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The impact of COVID-19 on the Damage Management supply chain Page 6 Should SME S rely on flood defences or take a flood resilient approach? Page 12 Volume 10 – September 2020 Restoration Desiccant Dehumidifier Designed in the UK 2 Year Warranty Mild Steel DH3500 Dehumidifier 220V £ 1,080.00 + VAT Dry air volume of up to 400 m³/h and a drying capacity of 35 l/day at 60% RH and 20 °C. Two internal motors for pressure neutral drying applications (4-hole). EPJ50 Connector £ 49.00 + VAT Use your existing ducting! Converter connects up to 3x50 mm outlets & to all turbines. 30 DAY FREE TRIAL FREE EPJ50 4-Hole UK Office mail@ecorpro.eu 0191 245 0131 Offer Available until 03/12/2020 on new sales of DH3500 www.ecorpro.eu03 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) www.youtube.com/channel/ 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 Chairman 05 The BDMA’s View 06 The impact of COVID-19 on the Damage Management supply chain Commercial Loss, 08 Residential Loss & Specialist Loss Opinions and Expertise from the Executive Board Learning & Development 10 The Flood Recovery Process Meet the BDMA Executive 11 Board Meet Marie Stearn Guest Feature 12 Should SMEs rely on flood defences or take a flood resilient approach? – Ian Gibbs – Sedgwick Our Industry in Action 14 (Case Study) Helping those in need during COVID-19 with free leak repairs Corporate Associate 15 Member Showcase IFIC The Standard Insight 16 (Feature) A transparent vision of the future Guest Feature 18 Has COVID-19 changed the Damage Management supply chain? – Kerry Bhella – Rainbow International Guest Feature 20 The drying game – Martin Gray – Ecor Pro Sponsor Showcase 22 Humidity Response New BDMA Members 23SPECIALIST 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, Directors and Support Personnel 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 & exams 2020 We’re pleased to confirm that our training courses and exams have now recommenced. All training courses and exams are being held with Government and Public Health guidance applied. Candidates will be given detailed joining instructions and notes prior to attendance. Please contact info@bdma.org.uk to find out more or book via our website: www.bdma.org.uk/training-and-education 8th October – Market Harborough – The Correct Use and Interpretation of Moisture Meters 17th – 18th November – Market Harborough – Core Damage Management Technician & Claims Practitioner 19th November – Market Harborough – Core Damage Management Senior Technician Training Upcoming exams: 6th November – Market Harborough 4th December – Market Harborough05 Notes from the Chairman Hello readers, As we head into Autumn 2020, we welcome you to our tenth edition of The Standard. Over the past few months the industry has prevailed and responded well to the pandemic, navigating the new way of working. Whilst we’ve adapted well, we are aware of the many life-altering short and long-term mental health effects of the virus. Alongside supporting BDMA members and supporters through discounted e-Learning resources, we also successfully held our first BDMA webinar ‘Performing Under Pressure’ to help give actionable advice to members on how to recognise and manage elevated stress levels. The webinar was chaired by me, with Dr Phil Hopley from Cognacity headlining the event which contained practical advice on how we can overcome the psychological challenges of the virus. We were also joined by an expert panel, who discussed their experiences of COVID-19 within the wider insurance industry. Our line-up of expert panellists included Sarah Brodie of the ABI, Richard Done of Polygon UK & Ireland, Alison Unwin of Sedgwick and David Williams of AXA UK. If you missed this noteworthy event, then you can access the webinar via our YouTube channel. As well as our important first webinar, we are pleased to report how well our free and discounted e-Academy offers have been received by the wider insurance industry. We’ve seen a 192% increase in people signing up to the e-Academy and a 240% increase in new learners across our platform. Alongside our e-Academy news, we’re also pleased to confirm that our accreditation examinations and training sessions have now recommenced. Our first examination took place in Market Harborough on the 17th July. Further examinations will take place on 25th September and 4th December at Market Harborough. All examinations and training sessions are being held with Government and Public Health guidance applied. Candidates will be given detailed joining instructions and notes prior to attendance. I hope you enjoy this issue of The Standard. In this edition, we will focus on the subject of the supply chain and will be exploring how technology can aid supply chain collaboration and transparency. This also includes reflections on last year’s BDMA Conference roundtable and assessing whether we’ve seen any notable changes within the supply chain since COVID-19. The information in this edition was based on the Government's guidance at time of going to print. Stay safe. Simon Ford, Chairman, BDMA. The BDMA’s AGM 2020 Save the date for our next AGM on 26th November. Further details to be announced nearer the time.06 THE BDMA'S VIEW THE BDMA'S VIEW Key findings from the 2019 roundtable During the November 2019 roundtable, there were some overarching themes that emerged in explaining the breakdown in the damage management supply chain. One