According to forecasts, the hurricane season this year will be relatively quiet with ‘only’ nine named storms and three hurricanes — one of which will be intense.

That compares to the average of 12 named storms, including six hurricanes, three of which are major.

A combination of factors — including a recent cooling of the tropical Atlantic sea and the effects of El Nino (a large-scale weather pattern that suppresses storm formation) — have contributed to the expected lower storm activity, according to the Colorado State University.

Last year, Bermuda barely felt any effects of any storm. The hurricane season for the Island passed by barely noticed.

However from experience we know the damage hurricanes can inflict and one intense hurricane hitting Bermuda would be enough to cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The majority of that bill would be picked up by insurers — for those who are adequately insured when the storm hits.

Hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30, but keep in mind that you must have protection before a hurricane is on its way. Insurers generally stop adding new policies when they know a hurricane is going to hit as insurance is designed to protect against the unforeseen.

When Hurricane Ivan hit the Cayman Islands ten years ago, we paid more than $300 million in insurance claims for homes and cars. The total damage caused by Ivan was about $3 billion.

Yes, you do need your hurricane lamps and batteries, your supplies of food and water, but most of all you must check your insurance to see what it covers in the event of a catastrophe like a direct hit by an intense hurricane.

As well as ensuring that you actually have coverage (and not just for a hurricane), it is essential to be sure you are adequately insured. Underinsurance can cause a huge problem if you have to make a claim

If the rebuilding cost at today’s prices is $600,000, but you only insure your home for 50 percent of that value, so $300,000, thinking that you can save some money, and then you have a $50,000 claim because part of your roof gets blown off, you will only get back half of the claim value less the deductible (usually $2,500).

That means just $23,750 for your $50,000 claim. So you didn’t really save any money at all.

You would have to have saved a whole lot of premium for a whole lot of years, to make this worth it. And imagine if the claim was $100,000 or more. The same 50 percent calculation would work.

And even if you are 75 percent insured, do you really want to lose 25 percent of your claim payment when you will need it the most?

Finally, make sure you are fully insured. Don’t forget your contents. A home buildings policy covers the building as well as your fixtures and fittings (those items that are attached to your house) but it does not automatically cover your furniture, decorations and personal belongings.

If part of your roof comes off during a hurricane, the subsequent damage to the items inside your home can be devastating, even more so if they are not insured.

It was found during Hurricane Fabian that, although many people had home buildings insurance, often because a lending institution required the coverage, many people did not have contents insurance, and thus could not make a claim.

Therefore many people lost furniture, appliances, TVs and personal possessions and were not able to get them back as they did not have insurance.

Before you know it, hurricane season will be here. Don’t get caught out.

Jennifer Murdoch is general manager at Colonial Insurance.