash, which was scheduled for demolition. No inventory was affected.The family-owned group of dealerships was founded in 1948 and has been working with Zurich for more than 21 years. Jack Starling operates the Venice and DeLand, Florida, locations.
“Being a Floridian, the first thing that you think of is, ‘What type of storm is it going to be?’ And you always hope that it's going to be the one that comes and passes without damage or unsafe conditions,” Starling said.
He said the dealership set up a text chain with key personnel to keep open lines of communication and, ultimately, make sure employees were safe.
“The key for us is the staff. So, our priority was making sure that everybody was safe and that everybody had power and water and had a way to get out of a bad situation if they were in one at home,” Starling said. “Then, the focus is ‘How do we get the store up and running?’ And what we want to make sure of is that we could get power and A/C and running water because what everybody needs is a place to come after an event like that.”
Vince Santivasi, Head of Direct Markets for Zurich North America, said one of the keys to Zurich’s long relationship with Starling is that “culturally, we match.”
“The first thing Jack talks about was just how much he cared about his employees,” he said. “First thing was, ‘Let's check and make sure they're OK.’ Then, ‘Let's see what we can do for our customers.’ Then, ‘Let's get back in business.’ And for us at Zurich, it’s the same way. We check to make sure our employees are OK, make sure our customers are OK.”
Starling said that as soon as the storm passed, Zurich reached out to him immediately to make sure they were safe and that they had the quickest path possible to getting back to business.
“What I appreciate about the Zurich relationship is that they know what's important to me, and what's important to me is taking care of the staff and the employees and taking care of guests,” he said.
Caring for employees and customers was a common theme during the trip to Southwest Florida.
“These are things that personally impact people, personally impact businesses,” Terryn said. “Really understanding with empathy what they go through and how we can help them through the process through better communication, by being proactive in some of the things that we tackle. I think that’s what you learn by being on the ground.”
Steve Sherin, Technical Consultant for Zurich’s Property Major Case Unit, and a Florida resident, has seen it all in his decades in the insurance industry. He understands it’s the people, not the property, that matter most.
“Behind every business is a group of individuals that, you know, their lives are upside down,” he said. “They need to keep their lives going on the right track. They need to get some sort of normality back. So that's where we come in. We're able to get things going and help insureds get back on the right track.”