Claims Consultants and Chartered Loss Adjusters

Claims Consultants and Chartered Loss Adjusters Recovering your business, supporting success.... ....every step of the way. Claims Consultants and Chartered Loss Adjusters Contents The Need for Hamilton Bond’s Services Page 1 The Services - The Benefits - The Costs 2 Case Studies 4 Testimonials 6 How to Proceed 8 Life is a journey of challenges, twists and turns that can affect us all. In business, unexpected events can have a potentially serious effect on the future. The Need for Hamilton Bond’s Services Insurance protects businesses in the event of an incident, but optimising the claim process and outcome is key. When a negative incident occurs, our Claims Consultancy service can help to turn the situation around and support future success. Hamilton Bond Ltd are experienced Claims Consultants and Chartered Loss Adjusters who provide a range of claims related services to the insuring public with the focus on Commercial clients. With extensive experience in the insurance market, each Claims Consultant brings significant breadth and depth of knowledge of insurance claims handling and Loss Adjusting to assist and support you the Broker and your clients. All of our Consultants are qualified Chartered Loss Adjusters. Our core Claims Consultancy services are delivered under the CILA Charter and we act solely for the insured client. Additionally our business is Financial Services Authority (FSA) authorised and regulated. In addition to our core Claims Consultancy service we can also undertake Business Continuity Planning where required. We have an impressive track record of delivering these services and can provide detailed case studies and testimonials from our clients, both Brokers and the Insured, which truly evidence the benefits they have experienced. Recovering your Business, Supporting Success. 1 The Services - Claims Consultancy to the Insured Client Following an introduction by the Broker to their client, we act as the Insured’s Claims Consultants, utilising our qualifications and wealth of experience as Chartered Loss Adjusters to:- • Reduce the amount of time the Insured’s Partners/Directors spend dealing with each claim. • Identify each and every element recoverable under the policy and negotiate the optimum settlement. • Ensure that the entire process is accelerated. Benefits to the Client • The Insured’s Partners/Directors time is not recoverable within the claim; however the use of our service significantly reduces the amount of time the key personnel require to spend on the claim process. • All admissible heads of claim will be identified and correctly valued. The optimum settlement will then be negotiated and obtained for the client, protecting their financial position. • The business is recovered on an accelerated basis, returning to pre-loss levels at the earliest possible date thereby protecting customer goodwill. • By employing a specialist with the key skill sets to manage and resolve the claim, the Insured importantly ensures they meet the requirements of corporate governance. Benefits to the Broker • This added value beneficial service is brought to the client’s table by you the Broker - not a Third Party - enhancing the existing relationship. • The service is FSA compliant and assists in supporting the Brokers FSA responsibilities. • Significant time-savings accrue for the Account Executives, allowing them to focus on servicing their clients as opposed to becoming involved in the detail and complexities of claims. • The Claims Consultant does not stand between the Broker and the client, but works in partnership with both. The Cost • Our fees are market competitive and are a percentage of the final settlement. These are based on a transparent scale of charges relevant to the type of claim and its complexity. We clearly explain the fees at the point of introduction to the Insured before they give any commitment or engage Hamilton Bond Ltd. • Our Claims Consultancy is effectively aimed at providing, at the least, a cost neutral service. From our track record, we can demonstrate that in the majority of cases, the service is provided on a cost benefit basis, to the Insured Client. • Our appointment procedure allows the Insured client time to fully understand the service and benefits before they sign our formal FSA engagement agreement. This applies even where we are already providing resources and support in the critical initial stages of any claim. 2 Support Other Services Broker Claims Consultancy We also provide a Claims Consultancy service to Brokers charged at an hourly rate. This provides an additional level of assistance, which is important for those claim related matter where the Broker requires to resolve a more complex issue. Broker Claims Consultancy is aimed at achieving an accelerated settlement for specific claims issues, thus reducing the considerable administrative time which is often spent by the Broker and the client. The service is charged at an hourly rate but can be agreed on a discounted annual basis. We would be pleased to provide further details of these services. When a negative incident occurs we support our clients by identifying a strategy that will promptly resolve the claim. 