The Simpson | McCrady employees helped to organize a raffle basket for the recent Shake Your Booties event and attendees enjoyed a wonderful night to celebrate the organization’s 125 years of service to the community. Lauren Robertshaw represented our group at the event. Read more.

Congrats to Team Couch Potato for winning the corporate team fundraising award! Thank you to everyone who participated, made donations, and volunteered. Coach Murphy is happy with the results and will be taking a few weeks off to rest up.

Read more by clicking here.

If you’d like to keep up to date with Simpson | McCrady and what we’re doing in our communities, check out our Facebook page and follow us on our mission to give back!

It was a beautiful day yesterday and Simpson | McCrady was happy to participate as a sponsor for the 2018 Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf’s Golf Tournament. #wpsdproud!

On January 17^th and 24^th, the Simpson McCrady employees volunteered at the Humane Animal Rescue shelter on the North Side. We prepared peanut butter-filled Kongs for the dogs, a nice doggy treat that also, keeps them mentally stimulated, packed cat food into bags for those in need, and organized the supply room to ensure everything is ready for the animals in their care. We also toured the impressive facility and we’re incredibly grateful to the shelter staff and volunteers, for they have such a meaningful impact to these awesome animals! It was a rewarding volunteer experience.

This past Friday, a group of Simpson | McCrady employees volunteered at Junior Achievement (JA) BizTown, an innovative educational program designed to immerse middle school students in a hands-on experience of how a community functions. BizTown gives students the chance to step into real-world roles, offering them a glimpse into professions like accounting, teamwork, entrepreneurship, and more.

At BizTown, the students take on various roles within a simulated town, complete with a bank, grocery store, town hall, doctor’s office, and many other businesses—each one managed and operated by the students themselves. The program helps them understand not only the roles of employees but also how a town’s economy operates. Students are given two paychecks and a business loan and are tasked with making important financial decisions that impact both their personal lives and the success of their businesses.

Throughout their time, students must decide how to spend their paychecks within the community, making choices between essentials like food (including candy!), household expenses, and even charitable donations. This experience taught them valuable lessons in budgeting, saving, and the consequences of financial decisions.

The event was not only an incredible learning experience for the students but also for the Simpson | McCrady volunteers. It was a fulfilling day for all involved and we thank Junior Achievement for running such a fantastic program.

Ligonier Ice Fest 2026 was a success!

Simpson & McCrady was honored to be a sponsor, and one of our very own carved a sculpture for the event. We look forward to this event every year and can’t wait to see the spectacular creations next year!

It is difficult to pick up a newspaper and not see a headline story related to one disaster or another: from COVID-19 and pandemic related issues to weather related disasters like wildfires, flooding, severe hail storms, tornadoes, or hurricanes; from civil unrest and cyber-attacks to tectonic shifts in the workplace. All of these factors have heavily impacted the insurance industry with an increase in claims frequency and severity.

A few key findings:

• From 2001 to 2018 the number of major weather-related events has increased by 85%[1].
• To highlight 2020 alone:
  • It was the second warmest year on record with 2019 right behind it causing significant shifts in weather related issues[2].
  • There were seven billion-dollar tropical cyclones which is the most in one year since NOAA started tracking in 1980. The combined cost of these systems was approximately $40.1 billion[3].
  • 5 of the 6 largest wildfires in CA occurred[4].
  • There were 22 weather and climate disasters. Each exceeded $1 billion in damages, for a grand total of $95 billion[5].
• Material costs have increased across the board in the past ten years and the pandemic has only worsened the situation with supply chain issues and shortages[6].
• Labor costs are up – and that is when you can find an available contractor[7].
• Technology has increased the cost of replacing household appliances and vehicle systems[8].

In Pennsylvania, we have seen a significant increase in the number of severe weather-related claims from hail, snow, wind, and rain storms and flooding.

There has also been a significant increase in claims related to older plumbing systems and/or more complex plumbing systems due to an increased number of conveniences such as multiple bathrooms on each floor, wet bars, kitchenettes, and laundry rooms on upper levels, among other things. This creates more room for errors, leaking pipes, and burst frozen pipes during the colder months. The average cost of a non-weather water loss in our niche market is over $60,000. When you include the actual cost of the damage to your home and belongings, bringing in hygienists, rebuilding to code, and time spent out of your home while repairs are made, these figures can add up very quickly.

