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THE Standard Volume 9 – June 2020 The BDMA's Heroes Showcase Page 14 COVID-19: Decontaminating and disinfecting Page 2402 WORKING TO ENSURE NO-ONE FEELS ISOLATED WHEN DISASTER STRIKES A note from the Strategic Development Director The damage management industry has for many years responded above and beyond in numerous emergency surge situations, most recently Storms Dennis and Ciara. Whilst the COVID-19 crisis presents an unprecedented level of challenge, there is no doubt that the damage management industry has been ready, willing and able to once again rise to the challenge. Against this backdrop and after reference to FCA and government guidance notes, BDMA technicians and contractors continue, when necessary and appropriately evidenced, to respond to calls from the insurer and insured for assistance and support. The Gov.UK guidance outlined that if you are a tradesperson carrying out essential repairs and maintenance in people’s homes, you can continue work, providing that you are well and have no symptoms. Our response One of the fundamental aims of the BDMA as an organisation is to provide ‘value added’ member support. Currently many technicians are either self-isolating or grounded at home, and so the BDMA has significantly discounted a number of e-Learning modules and provided some free of charge. Additional modules continue to be released – including one specifically created for health and safety and homeworking. This initiative has seen significant and positive take up. Again, in support of its members, the BDMA has been lobbying Government, both directly and in conjunction with the ABI and CILA, to ensure that the damage management industry’s voices are heard, understood and essential key worker status is procured. As ever, the BDMA’s first thoughts are with the communities affected by this pandemic. The BDMA and its members remain focused on providing assistance and support in anyway way possible in these challenging times. Stay safe. Adrian Jolly, Strategic Development Director, BDMA. OUR NEW COURSES BS12999 Course We’re delighted to announce that our free BS12999 course has just been added to our online e-Academy. The course provides an overview of what BS12999 is, the background to its creation and a short description of the topics that are covered in the publication. Would you like to find out more? Enrol by registering here: www.bdmaacademy.learnupon.com/dashboard The Flood Recovery Process: Understanding People's Everyday Realities Coming soon! Following on from the success of our Supporting Children & Young People after Flooding course, we will soon announce details of The Flood Recovery Process: Understanding People's Everyday Realities course.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. BDMA MEMBERSHIP Have you recently moved premises? Or have you recently moved to a different company? If so, please remember to send an update of your new details to info@bdma.org.uk Notes from the Strategic 02 Development Director Notes from the Chairman 05 The BDMA’s View 06 Operating in a post-COVID world Commercial Loss, 08 Residential Loss & Specialist Loss Opinions and Expertise from the Executive Board Meet the BDMA Executive 10 Board Meet Adam Waters Learning & Development 11 Lockdown your learning with the BDMA e-Academy Guest Feature 12 #TimeToTalk about Mental Health – Ian Sutcliffe – Valentis Advisory Special Feature 14 The BDMA’s Heroes Showcase Our Industry in Action 16 (Case Study) Helping the local South Yorkshire community with COVID-19 testing The Standard Insight 18 (Feature) The mental health implications of COVID-19 in the Damage Management industry Guest Feature 20 Connecting opportunities for young people in a post-COVID world – Lynne Johnson – Aviva Insurance Guest Feature 24 COVID-19: Decontaminating and disinfecting – Roark McMaster – BioSweep UK Corporate Associate 26 Member Showcase Corroventa New BDMA Members 27SPECIALIST CONTENTS RESTORATION Call 0800 019 9990 for a no obligation quotation www.harwellrestoration.co.uk Supporting BDMA members throughout the UK Proud nominees for: InsurancePOST Claims Awards 2020 Business Continuity Awards 2020 BIA Awards 2020 Documents Books Photos Artwork Ceramics Antiques 04 Raising Industry Standards Directors Simon Ford (Chairman) chairman@bdma.org.uk Adrian Jolly (Strategic Development Director) strategicdevelopment@bdma.org.uk Kathryn Rodgers John Thompson 01858 414278 Emails to: info@bdma.org.uk unless otherwise stated. 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 Adam Waters Specialists specialists@bdma.org.uk Chris Edwards Specialists specialists@bdma.org.uk Marie Stearn DM Practitioners (Residential) dmresidential@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 June 2020 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 Due to the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, please note that our face-to-face training courses remain cancelled for the time being, although our e-Learning courses continue. If you’d still like to improve your learning in this difficult time, then sign up to our BDMA e-Academy here: www.bdmaacademy. learnupon.com/dashboard Due to the pandemic, the BDMA are also offering some of its e-Learning courses for free or with significant discounts for a limited period. Find out more here: www.bdma.org.uk/supporting-members- with-our-elearning-courses/05 Notes from the Chairman Hello readers, Welcome to the ninth edition of The Standard. Since our March edition, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to