May 27th, 2010
This past Saturday in Denver, CO exhibited the most wind filled day I have witnessed in at least 3 years. We had consistent 30+mph winds and regular gusts by the minute averaging 50+mph. Although this wasn’t quite an abnormal condition for the region is certainly wasn’t expected and it wreaked havoc across the the city and suburbs, if not for the dirt and dust factor alone. This type of wind is a common cause and origin for insurance claims and wind related adjusting of insurance claims.
I couldn’t help but notice this sign swaying in the wind
Sign at risk for falling and causing damages
while in the parking lot at my at a local grocer, which happens to be a national chain based out of Austin, TX. We were certainly surprised to find out that it had been this way for several hours before management put in a call for service, which was primarily based on our having notified them that it wasn’t the sign we were concerned about, but rather the liability risk of it falling on someone or something in the intersection over which it was hanging. Certainly, aside from the direct result of the sign falling was a risk for the potential of cause and effect with a traffic accident.
Hopefully this national chain fixed up their sign before they became a victim of circumstance.
Always remember to consider loose items that can blow around or blind someone in the wind. Wind damages account for a large percentage of insurance claim dollars per year, but one liability claim from something like that can account for a much more significant loss.
Peak Claims handles wind damage losses in Colorado and other areas. Contact my office for more information.
Phillip Crimaldi is the Director of Operations for Peak Claims and his office is at the Peak Claims Central Office in Denver, Colorado.
Massive winds and waves pummel M.V. Horizon Hunter
72 hour storm gale produces heavy winds and 26+ foot waves
As originally reported by KITV news (Honolulu) and also reported by The Honolulu Advertiser, along with several other news sources via Google, the MV Horizon Hunter sustained high seas which resulted in a cargo (container) loss. The Hunter is a container ship that arrived in Honolulu Harbor yesterday with at least twelve inland marine containers hanging in a rather “stormy” fashion across her deck. The ship is owned and managed by Horizon Lines shipping.
MV Horizon Hunter Bow View & Cargo Damages
Cargo Containers spill over side of Marine Vessel
The vessel was in transit from Los Angeles, CA to Honolulu, HI but no reports clearly identified her destination, with mentions of the Horizon Lines CHX (California-Hawaii Express Service) or Midweek Express Service (MWX) routes. According to Phillip A. Crimaldi, Vice President of Cargo Survey and Investigation Operations at Peak Claims – Denver, “the vessel would have likely been in route to Guam as shown on the Horizon Lines schedule posted through their site.”
Reefer and standard marine containers from SafMarine, NYK, Hanjin, and others could be seen on deck from photos taken by Honolulu Advertiser reporter/photographer, Richard Ambo.
Damages cargo containers
According to several reports the vessel had lost at least 6 containers to the sea that fell overboard during the transit. It is not known if the crew was forced to jettison the cargo although, if high seas were the cause of the damage, it would have been unlikely the crew was about the deck releasing cargo.
Currently only a few damaged containers remain on the vessel at this time; several have already been removed. The question among the independent adjusting and claim community remains, who will get to survey all of this damage?
Marine Cargo Container and Content Damages
Mr. Crimaldi indicated, “It is possible that several containers of cargo were damaged, but if exterior damage to the containers is not evident during this port stop in Honolulu, then those damages will likely not be known until devanning takes place at the nearest port to the consignee or scheduled drop”. Mr. Crimaldi also noted that “surveyors will likely see consistent claims come in depending on where these containers end up” and that “it appears the vessel was headed to Guam, then Saipan and Rota/Tinian with stops stateside starting in Houston after, but that is several weeks away. It’s important to remember that although some containers sustained evident damage, the ship owners have every right and interest to continue their route as scheduled to keep costs to a minimum and profits at a maximum, particularly when there was no evident damage to the ship itself. For these reasons, surveyors will likely handle all evident damage surveys port-side, even though the consignee could be elsewhere in the world. It’s important to note that photos depict damages to reefer containers to which damages can far exceed those normally found in static containers.”
Heavily wrecked containers from high seas
Based on an evident 20 containers that could end up as total losses it’s possible damages will exceed one million dollars, depending on the contents of the containers.
According to other reports there were no crew injuries and the ship will continue, most likely on schedule.
Peak Claims is a professional insurance claim services company specializing in Cargo Damage Surveys, Independent Adjusting and Loss Recovery Investigations. Phillip A. Crimaldi is the Director of Operations and is an experienced cargo damage surveyor and recovery investigator who has handled multi-million dollar losses of damaged and break-bulk and container goods for multiple carriers. Visit Peak Claims on the web at http://www.peakclaims.com
Here on another late night at the Peak Claims office came the original news story that a giant ice ball was reported to have recently smashed it’s way through the roof of a home in Brush, CO, right into the kitchen. Like any good group of insurance damage surveyors we immediately wondered what will get to determine the cause and origin of this monster. To the best of our knowledge there was no nearby hail storm.
If the victims of the giant ice ball aren’t related to the balloon boy in nearby Fort Collins, CO then you can bet this will be a mammoth weather phenomenon. If they are related we’ll assume the balloon kid was just traveling by aerostat to visit his friend, although no one really knows if can land yet or not. Of course, there’s really no place more suited for random giant ice nuggets than Colorado.
Maybe it Sarah Palin’s new book smashing it’s way into the atmosphere? Maybe all those disgruntled hail storm roofing salesman are out to get revenge?
I sure home the insurer doesn’t try and pull a “peril not covered under the conditions of the policy.” Even though polices don’t usually address “random ice balls without a hail storm”, any good person would presumably feel a little sympathetic towards this mess. Oh well, I’m putting my money on the roofing salesman trying to get a few extra bucks. How many more of these are going to fall in Colorado anyway? What’s next? Total losses from hail? That would almost make my day – and make me rich.
Suppose you were a claim representative with a standard residential coverage and this was a legitimate ice ball from outer space. What would you do on something like this? Try and convince your committee it’s too risky to deny? What jury would side with you on this thing?
All we can say is there better be a picture of it and it better not look like someone made it by hand! Is our emergency line ringing at this hour?
I’m sure NASA is already on the way out there.
-Phillip Crimaldi is an insurance professional at Peak Claims, Inc. His first experience with the insurance industry was investigating and settling hail claims for a small adjusting company in Northeast Ohio.