33 Case Studies The following case studies provide a snapshot of where and how we assisted the Insured following an incident or loss. Case Study 1 Automotive Components Supplier Major Fire Hamilton Bond Ltd supported the Insured from the day of the fire, advising and steering them through the initial issues and policy liability aspects, ensuring prompt acceptance of liability. The initial settlement proposal from the Loss Adjusters acting for Insurers was just under £1,000,000. As a result of our detailed involvement, negotiations and correct assessment of policy cover, the claim was ultimately settled at just under £1,400,000 a difference of nearly £400,000. The key areas of negotiation involved Buildings, Rent, Stock and Business Interruption. Case Study 2 Specialist Production Engineers Flood Hamilton Bond Ltd assisted the Insured from the week of the severe flooding in July 2007. All aspects from the Premises, Stock, Machinery & Plant, Fixtures and Business Interruption were badly affected by the extreme flood waters. We assisted from the point before flood waters receded, giving advice to the Insured as to the immediate actions to be taken and ultimately negotiating settlement of the claim at over £1,000,000. This figure greatly exceeded the Insurers Loss Adjusters initial settlement proposals. We also liaised with the Landlords Insurers on their behalf to negotiate the optimum settlement for all parties, with benefits to both the Landlord and their Tenants. As a result of our involvement the overall settlement exceeded the Insured’s initial expectations by over £400,000. Case Study 3 Specialist Parts Manufacturer Major Fire Hamilton Bond Ltd supported the Insured from the date of the fire, liaising with the Loss Adjusters, Insurers and Brokers to ensure policy liability was accepted and to minimise potential delays caused by non-relevant investigations, by the Insurer appointed Forensic Scientists. We negotiated settlement with the Loss Adjusters, with the “cash” payment for the Material Damage and Business Interruption elements of the claim exceeding the Insured’s expectations by some £180,000, solely as a result of correct policy interpretation. The overall claim was settled at just under £900,000 within three months of the date of the fire. Additionally, the Brokers reviewed the case on completion and calculated they had spent no more than five hours on the claim instead of an anticipated five weeks, thereby freeing them up to concentrate on renewals and new business. 4 Recover Our focus is to help our clients recover their business, optimising the claim outcome and exploring all available settlemet options. Case Study 4 Printing Business Storm Hamilton Bond Ltd ensured that a key piece of damaged printing machinery was correctly valued, increasing the settlement from the Insured’s initial suggested asset register valuation of £8,000 to just under £50,000. We ensured prompt acceptance of policy liability and the issue of interim payments. We then guided the Insured through the replacement process, the Insured opted to add to the agreed insurance payment and reinstate the item on an alternative basis, contributing to upgrade the specification. This allowed them to move into new digital printing markets, without increasing staffing levels. We also negotiated the Business Interruption claim, successfully demonstrating that within the period of interruption, a significant single order had been irretrievably lost, correctly increasing the Loss of Profits Claim from £25,000 to over £60,000. Overall, the settlement exceeded the Insured’s original expectations by over £75,000. 5 Testimonials Our Clients, both Brokers and the Insured can provide testimonial references in support of the benefits we have provided. We would be pleased to make these available or where required, contact details to allow you to obtain references directly. In the interim however, the following are some brief extracts from such testimonials. “I’ve never been so pleased to pay an Invoice” National Property Owner / £45,000 claim “The best decision we’ve ever made in relation to insurance claims” Major Midlands Retailer / £35,000 claim “An excellent job - you’ve done us proud” Midland Automotive Component Manufacturer / £1m claim “We would be only too pleased to provide a reference or testimonial should you ever need it” Gloucestershire Property Developer / £150,000 claim “A great result and now off my desk at last” Midlands Hotelier / £10,000 claim “As a result of the excellent claims consultancy service, that was the easiest renewal we’ve had this year” Worcestershire Broker “I can’t believe the time we’ve saved - and kept our client happy” Warwickshire Broker “The whole system and process worked better than I could ever have expected - brilliant” Herefordshire Broker “Hamilton Bond’s involvement has produced and is producing invaluable support and clear results for our clients” Tayside Broker 6 Succeed We apply our specialist knowledge and understanding of the claims process, to maximise our clients opportunities to succeed after any incident. “You come highly recommended, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation, now.” Broker for International Property Investors, Explosion, Hemel Hempstead - £20m claim “We’d like to thank you for doing such an excellent job” Gloucestershire Hotelier / £360,000 claim 7 How to proceed Our goal is to provide an exemplary level of support in the resolution of insurance claims. We would be pleased to outline the simple basis upon which the services can be accessed and the optimum basis in which these can be delivered to you and your clients. For further information or to engage our services please contact: Graeme Monce ACII ACILA ABCI Managing Director mobile. 07932 594831 e-mail. graeme.monce@hamilton-bond.co.uk Ian Jones ACII FCILA FUEDI-ELAE Claims Consultant mobile. 07912 270233 e-mail. ian.jones@hamilton-bond.co.uk Alastair Dewar ACII FCILA FUEDI-ELAE Manager, Scotland mobile. 07852 299295 e-mail. alastair.dewar@hamilton-bond.co.uk Andy Holmes ACII FCILA FUEDI-ELAE FIFAA Claims Consultant mobile. 07970 034394 e-mail. andy.holmes@hamilton-bond.co.uk Steve Angus ACII ACILA Claims Consultant mobile. 07960 885429 e-mail. steve.angus@hamilton-bond.co.uk Norman Nutt BSc MRICS ACII FCILA Claims Consultant mobile. 07854 177175 e-mail. norman.nutt@hamilton-bond.co.uk Head Office 14 Pierpoint Street Worcester WR1 1TA telephone. 01905 726407 fax. 01905 726409 Scotland Office 18 Castle Way St. Madoes Perthshire PH2 7NY www.hamilton-bond.com 8 Support Recover Succeed www.hamilton-bond.com Claims Consultants and Chartered Loss Adjusters