Mariposa Advises Property Owners on Potential Damage from Winter Weather

NEWS RELEASE

Whitehouse, OH (February 4, 2014) – Mariposa Insurance Services, an independent insurance adjusting company that specializes in handling property damage claims for insurance carriers, is offering practical advice to commercial property owners and managers to prevent business interruptions from events such as the Polar Vortex.

The Polar Vortex is an anomalous weather event that can be as devastating as more common natural catastrophes.  The Insurance Service Office (ISO) is assigning catastrophe numbers to these events, and the events themselves are causing billions of dollars in commercial and residential damage.

Some of the most commonly experienced damage from a Polar Vortex arises from freezing and bursting pipes, resulting in water damage to property, contents, and inventory. Additional claims may result from the collapse or partial collapse of roofs due to the weight of snow or ice, or from wind damage to roofs and building from a fallen tree, tree branch or flying debris. Significant damage also can result from ice damming, which can cause interior water damage.

To mitigate these potential disasters from causing significant business interruption, Mariposa offers its professional expertise:

• Learn how your deductible works early on in the process, especially if you have multiple properties under a single policy.
• Contact your carrier (or agent) as soon as possible and explain any emergency action you need to take to prevent further damage to the property.  They may be able to assist with their knowledge of emergency mitigation vendors.
• Be thorough with the adjuster in showing all the damage and provide documents pertaining to any business interruption claim you may make.
• Keep all receipts/invoices for any emergency or temporary repairs and provide this information to the adjuster.
• Understand that a ‘Reservation of Rights’, ‘Non-Waiver’, and a ‘Proof of Loss’ are legal documents issued by your carrier, which may seem unfriendly, but they are necessary to protect your rights and benefits every bit as much as they protect the carrier’s.
• Take the experience of this Polar Vortex, especially if you are in southern states, to seek expert advice on how to prevent loss in the future.

About Mariposa Insurance Services

Headquartered in Whitehouse, Ohio, Mariposa Insurance Services is an independent adjusting firm managing policyholder claims for insurance companies through a nationwide network of trained and qualified adjusters and a comprehensive web-based claims management system. Mariposa specializes in daily property and casualty claims and complete catastrophe support. The company also offers custom third-party administrator (TPA) services, call center services and a variety of other business process outsourcing (BPO) services for insurance companies.  For more information, visit www.mariposaltd.com.

###