Remarkable People Pitched In to Help Others
Last summer was a wake-up call for everyone, according to Fred Phelps, Florida Association of Insurance Agents Catastro-phe Council staff coordinator and Wilford W. Ghioto, chairman of FAIA’s Catastrophe Claims Advisory Council.
After Hurricane Charlie hit, FAIA pulled a list of every agent in Port Charlotte and representatives met with them to determine what they needed.
Phelps, who has been on the FAIA’s Catastrophe staff for eight years, said Ghioto was on the road and practically gave up his agency for months.
“We kinda feel like the National Guard, you train for years and have meetings and then all of a sudden you are called up to go to Iraq,” Phelps said. “Last year we were called up.”
Phelps said that last year’s four hurricanes kept Catastrophe Committee members busy most of the year.
FAIA staff, drove a 30-foot motor home to Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, going to agencies and bringing help. FAIA staff loaded up the motor home with supplies and made two trips into the “battle zone,” one during Hurricane Charley loaded up with food water, disposable diapers, hand wipes, anything usable, even money.
“If we found an agency, and if there was a need, for instance if an employee had problems at home, we would ask the agency’s principal, do any of your employees have financial needs, and if they did, we wrote them a check,” Phelps explained.
Paul Peeples, vice president of technology, would write $500, $1,000 checks, and said the recipients appreciated the help.
One agent said an elderly woman came to him who had lost her home. He lamented that all he could do was take her claim and give her a bottle of water. “She had $68 in her bank account, if I could have given her a check for $1,000, do your realize how important that would have been to her?” he said.
Ghioto suggests insurance companies should give agents the capability to write claims checks or provide policyholders with credit cards to use during such catastrophes.
“Last year, with four hurricanes, we had a wake-up call,” he said. “The sleeping giant awakened. These agents realize now that they have to be better prepared.”
Phelps and Ghioto learned a lot from remarkable people they met during the crisis.
A legendary approach
Phelps praised FAIA member, Tom Jones, who he said has become a legend.
“Jones had experience with Hurricane Andrew, so last year, knowing the problems agents face, the morning after Charley, he hooked a huge generator to his truck–I’m talking a BIG boy–and headed to Port Charlotte,” Phelps said.
At the first agency he found he dropped off an employee and said, “I brought her here to work with you and she is yours for as long as you need her–good bye!”
Jones headed off and found another agency to assist. Phelps said that Lew Ambler in DeSoto County, tells everyone that Tom was an angel sent by God. Ambler was in his agency stressed out without electricity or air conditioning.
Along comes Jones, who walks in and says, “Do you need a generator?” Lew said, “What!”
Within five minutes Lew had lights, air conditioning, power and Jones said, “When you get your power back, carry the generator to the next person up the road without power who needs it.”
When Ivan hit, Jones drove back to Port Charlotte, picked up the “Big Boy,” and hauled it to Pensacola.
“Tom will always have a special place in the heart of our members, Phelps said, “especially the ones who saw his Big Boy generator.”
Tornado wiped out Hunnicutt Agency
Phelps said the Hunnicutt Agency in Fort Walton Beach, was hit by a tornado and became the most damaged agency of any he encountered. He said the tornado physically devastated the building and a mobile home had to be set up in front of the office.
The day before Ivan hit, as Ashley Hunnicutt-Barkocy, the agency’s principal owner, was reviewing her disaster plan and cutting payroll checks she had a brainstorm: She arranged for software and an AMS Services agency management system with the ability to dial an 800 number and backup the agency’s files using the Internet.
“She became the poster child for the industry,” Phelps said. “You wouldn’t believe it, if it hadn’t been for her plan, the agency wouldn’t have known what to do.”
She posted an 800 number in her office and gave it out to customers to call. They thought they were talking to her office when they made their claims, just like a normal workday. She was outside sweating, cleaning up and setting up her mobile office. The Hunnicutt Agency continued to operate on the off-site system.
Phelps said if more hurricanes hit Florida this summer FAIA is ready and will be a facilitator to bring relief in any way it can, including rolling out the motor home.