This past Monday a wild storm came blowing through Indiana and hit one of our client’s homes here in Anderson.

The *Smith family was enjoying a rainy evening in their home nestled in the woods when suddenly, everything went dark. Winds from the storm howled outside their windows and caused a branch to break off from the tree in their front yard. The branch fell right onto a power line that stretched from their garage, to the pole on the street.

Video of branch falling on *Smith house.

Regardless of the unfortunate spell of losing power, the family was extremely lucky. The power lines that were affected hadn’t been updated, and had they been connected, they would have caught the house on fire in an instant.

Now, what did we do for the *Smith family? Well they alerted us right away and called the power company to have them come and assess the problem at hand. The two most important things a client can do in a situation like this. 

Following that we made sure to mitigate any possible damage to the home by asking if there is any interior damage done. We do this to ensure that if there are any issues inside the home, they don’t exacerbate the situation and we can stop any further destruction from happening. 

Within ten minutes of the accident at the *Smith house, there was a claim filed and the power company was on their way to their home. Because of this quick action, we were able to get an adjuster to come out, assess the damage, and get their claim on its merry way in order to expedite their repairs. 

You see, in an event like this where many families, businesses, and so on are affected, there are going to be dozens of claims with insurance and the power company. With the claim filed expeditiously, you are now at the top of the list to receive repairs!

The next morning the *Smith family was safe once again, had electricity restored, the branch cleared away, and the old power lines taken from the property. 

If this is ever you in the future you may be wondering what kind of coverage this family had. Lucky for them they had full coverage of auto and home. 

The truck that was damaged from the collision with the tree was covered by comprehensive insurance. A comprehensive deductible covers their vehicle because it was a non driving event, but was still a collision. This would extend past this event, to your parked car being hit by another driver, or a similar situation in which your vehicle took damage while you were not driving. 

For their home, we made sure they were taken care of in handling the damage done to the exterior of their home and they are even getting new siding put on now! 

If, in the future, a tree causes damage to your home (is lying on it), or is blocking your ability to enter the property, then the removal will be covered by insurance (if you have full coverage). If there is no damage, or it isn’t blocking entry, then there is no compensation for removal of the tree. In this case, the tree was not blocking their entry to the home or currently on top of the property, so they chose to handle the situation themselves and get a little extra wood for their summer bonfires! 

So, when catastrophe strikes, you’ll want to be sure that you are fully covered. This could have been a very different story for the *Smith family had they not been covered with Howard Webb Insurance, and we hope that it reminds you to make a call, or visit our offices today.

All information is in regards to the insurance policy the *Smith family has, you should discuss your policy coverage with your insurance agent to make sure you are covered as best as you can be. 

* Indicates a change of name to protect the identities of the family.

Article written by contract writer and digital media coordinator: Candace Cox. You can reach her at socials@howardwebbins.com or candacecox96@gmail.com.