DAMAGE MANAGEMENT
PREPARE AND PROTECT
Winter is coming and it could be one of the worst for some years, if media hype is to be believed. However with the unpredictable nature of the British weather, Angus Dodds, Head of Restoration Services at ServiceMaster Clean is advising businesses and homeowners to ‘prepare and protect your property this winter’.
It has always been our policy to advise customers to prepare and protect their properties, which may sound dramatic but by being prepared, you can ensure that your business premises will be protected financially and will be quickly restorable, should the worst happen.
A 2014 report by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) stated that the 2013/14 winter floods resulted in almost 20,000 flood claims, with insurance claims worth £6.7m per day. Throughout that period, ServiceMaster Clean was inundated with emergency call-outs to dry and sanitise properties and restore them back to their pre-damaged condition, as quickly as possible.
Our role is to ensure that the occupants of the property can return at the earliest possible opportunity. We work closely with insurers and loss adjusters to provide a professional, fully-accredited service, on small domestic and large commercial property claims.
We were recently called to an insurance claim in the Midlands where an underwater mains pipe had burst, causing the property to flood from the outside and from the ruptured stop tap inside too. Once the mains pipe was shut off, the technicians began extracting water from the property and removing furniture and possessions from the flooded area.
Dryers were installed to remove moisture from the walls and concrete
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floor and the ground floor carpets were removed for professional cleaning and drying. A full sanitation process of the affected areas followed and the property was back to pre- claim condition within two weeks.
Preparation is the key. The ABI stated that in 2013, 38% of UK domestic households did not have buildings insurance and were unprepared for potential flood and storm damage to their properties.
A flooded property that is attended to quickly can be restored and recovered much faster than if it were left underwater and unreported. Property owners should ask themselves a number of questions this winter to help prepare and protect themselves; do I have the correct level of insurance to cover me for flood damage? Does my insurer have a 24/7 response service and do I have the correct contact numbers to hand in an emergency?
If you can answer ‘yes’ to all these questions, you’re in safe hands. A comprehensive insurance policy is an imperative part of contingency planning. A burst water pipe or a freak surge can cause major business disruption and although there is never a good time for this to happen, in and around the Christmas period is certainly not a time you would choose.
No stranger to emergency flood surge call-outs, back in 2009, ServiceMaster Clean was called in to deal with more
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than 50 properties that had suffered extreme damage in the Cockermouth floods in Cumbria. The majority of these properties had been completely destroyed on the ground floor with almost 100% loss of contents. At the worst of the flooding the houses on this road were under around 7ft of water, which was just short of the ceiling on the ground floor of the properties. ServiceMaster Clean was one of the first teams on site after the emergency services and once the water had subsided to a manageable level, the clean-up operation began.
The drying time for a property depends on a number of factors, including its age and condition but many of the properties in Cockermouth took around two months to completely dry out, ready for contractors to commence repairs.
No amount of preparation can ever ready a property owner for the level of damage witnessed in Cockermouth but ensuring your insurance is comprehensive and your claim will be handled by a professional restoration management company can give you piece of mind.
Prepare and protect your property this winter and should the worst happen, you’ll be in safe hands.
www.servicemasterclean.co.uk
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