News & Updates
Hurricane Preparedness
May is Hurricane Preparedness Month, and with the 2025 hurricane season approaching fast (June 1 – November 30), now is the time for insurance agents to lean in and lead the charge. As frontline educators, your mission is clear: help clients understand the risks, navigate their coverage, and make informed decisions before disaster strikes.
Flooding, wind damage, and prolonged power outages are common aftermaths of hurricanes—and many clients are still underinsured, especially when it comes to flood risk. As an agent, you're in a unique position to protect families and businesses by equipping them with knowledge and tools.
Hurricane Preparedness Month: Empowering Agents to Prepare Clients for the 2025 Season
What Agents Can Do Now:
- Initiate Pre-Season Policy Reviews: Don’t wait for clients to call you. Proactively reach out and schedule reviews—especially focusing on flood exclusions, deductibles, and loss of use.
- Highlight the Need for Flood Insurance: Use resources like FloodSmart.gov to illustrate how even low-risk zones are vulnerable to flash floods from heavy rains or storm surge.
- Distribute Educational Materials: Create or source one-pagers, social posts, and email content that break down preparedness in simple, visual steps your clients can take today.
- Leverage Local Risk Maps: Personalize the conversation by showing clients their proximity to flood zones and historically impacted areas using tools from FEMA and NFIP.
- Encourage Documentation: Remind clients to inventory their property, digitize important documents, and store insurance information in cloud-accessible locations.
- Build a Resource Kit: Point clients to trusted sources like Ready.gov for planning checklists and emergency kit ideas.
Why Your Role Matters More Than Ever
Prepared clients are confident clients. When agents take the time to educate, they not only reduce claims headaches—they build lasting relationships rooted in trust and advocacy. And when the storm passes, it’s the agent who helped them prepare that they remember.
Strength in Community: The Power of PIA Membership
Being part of a trade association like the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of Virginia gives you access to vital resources—templates, CE courses, policy updates, disaster response tools, and peer networks. PIA empowers you to serve smarter, respond faster, and lead stronger when it matters most.
Let’s elevate the role of the agent this hurricane season. Because when your clients say, "I had no idea flood wasn’t covered," you’ll say, "That’s why I called."
Let’s get them prepared—together.
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| Soraya Gresham, ACSR
Territory Sales Manager - East Flood |