Together We Thrive: Disaster Preparedness & Response

When disaster strikes, thousands turn to their insurance providers for support. At Travelers, an effective and sustainable response is critical when it comes to helping our customers and ensuring mutual, long-term success. We take a holistic approach to managing Travelers’ exposure to disasters, helping our customers prepare for, respond to and recover from catastrophic events.

Chris Day, Assistant Vice President of Catastrophe Response, has been with Travelers for 25 years, and his work is integral to helping ensure the safety of both our customers and employees. In his role, Chris works with many groups to support our catastrophe (CAT) response efforts before, during and after an event. “Some of my responsibilities include daily weather analysis and coordination of the business resiliency components of our CAT response. I also manage our Mobile Claim Office fleet and our vendors, and I oversee the mapping and geospatial visualization capabilities for our responses,” Chris said.

Innovative technology plays a crucial role in the speed and accuracy of our CAT response. “This includes analytical and geospatial capabilities, such as imagery analytics, which help us compare locations before and after a loss to better assess damage and tailor our deployment strategy,” Chris explained. “Ground-level technologies further improve efficiency by integrating photos with estimating software to expedite claims processing.”

According to Chris, another innovative example of how Travelers supports our customers during a disaster is through our recent SaveMyRide^SM program. This program was a winning idea at Travelers’ Innovation Jam (InJam), and it’s simple: During hurricanes and tropical storms, we offer our policyholders in flood-prone areas free parking in an above-ground parking facility. Damage to vehicles during storms can be a big problem, so providing these customers with a safe place to store their vehicles can help them potentially avoid an auto claim. Our SaveMyRide program is a great example of how we’re innovating to better serve our customers and help ensure the company’s long-term success.

While Chris’ team focuses on disaster preparedness and response efforts, Chris emphasized that every employee plays a role in delivering on the Travelers Promise to take care of our customers, our communities and each other. “People may not always think about their role as being significant in creating sustained value, but it’s important for all employees to understand that doing their work well and with purpose helps contribute to the greater good,” Chris said. “Wherever you sit – behind the scenes or on the front lines – when you’re delivering on your work, you’re delivering on the promise we make to be there for our customers, as well as our communities and each other.”