viewpoint was that technology needed to be further shared. The group discussed that communication technology platforms will make it much easier to publicise the status of a project. It was also commented that we need to use technology to add real value to the claims process and continue to embrace remote monitoring and video software. At the end of the roundtable, the discussion turned to who would lead these technology changes, as a significant investment would be needed to implement a singular collaborative communication platform. Other key concerns included transparency, processes, and claim costs. Lack of transparency emerged as a key concern, due to a breakdown in communication. Without a seamless supply of information to all parties, it can be difficult to make clear and accountable decisions. By being more transparent, it allows trust to be built which enhances partner relationships. It was also argued that processes were another crucial factor; the group discussed that when there is clear ownership for certain projects, this should be led from the outset by a nominated party. This is perhaps easier said than done, when procurement remains such a big part of the supply chain. There was also a discussion on whether smaller value claims and higher value claims need separate processes. The last issue raised focused on claim costs; as lowering the cost of claims may be seen as a focus for many insurers, and could become more of a focus in a post-pandemic world. Back in November, the group discussed the need to switch from each individual commodity based environment to an understanding of the holistic value of each claim. Modern methods of construction also bring a heightened level of complexity to this problem, as these new environments have not as yet been fully understood by insurers’ underwriting. A view from the thought leaders Chris Hall, Managing Director at QuestGates, explained how COVID-19 may have paved the way for technical advances within the industry. “The BDMA facilitated a unique opportunity last November for all areas of the supply chain to collaborate and identify areas of mutual concern and discuss how to address them. Perhaps surprisingly, everyone agreed what the issues were, but no one could propose solutions that were acceptable to all parties and how the utopia of fantastic low-price services could be achieved. There is no doubt that only suppliers who can react quickly and meet required timescales can expect to survive in a post-pandemic world. Also, suppliers need to show that they can add sufficient value through indemnity control and customer service to justify profit-making. It may be that the changes needed to react to the COVID-19 crisis have led to technical advances, with video technology reducing handling costs and enabling greater collaboration.” Jeremy Sykes, Managing Director at Polygon UK & Ireland, discussed how many of the issues explored last November remain the same after COVID-19. “Well 2020 didn't pan out quite how we might have expected when we were sitting together last November! From national lockdowns to closed borders, COVID-19 has resulted in unparalleled disruption to the mechanics of every industry. In particular, these barriers have placed a major strain on the world’s supply chains, including the damage management supply chain network. In November 2019 at the BDMA Conference, 12 thought leaders from the property insurance industry took part in a unique roundtable discussion and debate: What stops us connecting the supply chain? The objective? To address the controversial topic of why there is an apparent breakdown in the damage management supply chain and what could be done to drive better solutions for all involved, especially policyholders. There was an eclectic mix of expertise in the room: professionals from damage management restoration companies, building companies, loss adjusting and insurance providers. Today, we speak to two of these thought leaders to see if COVID-19 has amplified or changed these concerns. THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT SUPPLY CHAIN07 THE BDMA'S VIEW COVID-19 saw some firms, including quite a few insurers, struggling with working remotely from their offices, while many companies were able to run their services in the field and internal operations, almost without pause. The dramatic drop-off in claim volumes, the fear among policyholders of having contractors in their homes, the safety concerns of our own colleagues, not to mention the inability to source certain materials, all contributed to challenge our collective ability to resolve claims. On the positive side, COVID-19 has forced us all to think differently: how could we work smarter - what could we do to eliminate visits and cooperate further ? This has accelerated for example, the use of customer self-service video to use to evidence claims. The speed of trial and adoption is a welcome change in the industry and it would be great to see how we can push further to challenge some of the existing norms that we highlighted at our November BDMA meeting. Key among these is the current approach to how restoration and repair services are typically procured. Some insurers are definitely recognising that the most common existing approach - buying each service at the lowest line-item price from many different service providers - does not lead to lowest cost claims, but rather means complicated supply chains and in-built cost and delay