Insurance and asbestos

A Time For Renewal – And To Check Your Insurance

… After All, If Asbestos Abatement Is Covered, You Can Rest Easy

 

January is a month of renewal… rebirth… rejuvenation.

People like to start a fresh new year with a fresh new perspective, and in many cases a steely-eyed, clear-headed determination to make the new year their BEST ever.

They do stuff like this:

 

• Start (or resume) going to the gym
  • (Until February first at the latest, in most cases, but right now we’re just talking about the refreshing things people do in January.)

 

• Begin a new hobby, or even start a business
  • (You could open a hobby shop, and kill two birds with one stone.)

 

• Clear out their overburdened DVR recordings
  • (Often by saying to heck with the gym, and while we’re at it let’s close the shop early and go home and binge-watch every show we can find in which we have even the most remote interest.)

 

Yes, it’s January, and renewal is in the air.

And even though you can’t see, smell, hear, or taste it (ick), there might be some life-threatening asbestos in the air, too, which brings us to this month’s scintillating topic…

 

It’s A Good Time To Check Your Property Insurance Policy

… Because here’s the deal with asbestos:

First, it can make you very sick, and even bring an end to your annual January renewals.  When you’re exposed to airborne asbestos, what you’re breathing in are essentially tiny (microscopic) little shards of rock, which impale themselves in your lungs and, well, nothing good can come of that.

Second, while the bad news is that asbestos is all around us (in our walls, our flooring, our ceilings, our pipe insulation, and even our teenage daughter’s jewelry and makeup – no, really)… the good news is that asbestos isn’t dangerous unless it’s disturbed.

Finally – more bad news, sorry – most people don’t know that something like a burst pipe, a flooded basement, a bad do-it-yourself project, or even a small house fire can disturb the asbestos building materials comprising much of your property, and release those toxic little shards into the air.

And most people don’t really know whether cleaning up after disasters like these is covered by their insurance… they don’t think to check until they have that fire or flood or knuckleheaded hammer-wielding nephew who swears he’s done remodels just like this one, like, a hundred times.

So on your way to the gym, or the hobby shop, you might want to dig out the ol’ homeowner’s policy and see if these kinds of things are covered.

If you suffer a disaster like this, large or small, you MUST have your property tested by a licensed tester, and if asbestos is found, you MUST have it abated by a fully-qualified (and, lucky you, distractingly handsome) asbestos abatement professional.

Asbestos abatement seems scary, but it really isn’t as cumbersome or expensive as most people think.  And it certainly isn’t as scary as what the asbestos itself can do to you and the ones you love.

In many cases, some or all of the cost would be covered by your insurer.

But that’s why NOW is a great time to check your policy and find out for sure.

As ugly as it is, you’d think asbestos would be illegal.  But it isn’t!  It’s perfectly legal to import asbestos-containing materials into the U.S., and tons and tons of the stuff are brought to our shores every year.  So it really is all around us.  But luckily, thanks to your insurer, a qualified tester, and your distractingly-handsome friends at Asbestos Abatement, Inc., you may well be able to spend those twenty monthly minutes on the treadmill with total peace-of-mind.  Check your policy today!