by Scott on September 24, 2011
Before the housing market began to collapse, pre-construction termite prevention was having its heyday, as hundreds of homes went up on a regular basis and owners demanded termite pretreatments as added insurance against termites. Many termite control firms in various states, including Arizona, were making most of their income on such pretreatments as recently as six or five years ago. But in the last six years, the housing market has undergone a massive change. For example, the number of homes going up six years ago was about two million. Now, six years later, that number has been reduced to a quarter of the original figure.
The collapse began when it finally became clear that the wrong decisions were being made by homeowners, who often ended up using their homes as leverage for other loans. The years prior to the collapse saw so many homes being built because that was traditionally the American dream: to manage to make at least one big investment that would permit a person or persons to retire safely and happily later on. Since most Americans feared or were intimidated by the tough investment worlds of stocks and business, they ended up investing in their homes, waiting for the structures to appreciate. In the excitement to make good investments, however, too many people paid too much and prices went overboard, with people still buying. When the loans started catching up on homeowners, the first signs of collapse began to show, leading to the heavy foreclosures we see today and the severe decline in the price of housing. The impact of these changes has been significant on the pre-construction termite control industry.
The termite control firms exclusively focused on pretreatments have nearly all gone extinct. Those who focused on it (albeit not exclusively) have since branched out into other forms of termite and pest control in a bid to stay alive in this market. Even so, experts caution that the demand is still weak for post-construction treatments as well. It only stands to reason that if homeowners are so pressed for money that they can no longer afford pretreatments, it would be more likely for them to try and resolve their current termite issues or infestations by themselves using DIY methods, as opposed to hiring skilled and trained technicians to handle their termite problems for them.
What all of this makes clear is that termite prevention companies now have to focus on diversifying their offerings if they want to stay afloat, and that hard times shall still be here for quite a while. The goal now is to help homeowners see that their homes are still investments in a sense—they are the places where families live, where households are held together—and require protection from termites in order for their prices not to drop even lower.
by Scott on September 24, 2011
Comfort Insurance just recently announced that it would be partnering with the UK auto glass repair brand, Autoglass, and using Autoglass for its preferred auto glass work supplier in Europe. The news comes hard on the heels of Autoglass being chosen by the insurance company’s underwriter for a similar agreement. Autoglass’s reputation in Europe has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since it started its integrated media flurry, which has consumers looking to their Facebook apps to win contests and looking at the road to see street art. Sounds obscure? Not to the British public.
Autoglass started a contest just this year that invites car owners in the UK to submit photographs of themselves with their cars. Out of all the submissions, several finalists shall be chosen by other consumers in a voting process, after which a representative from the company shall then be tasked to select one winner from those. The winner shall receive several prizes, including a starring role in the windshield repair and replacement brand’s next TV commercial. This was followed by an enormous 3D painting of a vehicle with shattered windows sunken into a pothole, right on Trafalgar Square. According to the company, they commissioned the popular street artist, Joe Hill, to create this work of art in order to open up the London public’s eyes to the dangers on the streets—some of the most ubiquitous of which are indeed potholes. The company also did a survey this year on road rage and its causes, finding at least 2000 respondents and asking them questions about the last time they indulged in road rage or were part of an incident with road rage. It then released the intriguing findings to the public as part of its program to encourage safety on English roads.
Autoglass’s appointment as a preferred windshield repair and replacement supplier by both Comfort Insurance and Aviva, then, was perhaps only to be expected following this immense expansion of public visibility by the auto glass repair brand. Most insurance companies tend to prefer more visible or larger partners when it comes to suppliers, as may be seen even in the partner choices of American and other insurance companies all around the world. Part of the reason perhaps is to heighten customer assurance for both companies. The more visible or seemingly established the provider, the more reliable an insurance company seems to be. And in the same vein, the more visible or apparently established the partner/client, the more dependable the auto glass repair retailer looks. A convenient arrangement, one might say, and one that many insurers are certainly following.
Comfort Auto Glass Insurance is a family-run business that specializes in insuring motor homes or motor caravans. It has been operating for at least 15 years in the business and is a market leader in its insurance niche.
