Ask Tim

Lumber Price Spike Means Your Homeowners Clients May Be Underinsured

Lumber prices are, if you'll pardon the pun, going through the roof.

Last Thursday, February 18, the price per 1,000 board feet of lumber on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange hit a record $1,004.90. By the close of trading Friday, it had retreated​ to $997.90, but this was up from $478.30 on October 29. One market watcher speaking to CNBC last week predicted another 30 to 35% increase from current prices. 

A boom in home renovation activity in the wake of state stay-at-home orders during the coronavirus pandemic has boosted demand for lumber and steel, experts report. At the same time, lumber mills expected mass job losses last spring to hurt demand, so they cut production. That coupled with other supply chain disruptions​ has combined to reduce available supplies, resulting in soaring prices.

Iron and steel costs are also rising, up more than 15% in the past year​, according to the Associated Home Builders and Contractors.

Reminder: It's Peak Hurricane Season

Lynne McChristian of the Insurance Information Institute has an important reminder today:

Peak hurricane season has arrived. ...

Mid-August through the end of October historically is when most hurricanes form. Remember HIM? Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria made landfall between mid-August and the end of September in 2017. Two Category 4 storms and one Category 5 occurred in a matter of weeks in a season predicted to be slightly above average.Last year’s Hurricane Michael hit in late October. While this year’s latest prediction is for a “near-average season,” hurricane researchers will tell you that it only takes one hurricane making landfall near you to break the law of averages.

To that list, I would add:

Two Minutes With Tim - Is a Swimming Pool a "Detached Structure"?

Two Minutes With Tim: Is a Swimming Pool a "Detached Structure?" from Big I New York on Vimeo.

Submitted for your approval:

1. A home is insured for $512,000

2. By the terms of the Homeowners policy, "Other Structures" are insured for $51,200.

3. A swimming pool attached to a pool deck attached to steps attached to a patio attached to the house is damaged to the tune of $237,000.

Is the pool part of the dwelling (insured for $512,000) or is it an "other structure," insured for only $51,200? In this video, I answer that question based on a court's decision in Porco v. Lexington Ins. Co.

Two Minutes With Tim: Additional Insured vs. Additional Interest

​My last video was about renters insurance and the additional interest endorsement. A few Big I New York members asked for a discussion of the difference between an additional interest and an additional insured. This video explains that difference.

Additional Interest vs. Additional Insured from Big I New York on Vimeo.

Two Minutes With Tim: Renters Insurance & Additional Interests

​Your insured's landlord wants to be listed as an "additional interest" on the renters insurance policy. What does that mean and can it be done? Watch the video for the answer.

Two Minutes with Tim: Renters Insurance & Additional Interests from Big I New York on Vimeo.

Two Minutes With Tim: Measles Outbreak

​The measles virus is on the loose in Brooklyn and Rockland County, not to mention at least one county in our neighboring state of New Jersey. Suppose 20 people in your area get the measles and they're able to trace the source back to your family. Got liability insurance for that? Watch the video to find out ...

Two Minutes With Tim: Measles Outbreak from Big I New York on Vimeo.

Do You Have Friday the 13th Insurance?

As you may have noticed, today is Friday, July 13. Friday the 13th is traditionally seen by some better safe than sorry superstitious individuals as a day when one must take care to avoid catastrophe terminal embarrassment certain doom being unlucky. We here at Big I New York are, of course, above such silliness. As a rule, our staff members are stupid reckless confident enough to go on about their lives as if it were any other day.

However, when if the predictable unexpected happens, insurance is there to say I-told-you-so pay for the financial fallout. Here, in no particular order, from the home office in Harpursville, New York, are the top five Friday the 13th hazards and how prudent superstitious individuals and businesses avoid big trouble an eternal curse OMG-what-were-you-thinking accidental loss:

Ladders. Look, if you insure contractors, you know all about New York's scaffold law. Many scaffold law claims involve someone standing on a ladder and suddenly finding himself subject to the earth's gravitational pull in a most unwelcome way. The ladder shifts, it moves, it spins, it does the hokey-pokey, whatever, and a worker falls and gets hurt. But what about if someone walks under the ladder? The ancient Egyptions caught onto this one 5,000 years ago. Fortunately, while many Commercial General Liability insurance policies exclude coverage for an employee falling off a ladder, relatively few exclude coverage when someone tempts fate by walking under one. So far.

2 Minutes With Tim - Snow and Roofs

​Winter Storm Stella was the gift that kept on giving. And giving. And giving. Fact is, she was a tad more generous than I'd have liked. However, she gave me fodder for another video. This time the question is, does homeowners insurance cover roof damage when the insured doesn't clear snow off the roof?

 

Order in the Court (Part 3): Scaffold Law Homeowner Exclusion

New York's (in)famous scaffold law exempts owners of one- and two-family dwellings. Homeowners don't have to worry about absolute liability, right?

Well, it depends. A New York appellate court refused to apply it to one homeowner last week.

A worker died during the construction of a one-family home in New York City. The homeowner also happened to be an officer of the general contractor who was building the home. He was an experienced construction worker. The deceased worker was an employee of an electrical contractor acting as a subcontractor on the project. The homeowner provided the workers with a 14-foot ladder that he built himself out of "two-inch by four-inch pieces of wood connected by nails and screws." As the subcontractor's employee was coming down the ladder with a heavy drill in hand, the ladder jerked and he fell.

Think All Policies Are the Same? (Part 4)

Sure, I haven’t been blogging lately, but nothing gets the ol’ creative juices flowing like a “gotcha” denied claim. Today’s example in 151 Reasons Why People Hate Insurance Companies comes to us from a trial court in Manhattan. The man owned a home. He lived in the home. He insured the home. His insurance covered fire damage. He had a fire. He didn’t have insurance.

Just a bit of background and refresher: If you have read this blog for any length of time, you have probably read my discussions of the “where you reside” issue with Homeowners insurance. In a nutshell, some carriers have taken the position that, when a homeowner moves out of the home with no intention to return, all coverage on the dwelling, other structures, loss of use, liability and medical payments vanishes. This is the problem that ISO’s new “residence premises” endorsements (not available yet in New York) are designed to address.

Two Minutes With Tim - Aunt Sues Nephew

​Okay, it's more like three minutes. Sue me. Unless you're a member of my extended family. Please. I discuss the strange case of an aunt who sued her 12 year-old nephew, and why his parents' homeowners insurance didn't come through.