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Volume 7 – December 2019 Code of practic e : making properties more resilient to flooding Page 7 the impact of climate change on the insurance sector Page 11 BDMA conference overview Page 1402 BDMA Training News I believe that this course has helped me to better understand that the needs of children in disaster claims isn't just a customer service issue, but as much a life issue. I now see a better way of providing a fully rounded restoration to the matter. “ Upcoming BDMA Examinations (2020) 28 th February Market Harborough 1 st May Market Harborough 17 th July Market Harborough 25 th September Market Harborough 4 th December Market Harborough New BDMA e-Academy Course Announcement In November, we launched a new course onto our BDMA e-Academy which has come at a particularly fitting time, with the UK experiencing adverse weather conditions. The course ‘Supporting Children & Young People after Flooding’ has been developed based on research carried out by Lancaster University in conjunction with Save the Children, and with funding from the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC). The research recognised that children and young people were not particularly considered or prioritised during flood events, and examined some of the problems that they were experiencing, especially with recovery. The course provides insights and helps individuals to understand the perspectives of children and young people in a flood situation. The ‘Supporting Children & Young People after Flooding’ course is available free for everyone on the BDMA e-Academy. BDMA Examinations - Website Update We have recently made some changes to the information on our Examinations website page to provide more information about our examination policies, structures and reviews. Please see our updated documents here: Exam Policy Document Technician Examination Guide Post-Examination Review Process We continuously work to improve the information we provide to candidates, so any feedback is always welcome, please contact: info@bdma.org.uk Acknowledgements - BDMA Certificate in Site Health & Safety Congratulations to those who have passed the BDMA Certificate in Site Health & Safety, available through the BDMA e-Academy… Michael Green – Claims Practitioner – Sedgwick International UK Colin Tomlinson – Senior Technician – The Revival Company Scotland Jason Head – Senior Technician – Humidity Response Limited Glenn Pullen – Technician – The Revival Company Southern Roger Throup – Technician – ServiceMaster Kerdel Limited Lucy Platts – Associate – Davis French & Associates Ltd David Tullett – Insurance Technician – Lloyds Banking Group Chris Whittaker – Associate – ISS Restoration Services Find out more about our BDMA e-Academy courses here: https://bdma.org.uk/bdma-lmp/03 CONTENTS Editorial Enquiries Becca Collier-Cook becca.collier-cook@realia.co Advertising Sales Paul Williamson paul.williamson@realia.co Design & Production Realia Marketing paul.williamson@realia.co 01303 262101 The Standard is published quarterly by The British Damage Management Association. The Standard is written in collaboration with our members, showcasing industry thought leaders and success stories to the wider community. We are delighted to present the opportunity for our members to broadcast their expertise to the broader insurance industry by submitting opinion pieces and case studies for inclusion in The Standard. Please feel free to submit your content for consideration. BDMA Enquiries & Correspondence The BDMA, Harborough Innovation Centre, Wellington Way, Airfield Business Park, Market Harborough LE16 7WB Phone: 01858 414278 | Email: info@bdma.org.uk Website: www.bdma.org.uk Keep up with us on social media… @TheBDMA @TheBDMA BDMA (British Damage Management Association) DISCLAIMER: The BDMA accepts no responsibility for the views expressed by contributors within The Standard. Advertisements are accepted at the discretion of the editor and The BDMA and do not imply any endorsement of goods or services. Notes from the Chairman 05 The BDMA’s View 06 What Climate Change means for the Damage Management Sector Guest Feature 07 Code of Practice: Making Properties more Resilient to Flooding by Graham Brogden – Chair of the Property Flood Resilience Action Group BDMA Executive 08 Opinions and Expertise from the Executive Board The Standard Insight (Feature) 10 Positively Impacting the Environment with Damage Management Guest Feature 11 The Impact of Climate Change on the Insurance Sector by Dr Bronwyn Claire – ClimateWise Our Industry in Action (Case Study) 12 Specialist Restoration Revives Historic Building from Vandalism BDMA Conference Overview 14 BDMA Conference Roundtable 16 What stops us connecting the supply chain? BDMA Awards 2019 Overview of winners 18 BDMA Awards 2019 Winner Showcase 20 DisasterCare Platinum & Jennie Mills (Rainbow International Derbyshire) Learning & Development 22 BDMA Certifies Three New Specialist Restorers Learning & Development 23 Improving your Environmental Awareness Member Showcase 25 Admiral Group PLC New BDMA Members 26 04 Raising Industry Standards Directors Simon Ford (Chairman) chairman@bdma.org.uk Kathryn Rodgers John Thompson Mike Waterfield 01858 414278 Emails to: info@bdma.org.uk unless otherwise stated. Strategic Development Director Adrian Jolly