Insurer will open Monday in light of potential storm threat

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2: A major island insurer is to open on Monday so clients can make sure their policies and premiums are up to date as Hurricane Katia remains a potential threat to Bermuda.

William Madeiros, general manager of Front Street’s Freisenbruch-Meyer Insurance Services, said staff had volunteered to give up the Labour Day holiday to help clients make sure they are prepared as Katia continues to move west across the Atlantic.

Mr Madeiros stressed: “We don’t want to be alarmist, but at the same time, Monday is a public holiday and we’re very much keeping in mind we’re an insurance company and there’s a hurricane out there.

“We want to give our clients every opportunity to come in and see us, so we’re going to be open on Monday from 9am to 5pm so people can make sure their policies are up to date and cover everything they need to.

“Some people may not have enough cover or let their policies lapse – we don’t want anyone to suffer unnecessarily.

“The good news is that people are renewing their policies, but we have noticed a trend towards people taking a bit longer to get the premiums to us.”

Mr Madeiros said – in preparation for the hurricane season – Freisenbruch-Meyer staff had been visiting its thousands of home insurance clients offering advice on hurricane preparedness.

He added: “We’re trying to be as proactive as we can. People should free to pick up the phone and call us on Monday – we’ll be there.

“That five minutes coming to see us or calling to make sure everything is up to date is well worth it.

“It’s the sort of thing people should be doing anyway, but sometimes it takes something like a hurricane out there to galvanise people into action.”

Mr Madeiros added that the volunteer staff would be served meals throughout the day and a babysitter would be on hand to look after employees’ children if necessary.

He said: “We’re very grateful that our staff have responded to our call for staff – it shows they’re prepared to go the extra mile for the company and our clients.”