An insurance policy becomes no more significant than when you are faced with a potential total loss.
On the 26th June 2012 there was a well publicised gas explosion in Shaw, Greater Manchester, which put one of our clients in this very real situation, affecting two properties that he owned.
The client notified our office of the incident on the same day, and within hours, the incident had been reported to insurers and loss adjusters were appointed. Our client received a prompt call back regarding access to the site once the fire brigade had declared it safe to do so.
Our in house claims team understands the importance of providing regular updates to clients regarding their claim, as it is often the case that the insured is left in the dark whilst a claim moves forward. Regular calls were facilitated by MOFS between all parties involved and though access was not granted for almost two weeks after the explosion, we were able to confirm that two weeks later, structural reports for each property had been completed and the repair works were put out to tender. This effective communication demonstrated the vital link we provided as broker to enable work to commence at the soonest opportunity.
Within a very short time after the incident, it was important that the client started to receive income from the rent that was being lost following the damage. Interim payments were agreed and met by Insurers to ensure that the client’s business was sustained.
Both damaged properties are now fully repaired and both are now fully occupied. It is also extremely pleasing to receive praise from our client regarding the overall handling of the claim:
“Just a note to say thank you to all concerned for facilitating a smooth resolution to our property claims following the explosion in Shaw last year”
“I think we are amongst the earliest to get the properties with such an amount of damage back into a habitable condition with new tenants so well done all round”
Though we do not want our clients to have a first hand experience of our claims service, this incident demonstrates how important an experienced claims team can prove to be in the event of a significant loss.