by design. Insurers giving damage management contractors responsibility for a wider scope of services, is a big opportunity to make supply simpler, claims shorter and to eliminate cost and complexity at source. The added benefits of this approach include improved productivity among other specialists such as loss adjusters, by minimising physical visits, as well as happier customers due to the need to take fewer days off work. As it stands today, collaboration between suppliers is usually excellent, but no portal or comms systems can make up for the fact that multiple handoffs exist and each one can contribute delay or unnecessary additional cost, such as alternative accommodation. As we've all struggled through the past seven months, many insurers have noticeably tried to support their suppliers with faster payment and by processing interim payments in long claims, which has been very welcome. Perhaps it's too much to hope that among all of this turbulence, we would have seen much progress in many of the areas highlighted at November's meeting, but the openness, speed and change in thinking are the most important positive element to come out of COVID-19 – let's hope we maintain and apply them. THE BDMA'S VIEW08 BDMA Executive BDMA Executive OPINIONS AND EXPERTISE FROM THE BDMA EXECUTIVE BOARD In your opinion, what is the biggest supply chain challenge within your sector? Chris Edwards: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the key supply chain challenge over the past few months has been around the supply of materials. Being unable to get the materials required to repair customers’ homes, increases the claim lifecycle and reduces customer satisfaction, which is of course unacceptable. Although many of the larger suppliers are now open, material lags are still occurring. Social distancing rules are of course resulting in manufacturers having to operate at a reduced level and therefore materials are not as easy to come by as they were before COVID-19. Planning ahead and anticipating issues has been crucial to ensure the consistency of supply. Adam Waters: As a specialist restorer, it relieves me to say that the economic consequences that I feared for the industry didn’t actually happen. My fear was that we would see delays in payment from customers. On a daily basis, I heard of construction companies going bankrupt as cashflow ceased. In the damage management industry, I have not felt those pressures. At the beginning of the pandemic almost everyone in the company was furloughed, no-one tends to ever need an emergency French polisher! The only exception I can recall in forty years involved a Regimental Officers’ Mess dining table, a bet and a motorbike. But as we approached mid-May, we found that tentative questions were being asked: • Were we available to work? • Could our customers have copies of our COVID-19 risk assessments? And, what version of the HSE’s guidelines were we running? • Could we polish in storage? • Could we polish at the customer’s property? After the tentative questions, next came a rush to clear the backlog of furniture waiting to be returned to policyholders, along with a backlog of claims, as many people had lost two months within the claims process. In my opinion, the biggest supply chain challenge we face is the volume of work we will receive as an industry in the future. If policyholders become more inclined to take cash settlements, then we will have too many restorers, staff, and restorer facilities and equipment. We know we save insurers a considerable amount of money when compared to full strip outs, but my fear is that there will be a certain amount of pressure to replace rather than restore. All we can do is to continue showing value for money to our immediate clients and insurers. Greg French: The biggest supply chain challenges for the commercial sector are speed and response. Like many other industries, silo mentality is a large issue, especially when you have several parties involved. When you look at how a commercial claim is managed, you see how many parties can be involved; it begins with the insured appointing an insurance broker, who then notifies the insurance company, who then decides how the claim should be managed, whether that’s via an in-house or external loss adjuster. Although it is rare, in some commercial claims, there is sometimes a further party that needs to be involved, a restoration company. After the relevant parties have been enlisted, the loss adjuster or restoration company contacts the insured to confirm all the details recorded at the beginning of the claim are correct. They will also often visit the site to scope planned works. As outlined above, there can be intrinsic delays in responsiveness from parties within the claim, which slows down the process for all parties involved. For many commercial claims, time is a key concern when mitigating loss. With most claims, it is key to action work within the first 24 hours. If there was a commercial claim that involved a large factory fire or flood, it would be crucial to decontaminate equipment quickly to ensure repair over replacement. Obviously, it is quite tricky to navigate these immediate timescales if there are several parties and decision makers involved. Another issue to consider when there are many parties involved is who takes on the role as project manager. This person will need to facilitate seamless communications with the insured. In most cases, the loss