businesses and individuals alike. Although, whilst the pandemic has created many problems, it has been inspiring to see new ideas developed in response. From neighbourly acts of kindness, #ClapForTheNHS and new ways in which the damage management industry has innovated services. Alongside directly supporting the BDMA members and supporters through discounted e-Learning resources via our BDMA e-Academy, we’ve also been tapping into our networks and harnessing the expertise of our Executive Board to reach out for government support to attain ‘essential worker’ status. We were also delighted to see that Insurance Post and Insurance Business UK highlighted and raised awareness of this BDMA initiative. In this edition of The Standard we look at the timely theme of mental health in the workplace and the effect that COVID-19 has had on our industry, as we’re fully aware that working from home and being furloughed, has had a direct correlation with our mental health. We also delve into how the damage management industry will bounce back from the pandemic and initiatives to look forward to. On page 24 we speak to Roark McMaster of BioSweep (and Guest Speaker at the BDMA Conference 2019), who discusses BioSweep’s new disinfection services. We also had a chance to catch up with another BDMA Conference 2019 speaker, Lynne Johnson from Aviva, around hiring apprentices into a post-COVID industry. We hope you enjoy this issue. Please let us know your thoughts! Stay safe. Simon Ford, Chairman, BDMA.06 THE BDMA'S VIEW THE BDMA'S VIEW Not everything changes If the famous proclamation were first uttered today, it may be said that there are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and insurance claims. COVID-19 has affected almost every area of normal life and it has done so on a global scale. Yet while everything is different, some things will remain the same – it is our response that will adapt. The reality is that damage does not occur only in normal times. Floods, fires and property damage will all still happen, triggering a sequence of events and the involvement of the insurance industry. Typically, a technician would visit the site to conduct an assessment. This will remain essential, but will the old way of on-site visits move aside for the new way of video calls? There are early indications that change will be permanent: firstly, social distancing is likely here to stay. If a time comes when we can wave goodbye to it, will we be too familiar with the new routine to revert to old ways? Secondly, technology often benefits everybody involved. From a business perspective, it can be more cost-effective and efficient, with remote assessments reducing travel times. There are safety benefits for businesses and customers as well: not having to enter a stranger’s property or let a stranger into your property; being able to submit evidence electronically; and not having to take time off work to be home for the visit. Moving to this model in the first instance requires investment, training and commitment – few businesses will put that money and energy into it with a view that it will only be utilised for a few months. Perhaps the only real question is to what extent the technology will stay, and how much of a hybrid model we will see between old and new. A view from the industry Malcolm Hyde, Executive Director at CILA, has a positive outlook on how the industry will respond. “We mustn’t forget that loss adjusting traces its history back to 1666 with The Great Fire of London, and subsequently The Blitz in 1941. An industry does not get forged in such testing times to then only go out with a whimper because social distancing demands a new approach. The industry is more forward-thinking than it probably gets credit for. Already, we’re seeing firms using apps to assist policyholders making a claim and they’re even able to calculate measurements this way. So we have a proven track record of supporting people and businesses at a time of crisis. The pandemic may have moved the goalposts but we have the means to adapt. Primarily, the reassurance of an empathetic solution finder has never been more important.” Sarah Brodie, General Insurance Policy Adviser at the ABI, explained how the industry is also responding swiftly and positively for policyholders. “COVID-19 has created new challenges for insurers, but it has also shown the industry is able to quickly adapt and innovate to offer enhanced support for customers in times of need. ABI members have made pledges demonstrating their ability to be flexible during this crisis, from home insurance not being affected for customers working from home, to the period of unoccupancy of business premises specified in the customer’s policy. After the crisis is over, we stand ready to engage in how the global economy can be better insured against the risk of pandemics.” Ultimately, insurance is all about providing security when things go wrong, and the industry is demonstrating it is well equipped to weather a storm itself, too. The insurance industry is reputed as traditional by nature, operating on risk assessments and probabilities. The logical assumption would therefore be that the sudden onset of COVID-19 could be disastrous. But the industry is nothing if not resilient and adaptable, and perhaps the pandemic has accelerated the inevitable surge into the future that was already beginning to occur. OPERATING IN A POST- COVID WORLD07 THE BDMA'S VIEW THE BDMA'S VIEW08 BDMA Executive BDMA Executive OPINIONS AND EXPERTISE FROM THE BDMA