We spent today calling our flood customers, making arrangements with tree removal companies, clean up crews, contractors, printing client lists, and preparing to be without power next week. (We would be delighted if all of our preparations today were for naught.)

We were advised by our insurance carriers that Hurricane Sandy has the potential to cause extensive commercial power and transport disruptions through at least October 31.  Harleysville Insurance has provided the attached documentation to assist with hurricane preparedness. HurricanePreparedness_Z-1390

Our agency is here to assist you with the claim process if you are in need of assistance.  Please call our claims cell at 267-981-4981, or call the office at 215-579-7310 and press 1 for after hours service and a call back.  Keep your cell phones charged and ready to take pictures of any damages you may experience.

During Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee last year, texting and emailing photos enabled our various claims departments to understand the damages our clients had incurred.

Website Resources

Weather and Emergency Information

NOAA Weather Radio: www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr

National Weather Service (Philadelphia/Mount Holly): www.erh.noaa.gov/er/phi

New Jersey Office of Emergency Management: www.state.nj.us/njoem

Road Conditions

Pennsylvania: www.511pa.com

New Jersey: www.511nj.org

Utilities

PECO: www.peco.com

Atlantic City Electric: www.atlanticcityelectric.com

Con Edison: www.coned.com

PSE&G: www.pseg.com

Driving for a ride-sharing company such as Uber or Lyft, is currently an excluded coverage on auto and umbrella policies, when you have subscribed to pick-up and transport passengers in your vehicle. There is policy language that excludes transporting passengers for a fee.

Depending on your insurance carrier, limited coverage may be available when you are signed on to the transportation app and waiting for someone to ping you that they need a ride. Once you accept the ping, and agree to pick up and transport the passenger, you have no insurance from your own coverage(s).

We have quoted these coverages in the past year for a handful of our clients and have found annual premiums that start at $10,000 with the carriers that we represent. If you currently drive for Uber, Lyft or another Transportation Network Company, please call us so we may quote coverage options that will protect you in the event of a loss. Coverage provided by these network companies does not provide adequate protection for your assets.

Parry & Son Included In IIABA’s Best Practices Study

Parry & Son has retained its status as part of an elite group of independent insurance agencies around the United States participating in the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) “Best Practices” Study Group.

Each year since 1993, IIABA and Reagan Consulting, an Atlanta-based management consulting firm, join forces to study the country’s leading agencies in six revenue categories. The agencies comprising the study groups are selected every third year through a comprehensive nomination and qualifying process and awarded a “Best Practices Agency” designation. The selected “Best Practices” agencies retain their status during the three-year cycle by submitting extensive financial and operational data for review each year.

This year concludes the current three-year study cycle in which more than 1,100 independent agencies throughout the U.S. were nominated to take part in the annual study, but only 217 agencies qualified for the honor. To be chosen, the agency had to be among the 35-45 top-performing agencies in one of six revenue categories.

The agency was nominated by either an IIABA affiliated state association or an insurance company and qualified based on its operational excellence.

The Best Practices Study was initiated by IIABA in 1993 as the foundation for efforts to improve agency performance. The annual survey and study of leading independent insurance agencies documents the business practices of the “best” agencies and urges others to adopt similar practices.

Parry & Son was founded over 100 years ago and offers insurance products for homeowners and business owners from a number of different companies including: Foremost Harrleysville, Harleysville Life, Litit Mutual, Grange Insurance, Ohio Casualty, Progressive, Provident, Safeco Insurance Company, Westfield, and Zurich.

For further information, please contact Jena Lee

Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance – property, casualty, life and health – as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagents.com.