Car dealership up in flames

A major fire at a main car dealership in the East Midlands destroyed its workshop and repair centre and caused extensive smoke damage to the office areas, parts storage areas and new and used vehicle stock. A team from T&B was assigned to manage the claim.

Coordination
An initial meeting was organised with all the organisations affected by the fire including the policyholder, their landlord, their insurance broker, accountant and the insurer’s loss adjuster. The key objective of the meeting was to establish the circumstances of the incident, identify any immediate issues that needed to be resolved and to agree a plan of action.

Buildings
The policyholder did not own the premises but was responsible for insuring them. So, with the support and assistance of the landlord, we arranged for engineers and surveyors to attend the site and produce an initial strip out and decontamination schedule together with a further schedule for the reinstatement of the premises.

The main issue relating to the building was damage to the asbestos roof and we arranged for suitable contractors to be instructed to analyse the extent of the contamination and to report on the most effective ways to manage and remove the asbestos debris.

Machinery and plant
Our team prepared an itemised inventory of damaged and destroyed machinery, hand tools, diagnostic equipment and office contents. This was checked on site with the loss adjuster and a detailed and supported schedule of claim was submitted.

Stock and work in progress
Toxic smoke deposits and asbestos debris had contaminated stock so it was quickly agreed with the adjusters that none of the parts stock could be used on vehicles. A list was prepared and checked on site with the adjuster.

Vehicle stock
A large number of new and high value second hand vehicles were damaged by the fire and contaminated by asbestos. We arranged for these vehicles to be removed to offsite storage and negotiated the value of these with the insurer.

Business interruption
The extent of the fire damage was such that it was impossible for the business to continue trading from the site. The policyholder located temporary premises to enable them to continue to trade and we advised them as to how the business interruption section of their policy would support them with this aspect of their claim.

Summary
It was clear that the claim would continue beyond the end of the 12 month indemnity period and therefore a projected business interruption claim was produced and a negotiated settlement agreed on all aspects of the claim, including the building. This ensured that the policyholder received considerable sums in advance and had the flexibility to utilise these sums in the most advantageous way for their business.

What to do next?
If you think we can help you with a claim why not contact us today.

T&B appointed to multi-million pound fire

A printed circuit board manufacturer based in eastern England suffered a multi-million pound loss following a fire that destroyed its main production unit and caused extensive smoke and water damage to the remainder of the premises.

Major loss team
Thompson & Bryan’s major loss team were assigned to manage the claim and they spent several days on site with the policyholder and other interested parties in the immediate aftermath to discuss how business continuity might best be achieved and to also formulate a strategy for collating all the information required to support the insurance claim.

The company had suffered a major fire previously and encountered significant difficulties in resolving its claim and recovering the business so we were immediately under pressure to demonstrate our professionalism. We set about quantifying the claim.

Buildings
Working alongside a team of engineers and surveyors, we coordinated the demolition and clearance of the most damaged unit. We also coordinated the production of all the necessary specifications and other information to support the reinstatement works required to the remaining buildings on site.

Machinery and plant
Our main task was to produce an inventory of damaged and destroyed production machinery, computer equipment and general contents. We researched new for old replacement prices and produced a detailed and fully supported schedule of claim.

Stock and work in progress
Due to the extent and variety of stock, including raw materials and work in progress, in the premises at the time of the loss, we negotiated an agreement that the best way to quantify the loss was to carry out an accounting reconciliation based on the policyholder’s financial records.

The calculations were prepared in various ways to provide a ‘sense check’ on the values produced and this was then used as the basis for the stock claim submission.

Business interruption
Following our initial discussions with the policyholder regarding business continuity, it was agreed that subcontracting customer orders was the only viable means of maintaining short term order fulfilment. We maintained an electronic record of every customer order placed, its value, subcontract cost and BAU production cost to accurately calculate the value of claim that would be submitted under the ‘increased costs’ section of the policy.

We also analysed pre and post incident turnover to prepare calculations to support the loss of gross profit calculation using the policyholder’s financial information and in close liaison with their accountants. A detailed and comprehensive submission of data and analyses were submitted to insurers in support of all aspects of the business interruption loss including a projection of the anticipated impact for the full 12 month maximum indemnity period on the policy.

Outcome
We negotiated an early cash settlement, which provided the business owners with the flexibility to reinstate in a way that best suited them and in a time frame that best met their long term requirements.

Summary
The management of the company were extremely pleased with the way we applied our resources and expertise so that they didn’t have to be involved in the day-to-day direction and management of the claim. This enabled them to concentrate on their business and their clients.

What to do next?
If you think we can help you with a claim why not contact us today.