EXECUTIVE BOARD Kathryn Rodgers With COVID-19 at the forefront of everyone's mind, in your view, how is COVID-19 affecting the mental health of those within the damage management and wider insurance industries? James Parsons: This feels a really tricky question to do justice in answering, sorry if that sounds like a politician’s response! Answering from my own perspective, I would say I have good days and some are not so good where cabin fever kicks in. I have worries, my parents are of an age where they have health issues affecting their everyday lives and they now have to manage living with COVID-19. I started dropping off food to them on their door step and they would come out of the door to say hello (as I’m retreating up their driveway) with me saying “don’t come and say hello, stay at the door”, I stopped this after they found a local store that they like to use that only lets one customer in at a time. My children are at home, school work seems to have become quite minimal, but I do wonder am I being conned and they are engineering it into a minimal amount of work….they are usually done by midday, if not sooner and then have hours to contemplate what they can do to fill their time. I do worry about their mental wellbeing. I’ve built my oldest daughter a climbing wall in our garden, as she is a keen climber and my youngest, I take cycling, as a positive of the lockdown we are cycling more than we’ve ever managed before. The colleagues and suppliers I work with have been brilliant keeping the show on the road. I’ve chatted to technicians while they are in customers’ homes carrying out work and they remain upbeat, positive, quick to adapt to change and have been nothing short of life savers during these odd times. This means we have continued to look after policyholders, while just about everything else got shut down. There is a sense of community in our industries, as we are acknowledging that we are all in this together. This has brought out the best in people wanting to help and do as much as they can during the lockdown to keep claims progressing and delivering to customers in their time of need. No one is immune to having good days and bad and never has there been a time where looking after your mental wellbeing has ever felt more important. We all need to look out for one another. Chris Edwards: The last few weeks have been a testing time for everyone involved in this industry. As key workers, those in the damage management and insurance industry have had to carry on with operations in a business as usual manner. Unfortunately, the pandemic does not stop customers experiencing issues in their home – far from it. At the forefront of importance has always been the safety of our colleagues and customers. At DASA in particular, all field engineers are equipped with sanitiser, soap and PPE and continue to work in a manner that not only allows them to feel confident they are minimising any risk to themselves, but also the risk to customers. Asking the right questions when we first review the claim over the phone and again prior to any site visit means that customers can feel comfortable with work proceeding at their property. Our call centre colleagues have been able to set up workspaces at home, and those who are unable to do so have been provided with a safe environment at our HQ. The attitude and commitment displayed by those in our industry, the wider supply chain and insurance clients has been exemplary. There has been a real can-do attitude and an even greater commitment to provide the very best level of service and to work together in collaboration. The main issue we and others in the industry have experienced in terms of mental health concerns, are those who have set up their home offices. The unfamiliarity and change in routine are big contributors. Yes, those out on the field or in the office are – despite the safety measures we have put in place – at greater risk of exposure, however it is those who are safe at home who are likely to experience mental health issues. For those in addition who have had to furlough staff, although the scheme is fantastic for UK jobs, it will undoubtedly be a factor in a rise in mental health issues. Workers are of course concerned about the future of their jobs, being on furlough will exacerbate these concerns further. Phil McVay: COVID-19 has affected people’s mental health in many ways. There has been so much anxiety around the condition itself and a fear around family members or ourselves contracting the illness, not to mention worries around finances and job security and feelings of isolation due to working from home/ being furloughed. Other anxieties include people needing to return to the workplace but anxious about how safe it is to do so, concerns over the conflict between the need to work and the practicalities of childcare. All of this has been united with angst around missing contact with friends and family members and other support networks. Greg French: Personally, this has had a direct effect on me, as I’ve had four members of staff on furlough. Throughout this process I’ve ensured that I have a weekly team meeting on Microsoft Teams to check in with all staff, furloughed or not. Like most people in the industry, many technicians and those in the damage Greg French09 BDMA Executive Phil McVay BDMA Executive management industry are concerned for the future. It is especially hard for those who are used to being ‘out and about’ completing jobs, as being at home with nothing to do is a complete 360-degree switch and