According to a recent article from Sciencenews.org, the predictions for 2020 Atlantic hurricane season became even worse than the preseason forecasts. The forecasts now show as many as 25 named storms—twice the normal number—with more frequent, longer and stronger storms. So far, the 2020 hurricane season has a record nine named storms, including two hurricanes with the most recent being Hurricane Isaias. The Category 1 hurricane left significant damage throughout the Eastern Caribbean and the Eastern coasts of the United States and Canada, including severe flood and wind damage, at least nine fatalities and approximately 3.7 million power outages throughout the United States. With the threat of the ripple effects of natural disasters heightened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, insurers must exert even greater effort in their preparedness educational messaging campaigns and pay extra attention to their catastrophe responses to provide positive and timely claims experiences.
Most P&C insurers send hurricane season-related emails or promote safety tips on social media, as well as offer storm-relief resources following a major storm. However, in the peak of a highly active and dangerous season, P&C insurers should provide their customers with up-to-date information and catastrophe resources. Many insurers in the P&C Insurance Monitor coverage group offered support before and following Hurricane Isaias largely through public site banner alerts and dedicated storm pages. Notably, Chubb recently added a mobile app catastrophe tracker that helps policyholders locate local threats and provides them with safety tips and resources.
Some stand-out responses from our coverage group insurers include:
- Amica added a public site After Hurricane Isaias page that includes claims filing information and links to the Claims Center and Amica Mobile App The page also links to third-party emergency sites and state-specific resources. A related public site homepage banner alert and Twitter post link to the page. Another Facebook post and tweet also link to a Prepare for Hurricane Isaias page that centralizes hurricane and storm-related resources. The firm also recently sent emails with hurricane preparedness tips and claims filing information following Hurricane Isaias.
- Allstate shared its Good Hands Recovery Guide and claims filing information on Twitter and sent pre- and post-storm mobile push notifications. The firm also sent policyholders emails with agent contact information following the Hurricane Isaias.
- Travelers shared an article about preparing for hurricanes during the COVID-19 pandemic on Facebook. Several other Twitter and Facebook posts offer support and link to resources following Hurricane Isaias, such as articles about generator safety and returning to a property after a storm.
- Chubb recently shared an article about weathering hurricane season during a pandemic and promoted its public site Catastrophe Center on Twitter. The insurer also sent policyholders emails before and after Hurricane Isaias with safety tips and claims filing information.
Chubb’s recently added a mobile app—Catastrophe Tracker—that displays current catastrophes on a Google map with orange Event icons opening lightboxes with location details and event information. The tool provides a key, balloon tips and How to Prepare links that open related articles in the Preparedness Tips section. In addition to the tracker, policyholders can enable push notifications to receive alerts when catastrophic events occur near their insured locations. Chubb’s catastrophe tracking and notification services rival others in our coverage group; however, Travelers also offers weather-related alerts via text and email.
The following table provides a summary of responses we observed from our P&C firms before and after Hurricane Isaias:
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