A lack of formal response planning among insurers could hamper the clean up operation in the wake of the most recent floods according to Max Dunworth, Business Development Director, CET SAFEHOUSE, the building fulfilment services provider.

Dunworth, who has nearly 20 years experience as a senior loss adjustor, recently joined the Castle Donington-based company from Homeserve Emergency Services and believes that while the insurance industry in general has learnt some invaluable lessons from the way it handled last year’s floods, the inability to put in place improved plans to handle similar claim volumes in the future could undo any progress already made.

Whilst the bill for the clean up operation following this latest bout of severe flooding in South Wales and the North East of England is not expected to be high, these recent events serve as a timely warning to the industry as the UK experiences the highest rainfall levels for almost 10 years.

“The way in which the insurance industry responded to the floods in 2007 was nothing short of remarkable considering that it hadn’t experienced anything similar for almost 20 years,” says Dunworth, a member of the Association of Chartered Loss Adjusters. “However, I believe there have been insufficient improvements made in the response planning process - particularly where multiple parties are involved in claims management and fulfilment - and this could be a major problem leading to delays in the claims process for those people affected by flooding.”

Adds Dunworth: “For instance, there are no additional loss adjusting resources, which is likely to mean the same bottlenecks appearing once again as soon as claims start coming in. Further, there is also likely to be another ‘capacity grab’ amongst contractors, as providers try to tempt contractors to complete work for their customers ahead of others.”

In light of this, CET SAFEHOUSE has focused on its network capability, implementing plans to enable the company to secure capacity and deploy resources more effectively on behalf of clients – particularly beneficial given the current circumstances.

“These initiatives mean that we can avoid any so-called ‘capacity grab situations,” concludes Dunworth. “They mean we can plan thoroughly and be upfront in terms of the capacity we are able to deploy so that the high level of service we are committed to providing to our clients will not be compromised in times of high demand.”

Email: gill@gillsainsburypr.com