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.

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.