Coming Up In the Next Issues of Contents Solutions CONTENTS PROCESSORS Save Money on Every Job
THE GO-TO-GUIDE FOR PERSONAL PROPERTY RESTORATION
WHEN TIME IS MONEY The Two Most Precious Commodities
ADVANCED STORAGE TECHNIQUES No Loss/ No Breakage
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Vol. 10, Issue 2
H1N1 Insurance Risk? Any insurance adjuster who has stood side by side with a restoration crew in inch-deep, raw sewage knows how valuable the men and machines are when tackling the evil smelling and highly toxic “brew.” But there is a new breed of invisible poisons that can devastate a school, cruise ship or office staff in a matter of days -- Swine flu, Avian Flu, MRSA (resistant staph infection) and many other nasty viruses and “bugs” have been making headlines of late. One headline read, “Swine Flu Pandemic Would Cost Trillions.” The World Bank estimated that a flu pandemic could cost $3 trillion and that more than 70 million people could die worldwide. Although business interruption policies do not tend to cover disruption caused by large amounts of staff absence where there is no damage to property, Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C., Attorneys and Counsellors at Law, recently published an article, entitled, “Insurance Coverage for Swine Flu Claims,” in which they stated in part, “Insurance may provide relief in a number of ways. Property insurance policies, for example, may become relevant if a flu pandemic disrupts the daily operations of a business. A business may be able to file a business interruption claim in various circumstances, such as if its office buildings or warehouses are shut down or access is otherwise impaired for reasons related to the pandemic. “…For other businesses, though, the risks are higher. For example,
businesses subject to “invitee liability” — e.g., restaurants and hotels, cruise operators, conference organizers, and others that draw people together —may face claims from anyone who becomes ill shortly after visits to their premises …some policies, particularly those written for policyholders in the hospitality industry, do provide coverage for losses stemming from infectious disease without requiring physical damage to premises. Further, civil authority coverage, which is triggered when authorities shut off access to an area in which a business is located, can be triggered without physical damage to the policyholder’s premises.” And that is where the contents pros are worth their weight in gold! They can quickly maneuver through an office building or other place where people gather -- with the latest in antimicrobial technology. Hard surfaces, soft surfaces, desktops, computers, doorknobs, walls, carpets, electronics of all kinds, telephones, bathrooms, conference rooms – every surface can be sanitized, cleaned and made bacteria and virus free in a surprisingly short amount of time. H1N1, SARS, Ecoli, AIDS – some of the most deadly diseases on the planet cannot withstand the power of the sprays, fogs, foams and electronic cleaners they are now using. Best of all, most of their chemical barriers not only wipe out 99.99% of all germs and viruses, they are “human friendly” and don’t leave harmful chemical residues behind! In fact many of the vapor, botanical and ultraviolet technologies can be used with the staff still working in the building! No loss of time, work or revenue.
Vol. 10, Issue 2
Contents Pros Save Money on Every Job!
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You have probably read about the incredibly vast array of items contents professionals can now clean and restore and the huge amounts of money they have saved for insurance companies by restoring such things as figurines, fine china, silverware, picture frames, art work of all kinds, blinds, silk plants, wood furniture, rusted metal objects, leather, soft goods (clothes, curtains, furs), water-logged computers, big screen TVs and a whole lot more. You may have seen past stories about the company in the Nevada desert that was asked to restore a submarine from Hawaii! Or the company that restored tens of thousands of x-rays – or perhaps you heard
about the one that, cleaned and sanitized to save many items that would have been $65,000.00 in change from a bank flood written off as losses.” and restored over 1,000 plaster molds for a dentist. But even more importantly, these companies are also telling us that they, “…reduced cash-outs by over 50%,” and reportedly, “... were (once) able to recover 65%-70% of the items they took in to clean. That level has risen to 95%-98%.” It is obvious why insurance companies, property managers, hospitals, universities, major corporations and even the military are seeking out contents pros. One company spokesperson adds, “Insurance companies appreciate that we are able
Contents Pros Restore Electronics
Child Friendly Biocides = Magic Bullet? One manufacturer in England writes, “… the UK population has a 35% community acquired MRSA…our own abuse of antibiotics has made these infections become resistant to what is there to protect us.” As you may recall from an earlier edition of Contents Solutions, MRSA (methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a vicious Staph infection that “eats” human flesh and can’t be stopped by ordinary antibiotics once it manifests inside the body. It is found in school locker rooms, sports team’s equipment, prisons, even hospitals. But now, both in the UK, the United States and Canada contents professionals are using biocides that eradicate the deadly MRSA as well as dozens of other bacteria, viruses and germs on contact. The company from which we drew the opening quote in this article, tells us that in one demonstration their biocides, “… kill(ed) MRSA bacteria …started with 3,240,000,000 MRSA bacteria (which) were reduced in one minute contact time to less than 10 MRSA bacteria in clean and dirty conditions.” And, by mixing two of their antimicrobials, “… kill(ed) HCV (hepatitis C virus). After one minute contact time HCV RNA was not detectable
in the serum samples.” An American company says that its product is registered with the EPA as non-toxic to humans! And adds, “Some cleaners claim to kill 99.9% of “germs” but may not be killing the most life threatening virus, bacteria and their spores. Spores can lay dormant for long periods of time and are hard to kill. When conditions become favorable again, they revive and reinfest. Sporing bacteria are the cause of a number of serious diseases in humans. A product that cannot inactivate spores is like killing the mother spider without killing the thousand eggs she just hatched.” Contents Pros have been using compounds that kill bacteria, MRSA, Swine Flu and many other viruses and germs for years – and now with the new “child friendly,” biocides, property managers, insurance adjusters, hospital administrators and many others are seeking them out to keep offices, schools, hospitals, ships, restaurants and many other public places open, safe and productive! When a company has to close its doors, when a hospital has to close off a wing or operating theater, when a school has students getting infected on campus, there really isn’t anyone as well equipped to handle the job.
vContents professionals have found new and innovative ways to restore electronics during the past few years. More sophisticated technology, better training and strong liaisons with experts in the field have enabled contents processors to restore everything from toasters to big screen TVs. Hospitals see this as a major improvement over having to wait weeks or even months to have smoke and water damaged equipment replaced. Homeowners often get their televisions, computers and other household electronics restored as quickly as their home is dried out and sanitized. Corporate heads get their companies up and running quickly and efficiently and insurance adjusters, agents and property managers save money again and again by restoring instead of replacing. One company states, “In many cases, the skillful removal of deposits and corrosion effects can return electronic machines or components to an almost ‘brand new’ state for 10 to 30% of the cost of replacement and, in most cases, in a fraction of the replacement time.”
When a Bargain Isn’t A Bargain You already know that if something is damaged in transit by a moving company they pay by the pound to replace it. Thus, if a can of soda is damaged, or a $1,000 digital camera that weighs the same, is damaged, the moving company pays you the same amount (about a dollar) to replace the camera as to replace the can of soda! But did you know that anything transported by a moving company gets handled only three times, but a contents company packs out, cleans and restores each item up to 15 times. Thus, each item is processed in over a dozen steps by trained professionals instead of merely loaded up, moved and unloaded as it would be by a traditional moving company. 3 3