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Property Program

Your agency faces natural and man-made exposures that could cause catastrophic physical damage to your property, resulting in substantial repair and reconstruction costs and can also result in loss of revenue or a disruption of your agency’s ability to provide services.

The Statewide Property Insurance Program is designed to provide State Agencies the ability to transfer the financial burden resulting from property damage and loss to agency assets. Designed with flexibility in mind, the program allows each agency to customize its policy to fully insure currently uninsured and underinsured buildings, personal property, as well as boiler and machinery coverage.

All SORM client state agencies subject to Chapter 412 of the Texas Labor Code are eligible to participate in this program. Each agency should consider its unique exposures, amounts at risk, and loss history to determine if property insurance is a cost-effective risk transfer mechanism.

What is Covered?

Coverage is provided on an “all-risk” basis which covers several potential claims, including:

  • Damage from severe weather – tornado, hail, hurricane, flooding, wildfire
  • Damage from vandalism and arson
  • Breakdown or explosion of critical equipment, boilers, heating/cooling systems
  • Building fire, smoke, lightning damage
  • Theft of agency property
  • Losses from building collapse, sink hole damage, earth movement
  • Optional terrorism coverage

Additional Services Provided

  • Loss Control Inspections
  • Appraisals
  • Thermographic Heat Testing
  • Oil Sample Testing
  • Architectural Reviews of New Structures
  • 24 Hour / 365 days Claims Contact
  • Boiler Inspections – To keep the inspection process running smoothly, Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB) & Machinery offers a variety of support on coordinating inspections:

How to Request an Inspection

Call the HSB Inspection Hotline at (800) 333-4677 or send an email to nscinsp_hotline@hsb.com
Please provide the following information:

  • Location name
  • Location address
  • Contact name
  • Contact phone number
  • Insurance carrier name
  • Policy number 2311772
  • Policy period
  • State or jurisdictional number  associated with the equipment (if available)

How to Obtain a Quote

  • SORM Property Insurance Program Application (Word): Complete and return this application at your earliest convenience. Please allow 10 business days for a no-obligation proposal to be presented for review.
  • Property Insurance Schedule (Excel): Include all buildings and contents that you wish to insure on this schedule. We ask that you complete all of the fields on the schedule. If you would like to insure contents, please include the value in the ‘Contents Value’ column for each building. Please ensure that information provided is accurate, because accuracy is important to ensure the exposure is rated correctly. If you have questions while completing this exercise, please contact your SORM insurance manager.
  • Property Loss History or Copy of Current Insurer’s Loss Runs: Include all property/contents losses that your agency has incurred over the past five years. If your agency currently purchases property insurance, please ask your insurance carrier for a “Loss Run Report” for the past five years.
  • Contents Only Schedule (Excel): List all items purchased by your agency which assist in the day to day running of your agency. This may include but is not limited to: computers, laptops, servers, printers, telephones, office furniture, etc. This is an internal exercise for your agency to determine the total dollar value of contents owned. The agency should describe the item, provide the number of that item, add serial numbers (if applicable), replacement cost at today’s purchase price (per unit and total). This exercise should be updated annually and be included in your agency COOP plan.  Take the total dollar value of all agency contents and enter it into the ‘Contents Column’ in the ‘Property Insurance Schedule’ above.

All inquiries and documents can be submitted to sorminsuranceteam@sorm.texas.gov. Once the application and supporting documentation has been received by SORM, please allow 7-10 business days to receive a quote.

Claims Handling

After Business Hours (when a loss has occurred on your property after business hours):

During Business Hours (when a loss has occurred on your property during business hours):

  • Please follow the steps below:
    1. If there is a fire, imminent danger or injuries; notify the Police, Fire Department, or Ambulance – 911.
    2. Contact a SORM Insurance Team Member.
    3. Complete the SORM Property Claims Form and return to the email addresses listed on the bottom of the form as soon as possible.
    4. Take photos of the damage and begin to implement mitigating strategies to decrease the chances of the loss escalating. Some examples may include:
      1. Shut off water or gas valves;
      2. Contact your local contractors or maintenance staff to assist in mitigating the loss;
      3. Call security to protect a vulnerable building over the weekend or until a contractor arrives to fix it;
      4. Put tarps over contents to protect them from additional exposures;
      5. If safe, place tarps on the roof to stop further entry of debris and/or water;
      6. If the fire department has extinguished a fire and given permission to enter – remove excess water;
      7. DO NOT THROW OUT ANYTHING without documentation by photograph and the approval of Trey Johnson, your assigned adjuster.
      8. Document the loss and keep receipts of all the expenses associated to mitigate the loss.
      9. Use your cell phone or a camera to take multiple photos or video from different viewpoints of the loss.

