Cunningham Lindsey launches Major & Complex Loss Review

Cunningham Lindsey, the market-leading loss adjusting and claims management company, today launched its 2015 Major and Complex Loss Review, which gives a bird’s eye view of a number of case studies ranging from the recent explosions in Tianjin to the theft of rare religious relics.

Neil Gibson, UK Loss Adjusting Services Director, said: “Almost every day we are seeing increasing loss estimates from the explosions in Tianjin – a vivid reminder that many of the losses faced by the insurance industry are catastrophic and complex. Tianjin exemplified many of the trends we have seen in the cases contained in this year’s report. For example, there was a wide spread of claims from contamination to contingent business interruption, the need for local expertise to overcome the access issues and to gather information, and specialist support was required from across our network.”

“Adjusting a major loss demands technical excellence, but this alone is not enough. Firstly the need for in-depth specialist knowledge is reiterated time and again in our case studies. We have cases where the difference between success and failure has rested on having a specific knowledge of how to store cocoa beans, the judicial complexities of France and Belgium or the historic value of a religious relic. Clients are looking for this deep understanding of either an industry or specialist subject.”

“However, expertise is only effective if it is delivered promptly, to the exact point of need. No one knows when disaster might strike, so the ability to scale up and wherever our clients need us is vital. If the right expertise is not available in the region where the loss has occurred, we can put specialists on a plane and get them onsite within hours. When a week of storms turned the Australian state of New South Wales on its head, we had the flexibility and international resources to fly staff from New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and Canada to help with both property and business interruption losses.”

“As these case studies demonstrate, dealing with major and complex losses is the very opposite of a faceless, process-driven approach. The commercial angle to any major loss is a significant and delicate issue, with the policyholder and their insurer often having a differing understanding of the policy wordings or desired outcomes. As this year’s report illustrates, losses vary enormously, by country or by cause – but the key elements of the solution remain constant: the right person, in the right place at the right time.”

You can read the review here: Cunningham Lindsey MCL Review 2015 (003)

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