strategicdevelopment@bdma.org.uk Executive Committee Members & Constituencies Greg French DM Practitioners (Commercial) commercial@bdma.org.uk Phil McVay Claims Practitioners claimspract@bdma.org.uk James Parsons Insurance Technicians instechs@bdma.org.uk Kathryn Rodgers Specialists specialists@bdma.org.uk Chris Edwards Surface Repair Networks surfacerepair@bdma.org.uk Support Personnel BDMA Administration Sophie Bennett Office Manager sophie.bennett@bdma.org.uk 01858 414278 Marketing Paul Williamson Realia Marketing paul.williamson@realia.co 01303 262101 Through partnership working and involvement in industry wide initiatives, the BDMA executive is also informed by the Association’s relationship with The Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA). The BDMA Executive from December 2019 The British Damage Management Association (BDMA) facilitates technical and corporate training, technical support and advice on standards and represents its members’ interests in the public, industry and commercial domains. Accreditation is at the heart of the BDMA’s structure and sets the standard of how professionals in damage management and related sectors can prove their competence and commitment to delivering industry best practice. Accredited Membership is achieved by examination or peer review and is open to all who work in this field. Associate Membership is open to any individual with an interest in damage management and the wider industry, and is a requirement for practitioners wishing to gain accreditation in the damage management sector. Corporate Associate Membership status is open to any organisation wishing to show support for the BDMA and the damage management industry. Corporate Accredited Membership is available to organisations who meet strict criteria and have a specific percentage of staff who are Accredited Individual Members, in the relevant categories. Upcoming training courses 2020 21 st -22 nd January – Market Harborough Core Damage Management – Technician & Claims Practitioner 4 th February – Market Harborough The Correct Use & Interpretation of Moisture Meters 10 th -11 th March – Blackburn Core Damage Management – Technician & Claims Practitioner 21 st -22 nd April – Market Harborough Key Elements of Damage Management for Insurers & Loss Adjusters Our structured training courses can also be delivered in-house along with bespoke training designed to meet your requirements and schedule. www.bdma.org.uk/training-and-education05 Notes from the Chairman Welcome readers, Our seventh edition of The Standard brings 2019 to a close, as we look forward to what 2020 may bring for the industry. The BDMA is still very much buzzing from the BDMA Conference 2019 in November. Thanks to all those who joined us as delegates as well as our speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, without whom the conference wouldn’t have been possible. Our feedback has been extremely positive with some even hailing this year’s event as our best yet, so we are delighted! Many key themes and discussion points emerged from the conference which we will present within this issue, along with a white paper of our industry roundtable findings about our supply chain connection. We would also like to once again congratulate our BDMA Awards 2019 winners and finalists and thank guest speaker Mandy Hickson for bringing the event to a close - with a standing ovation! It was a great end to the conference, celebrating our industry heroes. On a separate note, November saw all hands on deck for our members and others in the wider insurance industry as they worked with emergency services to help with the devastating flood events in the Midlands and Northern England. A number of our award winners were involved in the restoration process, with our Young Achiever, Jennie Mills, and her team even focused upon on BBC News. Restoring homes, businesses and people’s lives remains a major priority as the adverse and unpredictable weather continues. Climate change is having a significant effect across the world, and it seems fitting that this edition of The Standard has a focus on this too. Enjoy our latest issue, and as always, we welcome your feedback. Simon Ford, Chairman, BDMA. Upcoming Industry Events Scotland’s Flood Risk Management Conference 2020 Glasgow 30 th -31 st January 2020 www.sniffer.org.uk/news/scotlands- flood-risk-management-conference- 2020-registrations-open BRE Fire Research Conference 2020 Watford 13 th February 2020 www.bregroup.com/events/ eventdetails.jsp?id=16074 International Conference on Flood Risk Management London 13 th -14 th February 2020 www.conferenceindex.org/event/ international-conference-on-flood-risk- management-icfrm-2020-february- london-gb ABI Annual Conference 155 Bishopsgate, London 25 th February 2020 www.abi.org.uk/events/annual- conference-2020 FLOODEX UK 2020 Peterborough Arena 26 th -27 th February 2020 www.ada.org.uk/events/floodex BIBA Conference 2020 Manchester Central 13 th -14 th May 2020 www.biba.org.uk Specialist Restoration Solutions Call 0800 019 9990 for a no obligation quotation www.harwellrestoration.co.uk Supporting BDMA members throughout the UK Before After DocumentsBooksPhotosArtworkCeramics 40 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE 1979 – 201906 THE BDMA'S VIEW THE BDMA'S VIEW Strain on workforce It is no surprise that there is