The role of the Policyholder’s Risk, Insurance and Loss Assessor

Increasingly in cases of major claims, the Insureds – invariably at the indication of their Lawyers or Brokers – contract a Loss Assessor to help them to prepare and defend their claim that will be submitted to the Insurance Companies.

This has obvious advantages, since firstly:

  • These experts will furnish the Policyholder with a technical report on the causes and consequences of the loss event that can then be compared against the report compiled by the Loss Adjuster acting for the Insurance Company.
  • They can help the Policyholder to adopt measures, something that they are obliged to do, in order to minimise the Consequential Losses.
  • They will free the Policyholder from the work of preparing and documenting the claim to be presented to their Insurers, so that instead they can dedicate themselves primarily to recovering their normal productivity and contacting their suppliers and clients.

Furthermore, with the “fees of the Insured’s expert/loss assessor” clause that the major Brokers currently are contracting in the policies that they negotiate, VANTEVO’s services  may end up being wholly or partially free of charge for the Policyholders.

Likewise an independent and professional Loss Assessor like VANTEVO, can help the Policyholders reduce their claims record by systematically analysing the causes of any loss events that arise and thus undertake measures so as to prevent any similar loss events recurring in the future.

Additionally, based upon the analysis of the incidents that occur, it is possible to achieve a year on year improvement in the safety measures implemented at the risk and thereby improve the covers afforded by their Policy, all of the above in collaboration with the Policyholder’s Broker.

Lastly, an independent Loss Assessor such as VANTEVO CLAIMS ADVISORS can help the Policyholder to avoid any underinsurance by appraising their assets, and to improve their risks by means of the survey report they compile that reflects the necessary hazard prevention and safety measures, and to draw up an “action protocol in the event of a loss” the advantages of which we have explained in a recent communication.

The Usefulness of an Incident Action Protocol in the event of a loss

Incident Action Protocol

A major loss event occurring in an industrial risk generates an emergency situation that requires emergency solutions.  With this type of company, the Consequential Losses arising out of the interruption of the business can be substantial and it is vital not to lose any time and be clear about what must be done after the incident has occurred.

That is the objective of implementing an Incident Action Protocol:

  1. Recover normal productivity within the shortest time possible.
  2. Adequately prepare and document the claim to be presented to Insurers.
  3. Recover as soon as possible the settlement for the loss and damage covered by the insurance policy.

The elaboration and design of an Incident Action Protocol requires the examination of the company’s risks along with their emergency and contingency plans.  Thought must be given in the same to:

  • Who is going to settle the losses: A list should be drawn up of three firms specialising in industrial risks operating locally that can assist the Insured to undertake measures in order to minimise the Consequential Losses.
  • Who is going to repair the damage: A series of firms specialising in the risk should be approved and establish with them what are their rates and work conditions.
  • Who is going to control the repairs and document the cost of the same along with the Consequential Losses brought about by the loss event: VANTEVO suggest that this should be done by the Insured’s Maintenance Department using their own management system.  That would allow a control to be kept of the quality of the repairs and, without any doubt, would expedite the same.
  • An account should be opened in which all the costs associated with the loss event are entered, with some accounting codes for a quick and easy identification and classification of the amounts.

Our experience is that, at the time of the loss event, which is the moment of truth as far as the insurance is concerned, there should be no room for any improvisations or any time wasted, but instead that agreed in the Incident Action Protocol drawn up earlier must be enacted.

We at VANTEVO CLAIMS ADVISORS would be delighted to assist the Policyholders and Brokers to implement an Incident Action Protocol to help them to resume normal productivity as soon as possible and receive from Insurers the settlement for all the losses to which they are entitled on the basis of the insurance Policy that they have contracted.

Why should Insureds contract a risk survey?

As the saying goes “better safe than sorry”, yet all too frequently we have encountered, on the occasion of visits motivated by claims, companies whose layouts and risk prevention and safety measures left much to be desired.

In a tough insurance market such as the current one, it is important to invest in prevention and safety so as to facilitate the acceptance of the risks by the Insurance Companies.  Many of the measures that can be undertaken, such as improving cleanliness, sealing of electric cable ducts, thermal imaging of the electric switchboards, charging forklift batteries in an adequate place (either open air or well ventilated) … are cheap to do and require little investment.

In addition, it has been proven that most of the loss events that occur in industrial risks are caused by human factors, i.e., due to the negligence of their own workers or workmen from external companies engaged in maintenance or repair work.  Therefore, it is vital to ensure that the operations and maintenance manuals are complied with and likewise the protocols for the “hot work permits”, and that both your own as well as the subcontractor staff know and follow the prevention and safety manuals established for each risk.

There is no point whatsoever in having excellent prevention and safety rules, if then their rigorous compliance is not enforced or controlled.  Being strict on this point would substantially reduce the claims record of companies, and is a matter in which their boards of directors and works committees ought to be seriously involved.

The fact that some experts inspect the risks and issue reports recommending improvements in prevention and safety issues and point out any deficiencies and gaps found, we believe would reduce the accident rate of companies and facilitate the cover of their risks by Insurers.

At VANTEVO CLAIMS ADVISORS, we have experts in risk surveys and are in a position to assist Policyholders and Brokers to reduce their claims record and lower the cost of their insurance policies.

The study of the cause of Machinery Breakdowns.

We are all well aware that ascertaining the cause of a loss event is essential in order to clarify the cover for the claim, determine liability for the same and to take measures to prevent it from happening again.

In the case of serious fire losses, sometimes given the degree of destruction caused by the fire, it is not easy to pinpoint the origin of the same, despite contracting experts in root cause investigations.

In cases of Machinery Breakdown claims, the study of their cause is less complicated, but nonetheless often requires the intervention of metallurgical or electrical laboratories, depending upon the presumed origin of the loss event.

It is only by means of a metallurgical analysis that you can verify whether the fracture process of a blade or metal part has been a slow and gradual one or sudden and unforeseeable,  besides being accidental.  In the first case, the loss would not be covered whilst in the second, it would be.  Again we would need the assistance of a metallurgical laboratory to ascertain whether any corrosion or erosion was slow and gradual or accidental and fast, and therefore possibly covered in this latter case.

At VANTEVO CLAIMS ADVISORS, we tend to use the laboratories of Engineering Schools, since in the event of any dispute, the courts usually positively weigh the reports signed by professors, since they assume they have the knowledge and independence to issue their opinion.

There are not normally any problems with the conclusions reached in the laboratory reports, since these are usually clear and conclusive, and their conclusions are objective and well documented, and accordingly can be accepted by all the parties involved in the claim.

At VANTEVO CLAIMS ADVISORS, we usually ask that, in addition to ascertaining the “root cause” of the loss event, they suggest measures to avoid similar claims in the future and their recommendations normally are very interesting.