Record Keeping Claim Information

Create an excel spreadsheet on your computer and a hard copy folder for every building damaged.  You will track the expenses associated with each building separately. Keep photocopies of all receipts for each building in hard copy and on your computer for future reference. Review your agency internal property claims handling procedures for whom to contact at your agency at the time of a loss. Identify one person at your agency to be the lead contact and to coordinate the claims handling process and have everything routed through that individual.

Spreadsheets:

Examples

Estimate to replace the contents if damaged per building:

QuantityDescriptionAgeBuilding # / DescriptionCost to replace todayDate Paid
e.g.  1Book case12 yearsWPC #332$243.162/14/2015
e.g.  3Telephones4WPC #332,#333, #334, #335$6,0001/25/2015

Total paid out on this claim in the WPC building = $6,243.16

Summary of vendor services utilized to help mitigate each claim per building:

Vendor NameService/s ProvidedBuilding # /DescriptionInvoice Item/ NumberAmount Owed for serviceDate Paid
e.g. Mooring Recovery ServicesDrying – water lossOffice LocationG129786$18,324.982/10/2015
e.g. Roger’s RoofingReplaced part of roofOffice Location1006798123$123,000.452/25/2015

Total paid out on this claim in the William P. Clements Building = $141,325.43

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • What if we have multiple leased locations where contents are owned at each location? The agency would need to complete a “Contents Only Schedule” per location to determine the amount of contents owned at a specific location. In addition, the agency would need to gather the information per building and input into one “Property Insurance Schedule” and list each location separately on this schedule with the value of contents to that specific building.
  • What is Tier 1, 2, or 3? Tier 1, 2, and 3 represents the counties along the coastal region with Tier 1 (orange) are along the coastal line, Tier 2 (green) being the second group of counties further from the coastal line and Tier 3 being the third group farthest away from the county line. If your building falls into one of these categories, we ask that you complete the additional Secondary Characteristics on the Property Insurance Schedule that are highlighted in blue.
  • Where can I find my latitude and longitude coordinates? Find your latitude and longitude on this NASA website Latitude/Longitude Finder. Please input the address to your building and the coordinates will populate. Please input the decimal coordinates (ex. 30.277808, -97.741983).
  • How do I work out the replacement value of my building or contents? Under the “Additional Resources” section below, there is a link titled “Tips for Calculating Building Replacement Cost.”  Please read and watch the segment to provide you with the tools to calculate the replacement cost of your building.  To find the replacement cost of your contents, please google the item using serial numbers if applicable or the name/ description of the item to see what it would cost to replace it at today’s value.  For a fee, American Appraisals can complete a contents and building appraisal for your agency locations.
  • What is Time Element Value? (Also known as Business Interruption) There are two factors to consider when estimating your Time Element Value – Extra Expense and Business Interruption. In the event your building sustained a loss, have you thought about the expense you would incur if you had to evacuate and relocate temporarily? Does your budget have discretionary funds for use for these types of expenses? If not, you will able to designate an amount (Extra Expense) in the Time Element Value column to your specific building to assist with expenses incurred such as electronic equipment, office equipment, transportation, communication devices, etc. If you are an agency that produces revenue, i.e. football stadium, and a tornado comes through your area and destroys your stadium, you would be able to designate an amount (Business Interruption) to again provide stability from an unforeseen event.
  • What exposures to my building are there? CatNet is a software program created by SwissRe that SORM uses to provide you with a snapshot of the exposures to your agency with regards to weather-related catastrophic events i.e. wind, tornado, hail, flood, fire, etc.

Additional Resources

AIG Impairment Kit

Business Interruption

General Resources

Weather Resources

SORM Directors & Officers/Property Symposium 2017

Disclaimer: Any descriptions of coverage provided are not intended as an interpretation of coverage and should not be relied upon as such. An actual insurance policy must be consulted for full coverage details.