a direct correlation between adverse weather conditions and job volume spikes for the damage management industry. The industry needs to be more aware of how to deal with the increased frequency of adverse weather conditions. Restoration is a reactive sector, so when adverse weather conditions take place, there tends to be a large strain on workforce. In 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released an assessment on how weather will change in the future. ”Scientists expect a warming world to lead to more extreme rainfall, with the UK receiving about 10 percent more rainfall on average per year by 2100“ 2 . The wider insurance industry is taking these forecasts into consideration and planning their workforce capabilities as much as possible. Yet, the balance between available workforces for surge events vs. business as usual remains an issue due to uncertainty and a lack of manpower. Lack of manpower With damage management contractors working seven days a week there is a great deal of stress for technicians to fit in allotted works, which can take both a mental toll and physical toll. This in turn, creates a further stress for business owners who will have to organise cash flow to finance additional workforce. An increase in workforce can really affect cash flow. Furthermore, a lack of manpower is caused by a skill gap within the industry, with less technicians entering this field of work. More work is being done to support this, especially from the BDMA and our accredited training and e-Academy. Flexibility through supply chain As a result of the increase in flooding incidents, overall the supply chain is a great resource for offering support to damage management businesses by having large ranges of equipment readily available. This flexibility helps businesses within the industry to effectively manage their costs and resources, whilst meeting policyholder demand. Making communities more resilient The industry is also taking the necessary steps to put measures in place to make communities more resilient, by building properties with more resilient materials such as concrete, rubber, treated timber and metal. More education is also being provided to communities to enhance existing homes and businesses with flood resilient materials. By better protecting UK properties against flooding, damage management companies will be better equipped to deal with the ramifications of climate change. The University of Hull and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service are furthering research, by creating ‘Ark: The National Flood Resilience Centre’, which creates specific, real-flood scenarios, so emergency responders can train and practice. Research like this will enable businesses and communities to build resilience through collaborative training and research. To truly understand what climate change means for the damage management sector, we have to look at the gradual changes in weather during recent history. In 2007, the last big flood in South Yorkshire was considered a 1-in-100 flood but now in 2019, we are dealing with similar flooding but on a more regular basis 1 . One of the reasons for this, is the pressure of global heating on the jet stream along with an increase in water vapour in warm air. Additionally, the insurance industry is trying to ensure that there is a greater focus on making communities more flood resilient. The wider insurance industry has endeavoured to ensure that there is capacity planning in place within supply chains, to assure that the damage management sector can respond to those increased flooding events. WHAT CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS FOR THE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT SECTOR 1 Damian Carrington and Jessica Murray, ‘Flooding caused by poor management and floodplain building’, The Guardian, 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/ environment/2019/nov/12/flooding-caused-by-poor- management-and-floodplain-building [accessed Friday, 15th November] 2 Roz Piddock, ‘How much flooding is in the UK’s future?’, Carbonbrief.org, 2014 https://www.carbonbrief. org/how-much-flooding-is-in-the-uks-future-a-look-at- the-ipcc-report [accessed Friday, 15th November] The BDMA e-Academy offers a course titled 'Stress Management for Employees’ This course provides insights on how work- related stress, anxiety and depression are all recognised medical conditions that could affect anyone. Make your employees aware of the risks and give some helpful tips on how to overcome stress with this course. 