Snow may be pretty but the cold and inclement weather like the Chattanooga area experienced this week can affect homes and cars long after it has passed.
Snow, ice on the roads, falling branches and low visibility can wreak havoc on all types of personal property, according to Henry Stockman, an agent for Farmers Insurance Group.
"You'll see the autos losing control, but also the trees getting ice on them and falling on both houses and cars," he said. "The other thing that you'll see is the cold freezing pipes."
While careful driving can reduce accidents on the road, Mr. Stockman said there are few options for homeowners looking to protect their property from falling trees aside from trimming deadwood to reduce danger and liability.
"The only real defense for that is don't have trees or don't park under them," Mr. Stockman said.
He noted that although insurance rates probably won't go up in the short term, premiums could rise within six months if claims continue to peak.
"If the claims cost is 105 percent of the premium, you've got to make up for that and increase that premium," Mr. Stockman said. "Losses and loss ratios definitely contribute to rates, there's a direct relationship."
On the road, auto insurance adjuster Ben Miller said he's seen a spike in weather-related collisions recently.
Tips for protecting your house* Turn on a trickle of water at the faucet farthest away from where the water comes into the house-- Tony Moore, TJ's Plumbing* Have all trees trimmed every several years, and regularly get rid of dead wood to reduce danger and liability-- Henry Stockman, Farmers agent* Get rid of pine trees near the house, especially if you live on a ridge or other windy area. Their root system does a poor job of keeping the tree upright in adverse conditions-- Luke Raby, Paul Bunyan Tree ServiceTips for protecting your car* Don't park under trees, especially pine trees with dead branches-- Henry Stockman, Farmers agent* Keep an eye on your tire pressure, because it tends to get low in the winter, which can cause blowouts-- Dominick Lipari, Maxi Auto Services
"I haven't seen as many as I would have expected to with the weather we've had, but we've definitely seen an increase in weather-related accidents," he said.
He's seen accidents increase about 10 percent when roads get icy, and noted body shop business is up proportionately.
Dusty Fine of Fine's Body Shop on Ringgold Road agreed that a little snow can help his bottom line.
"I'll never complain about a snowstorm on a Friday afternoon at 3:30," Mr. Fine said.
He added that the shop sees different types of accidents depending on whether road conditions are affected by snow or ice.
"The snow is usually more of the fender benders, some of them will go off in the ditch, but when we had that little ice spill, cars were damaged a lot more," Mr. Fine said.
He said that of the 20 cars the shop worked on during a recent snowstorm, all but two were repairable. But of the 20 cars brought in later as the ice took hold, more than half were totaled.
Padgett's Red Bank Body Shop saw written estimates jump from $241,000 in snowless February 2009 to $333,000 in snowy February 2010, according to owner Rick Padgett.
"We normally average about eight estimates per day, today we wrote 14 and we're still going," Mr. Padgett said. "For a five-week period when we had a lot of snow, we were averaging 22 estimates per day instead of the normal eight."
He has taken on an extra staff member to help deal with demand.