There has also been a significant increase in demand for labor and materials. With the pandemic, disruptions in the supply chain have caused significant delays and driven up the cost of repairs and replacements, and pushed out project completion dates[9].

As a result of these trends and factors, carriers have pulled out altogether or reduced capacity in severely impacted states such as CA and FL[10]. Many carriers have been forced to take rate and/or restructure their credit system in order to avoid pulling out of certain market places altogether[11].  Many will reward clients who install risk mitigation features such as a water leak detection shutoff device and are taking proactive measures to keep their home systems up to date. Increasing your deductibles and paying in full can also provide advantages to you annually.

With delays in delivery of mail through the USPS[12], we urge clients to consider making payments electronically or setting up their accounts for automatic payment through EFT and to also take proactive measures to improve their cyber posture[13] to safeguard against the increase in cyber-attacks.

The pandemic has brought additional shifts in our daily lives as we have all been searching for our silver linings and what we want or need right now. Many clients have bought secondary homes or moved to their secondary home while leaving their main home empty or rented out. Some have moved out of more urban areas into more suburban or rural areas or to a different, more affordable urban area. Others that have remained in their primary home or condo have done renovations to enhance their living space. Many have refinanced their mortgages.

If any of these have happened or are on the horizon for you, please reach out so we can discuss. These are all points where we will want to provide risk management guidance, arm you with information you should consider in the decision-making process and recalibrate your program along the way.

We are here for you to help in protecting tomorrow, today.

Sources:

[1] https://www.chubb.com/content/dam/aem-chubb-global/amc/pdf/Market%20Trends%202021%20Key%20Facts.pdf

[2] https://www.noaa.gov/news/2020-was-earth-s-2nd-hottest-year-just-behind-2016

[3] https://www.noaa.gov/stories/record-number-of-billion-dollar-disasters-struck-us-in-2020

[4] https://www.noaa.gov/stories/record-number-of-billion-dollar-disasters-struck-us-in-2020

[5] https://www.noaa.gov/stories/record-number-of-billion-dollar-disasters-struck-us-in-2020

[6] https://www.chubb.com/content/dam/aem-chubb-global/amc/pdf/Market%20Trends%202021%20Key%20Facts.pdf

[7] Chubb.com

[8] https://www.chubb.com/content/dam/aem-chubb-global/amc/pdf/Market%20Trends%202021%20Key%20Facts.pdf

[9] https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/new-home-construction-single-family-builders-pennsylvania-20210224.html & https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/housing/lumber-prices-home-construction-20210128.html

[10] https://www.marketplace.org/2020/08/31/insurance-increasingly-unaffordable-as-climate-change-brings-more-disasters/

[11] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/homeowners-insurance/home-insurance-outlook-2021/

[12] https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/

[13] https://www.simpsonmccrady.com/article/what-to-know-about-cybersecurity

Last month, on April 7th, ten Simpson | McCrady employees joined with the Pittsburgh Parks planting trees and mulching along the entrance and walkways on McKinley Park.    They spent a nice spring afternoon helping to beautify one of the many Pittsburgh Parks. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to make a little piece of our city more beautiful.

The Simpson | McCrady team had a great time last week volunteering at Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy‘s Riverview Park and Schenley Park. It was great to spend time with colleagues outside of the office while helping to keep our parks beautiful!

The Simpson | McCrady team had a great time volunteering at World Vision last month boxing blankets and clothing to send to those in need!

If you haven’t taken advantage of the riverfront running and biking trails in Pittsburgh, it’s well worth the adventure. The views are gorgeous and it feels great to enjoy the fresh air. Thank you Simpson & McCrady LLC and Friends of the Riverfront for the great opportunity to give back to our gorgeous community!

The wave of COVID-19 that swept the world changed many things about everyday life, from work to school and everything in-between.

We are all missing our traditions, especially summer vacations. The Simpson | McCrady team tried something to get our summertime trip fix. On an office-wide Zoom call, we added a little twist: our favorite vacation spots as the video call background.

Enjoy a little look at our favorite vacation sites, and maybe find some inspiration to discover your own kind of COVID-cation this year!

The holidays are for giving. What are your favorite ways to #give during the #holidays?

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