07 GUEST FEATURE CODE OF PRACTICE: MAKING PROPERTIES MORE RESILIENT TO FLOODING Guest Feature Graham Brogden By Graham Brogden, Chair of the Property Flood Resilience Action Group Property Flood Resilience (PFR) is accepted as an approach that can lessen the impact of flooding on a property. A vast amount of work has been done to drive the awareness of PFR and it is positive that the urgency has finally been realised in the UK. It has developed in recent years, but it still lacks consistency in how it is specified and deployed. This can of course lead to inconsistency in performance, pessimism in the value of PFR and less confidence in its effectiveness. This has prompted the need for a Code of Practice (CoP), a set of standards to provide a structure and process for PFR. The Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM), Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) endorsed and supported this CoP project (with the aim to launch in early 2020). It was funded over a 3-year period with input from Aviva, the Environment Agency, Welsh Government, Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure and Scottish Government. This article explores current issues without standards in place, the CoP itself and the benefits it will bring. Current issues There is a general lack of understanding when it comes to making properties more resilient to flooding. Adapting a property to recover more quickly is not just about lifting electrical sockets. Resistance products may be being utilised by property owners but are generally not maintained. Similarly, the effectiveness of flood resilient measures installed can be misunderstood with an unregulated process. For example, a guide for a barrier against a door frame not being securely sealed, or, water entry not being mitigated beyond a door frame. Property owners are then essentially back to square one – left at risk of flooding and further loss. Therefore, we can see where the lack of confidence comes from, especially from the insurers paying out for claims. There is confusion when it comes to knowing where to gain professional advice, without standards or processes in place. Success relies on conscientious providers taking the lead to educate and drive the CoP to develop PFR’s potential positive impact. Benefits of the CoP This CoP will provide the industry and consumers with a comprehensive guide to the specification and installation of PFR. It will also offer some minimal requirements that will create a new benchmark for PFR. By addressing the whole fabric of the building in a structured manner, the CoP will guide accurate specification, excellent installation, quality workmanship and ultimately a good level of flood resilience. It will empower property owners to make informed decisions with confidence about their property resilience. This also has the potential to deliver economic and social benefits to those affected by flooding. The aim is for the CoP to become ‘business as usual’ for building design in flood risk areas. It will support Flood Re’s initiative of ‘Build Back Better’ working with insurers to back the extra cost of resilient repairs above and beyond original damage. We believe it will also help the market move towards cost reflective pricing by 2039. CoP Standards The 6 Standards reflect the recognised approach to construction and refurbishment work – they also reflect the RIBA Work Stages. Each of the 6 Standards has been defined and has a specific ‘Aim’. Furthermore, each Standard has a number of ‘Requirements’ that should be met to deliver the anticipated outcome. The CoP development involved an extensive literature review and industry consultation to inform the Standards and their content. It allows development of specific standards for each stage where needed e.g. surveying; products (BSI851188); installation and maintenance. In addition to the CoP and Guidance, two complementary guidance documents have been developed: a Planners Guide and a Homeowner & Business Guide. By being specific to the audiences it ensures understanding and knowledge can be developed as appropriate. An overview of the Standards are: •PFR Standard 1: Hazard assessment •PFR Standard 2: Property survey •PFR Standard 3: Options development •PFR Standard 4: Construction •PFR Standard 5: Commissioning and handover •PFR Standard 6: Operation and maintenance08 BDMA EXECUTIVE BDMA executive What were your highlights from the BDMA Conference 2019? James Parsons: There was a combination of factors for me. Meeting colleagues and friends that otherwise I don’t see all that often is always a nice part of the social side of attending an event like this. I found the mix of speakers superb, some of my favourites were: Graham Brogden speaking on the Flood Resilience Code of Practice, Morten Reeslev from Mycometer who was a great straight talker on the subject of mould removal, and also Smithers Purslow’s Andy Bussey who offered fascinating insight into claims involving listed and historical buildings. An old colleague, boss and friend of mine, Jim Pittman, was entertaining as always presenting on the modern face of adjusting. The presentation from Kathryn at Harwell made me feel guilty regarding photographs I may have previously considered beyond economic repair (BER) based upon the imagery of congealed photos recovered from a skip with lots of cross contamination. Harwell managed to work wonders on restoring them, scanning and reprinting them, which goes to show the value of specialist restoration. Special mention to Jennie Mills of Rainbow for being such a great presenter and delivering such an interesting insight into her previous working life and Sedgwick’s Steve Gargano for indulging us with some retro tech from the last 20 years of adjusting. Greg French: The breadth of speakers at the conference was the real highlight for me. All speaker topics could be connected to the damage management industry, regardless of the industry the speaker was from. One of my favourite presentations was from Manjit Rana on disruption, technology, AI and the ‘internet’ of everything. The idea of integrating applications like Alexa to ensure consumers