Hawkeye-Security Offers New Web-based Disaster Planning Tool

Businesses insured through Des Moines-Iowa-based Hawkeye-Security Insurance, a member of the Liberty Mutual Group, will be among the first in the upper Midwest to use Open for Business, a free, web-based tool that allows them to plan for, and recover from natural disasters.

As a new feature of its loss prevention services, Hawkeye-Security Insurance is providing its 260 appointed agencies and more than 11,500 business policyholders online access to Open for Business, developed by the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), according to the company’s release.

According to IBHS, at least one-fourth of all businesses that close because of a disaster never reopen. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notes there have already been over 900 tornadoes reported this year through June and the peak tornado season for northern regions is during the summer months.

“We want to help our agents and commercial insurance customers be prepared to the greatest extent they can be,” said Hawkeye-Security Insurance President and CEO Mike Connell. “This new tool gives them a roadmap of what they can do before, during, and after a disaster to help them survive and recover. Loss prevention, asset protection, and business function recovery are all critical elements to business survival in a disaster aftermath.”

Businesses and agents can log into the Open for Business program through www.hawkeyesecurity-ins.com. Once there, business owners answer questions about human resources, physical resources, and business operations, in order to build individualized property protection and recovery plans.

Property protection plans are tailored to the potential catastrophic risks that exist for a particular zip code, including hurricanes, high winds, floods, earthquakes, tornados, and wildfires.

Recovery plans are built based on each company’s critical business functions and the role that employees, suppliers, and vendors play in daily operations. The plans also outline how vital records, equipment, vehicles, computers, and voice/data communications can be integrated from a chosen recovery location to help a business stay open following a natural disaster.

“You don’t have to be a risk manager to create these plans. Open for Business provides helpful features and information links all along the way and calls attention to action items that business owners may never otherwise have considered,” added Connell.

“Communities survive disasters only if their small businesses do. The Open for Business program gives these companies easy-to-use resources to assess their risks and develop comprehensive recovery plans so they can reduce their potential for loss in a disaster and reopen quickly should they be forced to close,” said IBHS President and CEO Harvey Ryland.

Hawkeye-Security Insurance offers property and casualty products, including a comprehensive set of personal and commercial coverage, distributed only through appointed independent agents. Hawkeye-Security Insurance provides personal insurance in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin and commercial insurance in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

Source: Hawkeye-Security Insurance