adjuster takes on this role, but is still needing to report back to the insurer for ultimate decisions. James Parsons: The ongoing challenge of claims spend remains a strong focus in the residential insurance sector. How do we continue to deliver outstanding service while managing spend? It does at times feel like everything is on the hike when it comes to costs; skip hire and landfill taxes continue to rise, materials seem to increase year upon year, salaries, pensions becoming mandatory and congestion charges, all make the challenge of remaining competitive a juggling act. Chris Edwards09 BDMA Executive BDMA Executive I work in major loss claims and the control of contents claims remains a real challenge to ensure accuracy. Separating restorable, BER and undamaged can be difficult, along with ensuring that the customer remains engaged throughout the process. The more that can be done to catalogue and inventory contents through photos, the easier it becomes to manage customer enquiries and expectations. Also, delivering a sustainable and environmentally responsible claims service is becoming vital. How do we reduce our carbon impact in a claim setting that historically generates large volumes of waste? Especially when a strip out or repair is required during a claim. The need to improve green credentials remains at the forefront of insurers minds. Since COVID-19, do you think we've seen a shift in the way the supply chain communicates? Chris Edwards: I think there has been a positive shift. Everyone involved in the supply chain has of course been under increased pressure. However, despite this, there has been a real ‘can do’ attitude and a willingness to get through this together. I also believe that there is a shift to use local suppliers, something we at DASA have always done. The majority of local suppliers have remained open throughout the pandemic. All our partners in the supply chain have been operating under government guidelines and have enabled us to get the supply’s we need to repair customers’ homes. Adam Waters: To be honest, no. Some of our clients were completely web based and some continue to communicate verbally. Although I do think the pressures of trying to ensure the best possible service has been taken to another level. When it comes to furniture restoration, once the initial enquiry has been made, the process still tends to be physical - from viewing furniture items on site to the physical elements of restoring. Perhaps there have been a few more online appraisals in order to keep visits down, but the industry had already moved very far in this direction to keep environmental impacts to a minimum. In the restoration industry, successful communication and understanding client requirements are key to a successful outcome. Greg French: In some ways we have seen a shift in communication within the commercial sector, as many loss adjusters have been restricted when it comes to visiting sites. This means that loss adjusters have had an invested interest in hearing other organisations' opinions on site visits. This is not from lack of willing on the loss adjusters’ side, as smaller commercial firms have been more cautious with visits. Social distancing and mask wearing has added another level of complexity to our roles, but the job hasn’t changed, it has just added a further dimension to be concious of. When it comes to insurers there has been an added presssure to be seen as going above and beyond for the insured, due to the level of scrutiny insurers are under from unpaid business interuption claims. James Parsons: I think the way in which we’ve all had to keep ourselves and our customers safe has had a far-reaching impact in the industry. The new normal now involves an initial conversation before a visit takes place, which is needed to confirm a customer’s health, wellbeing and potential exposure to COVID-19. When visiting, the use of masks, gloves, face shields and copious amounts of hand sanitiser all have become the norm, this is carried out to reassure customers that we are doing all we can to keep them safe. This being said, I’m not sure there’s been a great degree of change to how I work or communicate with suppliers. Whist we have always used phone calls to chat through plans when managing a claim and electronic reports continue, we now make more use of video software to reduce all parties having to visit a site. Although, there are still occasions when we meet suppliers on site, with PPE and social distancing measures, I can only see this continuing as part of the claims handling process. I am conscious that a lot of people I work with are now at home and may not have worked from home before, so with 17 years under my belt of being a home worker, I’ve taken the time to ask how they are doing, what their home office set up is like and to try and make sure they aren’t feeling isolated or disconnected. The social side of staying in touch has never felt more important than now. As a final thought, I’m writing this during a heatwave, sweating buckets and trying to stay cool working from a home office in my garden. I was on a WebEx call recently, where everyone appears as a face on your screen and it took me 10 minutes to spot something wasn’t quite right, the fact that I wasn’t wearing a top as a result of the heatwave. From now on, I’m doing a quick mental spot check to ensure I’m suitably attired before starting a video call! James ParsonsGreg French Adam WatersNext >