is a demoralising situation. For those who are continuing to work under government advice, there is also an extra added element of complexity and stress; with each job, you are having to question whether it is safe to go and whether you are able to socially distance at the location. Although this new element of complexity and stress has been added to claims, the industry will get used to this and these new measures will just become a part of risk assessments. I believe that technicians will be happier doing work under these new circumstances, rather than being furloughed and at home. We’re doers by nature in the damage management industry and like to get work done, so not being able to do the work is demoralising. All we can do is adapt and make the most of the situation. Kathryn Rodgers: Uncertainty prevails in all aspects of society at the moment and that uncertainty and associated anxiety is affecting our members and our industry. Life as we knew it changed dramatically, almost overnight and the impact on our industry has been significant. Claim volumes and industry activity have been at the lowest levels I have ever known, and many members are anxious as to how quickly their organisations and the industry can return to its pre COVID-19 position. Job security is a concern to many and that is a major source of anxiety. Our members are used to helping people and putting things right, day in day out. Many members, whether furloughed or operating in quiet times are in all likelihood feeling without their usual sense of purpose. Having said that, many members are feeling very positive about the contributions that they can make. The work that our members do is so very vital – as it involves keeping people in their homes. Being able to carry on their profession, albeit with restrictions in place, is having a positive impact on their mindset. How do you see the industry adapting to the aftermath of COVID-19? Chris Edwards: If any positives are to come out of this crisis, it is how companies have demonstrated their resilience to changing working practices and embracing technology to assist them. The ABI put together a whitepaper, that makes predictions on how the pandemic could lead to a number of technological advances including, more companies open to remote working and further boosts to investment to help support community resilience. The coronavirus outbreak has of course caused a great deal of restriction and we have all had to update our working practices in many regards, but, our continued investment in technology has ensured that we can continue to offer the same level of service and this is the case for many in our industry. The last few weeks have been a tough time for us all. It is of course early days, but as an industry we have to keep on moving through this. By developing our working practices and continuing to be at the forefront of technological advances, we can work together to ensure that customers still get the level of service they expect, and we can continue to provide it for them. Phil McVay: I see the industry adapting in the aftermath of COVID-19 by becoming more flexible, along with innovating new ways of working. I think we will also see an increased use of technology to connect with people and a further development in online training solutions, as there are now greater possibilities for continued homeworking. James Parsons: Where I work, the speed in which we adapted and made change has been remarkable, I can only see the need to be agile like this continuing in the coming months. How we look after our staff, customers, and all who are part of the claim journey will have to be at the forefront when working out the new practices to be employed while COVID-19 remains. Greg French: My expectation of what will happen to the industry in the aftermath of COVID-19, is that insurers will be dedicating a huge amount of time and effort to business interruption claims. It will also be interesting to see how we will handle new claims, as I believe that smaller jobs will now be settled by cash settlements, as to reduce the strain on the supply chain. I also believe there will be a change in dynamics in commercial jobs due to social distancing. During lockdown, it has been incredibly difficult to sort the logistics for commercial jobs; as when sending teams away to work on a job, there is nowhere for them to stay or eat. We will have to see how this will change in the aftermath of COVID-19, as although hotels may re-open soon, restaurants may be the last to open. Of course, claims will continue to happen, and I believe that there may even be a surge in fire damage claims. As when manufacturing companies resume after holidays, you see an increase in fires igniting, as the factory has remained idle and equipment hasn’t been monitored. We will recover from this pandemic, as the damage management industry’s sole purpose is to recover from disasters. We’re an adaptable industry and I know we’ll figure it out. Kathryn Rodgers: Will behaviours and actions of insurers be different post COVID-19? Will there be positive ways of working that we have discovered through this crisis that we actually continue? I think it is too soon to tell just what legacy COVID-19 will have. However, our industry is resilient, it always has been, and I believe it always will be. Our members have already adapted their service provision and developed solutions to meet industry and public needs throughout this crisis. Whatever the future holds our industry will adapt! Chris EdwardsJames ParsonsNext >