are constantly updated as to what is happening in their property, along with who is in it, making it possible in the near future for Alexa to sell home insurance to consumers as an ‘add-on’ to its monitoring services, made me take stock of my own business. Kathryn Rodgers: I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The speaker line-up was excellent and there was so much thought-provoking content that we could all take back to our day-to- day roles. It was a privilege to be able to explore the value of specialist restoration on day two of the conference and share examples of what our specialist members can achieve and the value that specialist restoration can add to property damage claims. My particular highlight was to award three new Specialist Restorer accreditations and to see those individuals receiving such a warm reception and recognition for their achievement from the audience. John Thompson: The set-up of the conference worked well, and we had lots of positive feedback from exhibitors. The choice of the BDMA Awards guest speaker, Mandy Hickson, was inspired and went down a storm! Chris Edwards: The highlight for me, was seeing the diverse range of companies from across the restoration industry who attended. This year the conference attracted many new companies – who in the past would not have thought to attend – from loss adjusters and insurers all the way through to specialist restorers which was particularly pleasing for me. Over the past few years, the BDMA has been doing a great deal of work in terms of attracting a new and wider audience, and this was clear to see. OPINIONS AND EXPERTISE FROM THE BDMA EXECUTIVE BOARD James ParsonsGreg French09 BDMA EXECUTIVE In your view, what key themes emerged that need further action in 2020? James Parsons: Manjit from InsurTech offered lots of challenges against the norm of an annual insurance policy and expectations around service and how disruptors like Amazon deliver ever quicker service and increase consumer expectations. Ian Sutcliffe delivered an excellent session on mental health, #TimeToTalk, and had some sobering stats to share. He was great in talking about our ‘stress containers’ and how to manage this. Alex Burbridge’s talk on the importance of social connections and focus on lone workers (me being one) gave lots of food for thought on how to framework meetings to value the social side as much as the business purpose for getting together as a team. It was also fascinating to hear how connectivity, IoT and smart devices will help predict problems in your home, before they escalate into a claim event. I’m keen to explore this further as the industry often doesn’t do enough to look at preventative measures – we always tend to react to a claim rather than look for ways to prevent them occurring. Greg French: As an industry, we’ve got to get better at understanding how to price competitively and comparably. Ultimately, we’ve got to understand the pricing strategy for the industry and produce a pricing methodology from this. As it stands, everyone in the supply chain is vulnerable to those who price work too cheaply. If insurers and consumers carry on purchasing the cheapest possible price in the supply chain, then education in the supply chain will reduce and quality of work will start to decline. In order to get competent people to carry out the work, consumers need to be prepared to pay a reasonable amount, as qualified individuals come with a cost. Another key theme that has emerged from this, is that the industry also needs to consider how it is presenting itself to procurement professionals. Kathryn Rodgers: I think the session on specialist restoration prompted many in the audience to consider the role they can play in increasing opportunities to restore over replace. Many delegates approached me afterwards and asked lot of questions and started to think about missed opportunities in the past, the potential impact of that and what they can do differently tomorrow to alter their approach and add value to the claims process. This discussion and education needs to continue with insurers, adjusters and damage management companies to ensure the right behaviour is being driven. The BDMA is committed to promoting the value of restoration over replacement and we need more ambassadors for this at all levels in the claims process. John Thompson: We need to continue the theme of technology. In my view, if insurers want damage management companies to use the latest, they need to respect the extra costs involved. Additionally, insurers could agree to use one or two platforms for data capture, to limit the dependence on contractors to have further expense when it comes to technology platforms. Chris Edwards: With the main theme of the conference exploring how the damage management sector can drive change within the industry, I think it was clear that, although the industry is changing and, adapting well to that change, there is a great deal more we can do. Collaboration is obviously key, working together to empower and encourage new and innovative processes. There were obvious signs – looking at the diversity of the audience – that this is beginning to happen, with a number of new and pioneering companies working with more traditional firms across our industry. BDMA executive Kathryn Rodgers Chris Edwards John ThompsonNext >