homeowners insurance canceled
The National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fire safety, said in her September 2007 report that departments U.S. fire responded to 1,642,500 fires in 2006. This is one fire every 19.2 seconds.
The damage caused by fire is heartbreaking. In 2006, fire claimed some 3245 civilian lives and caused more than $ 11 million in direct property loss. That puts the fire before the hurricanes ($ 5.4 billion per year) floods ($ 5.2 billion a year), and earthquakes ($ 4.4 billion per year) to conduct annual losses. The U.S. Fire Administration, a federal agency, reports that the indirect costs of fires, including medical expenses, loss of business, temporary housing, and the psychological can be ten times greater than direct costs. Fire insurance it is no wonder the central feature of property insurance.
Fire insurance was the first form of homeowners insurance. It was the brainchild of Nicholas Barbon, an English physician, economist and businessman who helped with the reconstruction efforts after the Great Fire of London in 1666, which destroyed over 13,000 homes. Began offering the fire insurance in 1667. In 1680 he founded the first fire brigade in London, designed to prevent another disaster and, of course, minimize the risk for operation insurance.
The first American insurance company, founded in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1732, also offered fire insurance. Inventor, printer, entrepreneur, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin helped to popularize the fire insurance through the introduction of life insurance in 1752 through Philadelphia to Contributionship Holiday Insurance for loss by fire. With permanent insurance, the insured has a tank at a time with the company insurance. In return, the insurer agrees to pay claims for loss of fire in perpetuity. If the policy is canceled, the insurer returns all premiums to the insured. To make the model work, the insurer must earn enough of a return on deposits to pay losses and operations.
Next model Barbon fire the Office, the Franklin company, tried to minimize losses through fire prevention. The company has also continued strict underwriting guidelines, refusing to insure prefabricated wooden houses and other buildings that pose fire hazards. Franklin also invented several articles to reduce the risk of fire, including the lightning rod and the iron furnace stove.
Today, the National Fire Protection Association, Fire Administration U.S., local fire departments, and schools are working to prevent fires. Although the number of fires increased by 2.5 percent in 2006, The number of civilian deaths dropped a dramatic 11.7 percent, the lowest total since NFPA began using current survey methodology 1977-78. The most significant improvements occurred in residential security. The number of civilians who died in residential fires decreased by 14.2 percent overall, to 2,620. The number of people killed in one and two two-story homes fell by 16.1 percent. Surprisingly, residential fire deaths have declined by 57 percent from the high of 6015 recorded in 1978.
One of the biggest reasons for the change of fire-related deaths has been declining in prevalence smoking. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the prevalence of smoking among adults has declined from 42 percent in 1965 to 20.8 percent in 2006. The Technology has also had a big impact in residential fires. Smoke detectors, upholstery and mattresses that are resistant to ignition by cigarettes, lighters child resistant cigarette, and cigarettes have reduced ignition contributed to the decline in residential fire deaths.
To further reduce more fires, the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit provider of fire safety information, we recommend five strategies:
1) More and better fire safety education, including common causes of fatal home fires
Increased use of 2) smoke detectors
3) Greater use of residential sprinklers
4) additional resistant forms products of fire
5) Address the needs fire safety of high-risk groups, including youth, older adults, and poor
Despite the progress that has been done, the fire continues be a cause of death, especially the elderly, the young and the poor. Several of the steps that can prevent fires are inexpensive and easy to do, as the installation of smoke detectors, and making sure the existing batteries are charged. The cost-benefit ratio could not be higher.
About the Author:
An award-winning author of books for young adults, Bradley Steffens is a frequent contributor to online and print publications, including Gig and Broker Agent Magazine. His most recent book, Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, is the world’s first biography of the medieval Muslim scholar known in the West as Alhazen.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Homeowners Insurance – Fire Prevention Tips
