Loss adjustors also came under criticism from Disaster Advice’s managing director, Jeff Charlton, who questioned the levels of competency of claims handling.
He said: “I know everybody thinks three or four months to dry a building is acceptable, but there is ample evidence that buildings can be dried in weeks instead of months.
“Most of the drying procedures used in the UK market were designed and developed by American equipment manufacturers and for American homes.”
And stingingly he said: “Across the country I am seeing such low competence levels and there is no recognised training. I know that you can get certificates for certain badges, but that is not really training or competence.”
Jonathan Samuelson said his experience had mostly been with commercial policyholders rather than residential claims, and one of the problems he saw in Sheffield was that there was so much damage, all at once.
“I am aware that there are quicker ways to dry out a building than just putting in half a dozen dehumidifiers and emptying the buckets every so often, but I am not sure how much capacity there is within the more recent developments of drying systems such as forced air.
“I do not know if there was sufficient capacity to have made any serious impact on the problem in Sheffield, say, because I do not know how many contractors are available and who has that kind of kit or the knowledge to use it.
“Ultimately, these things are driven largely by the loss adjustors and insurers. It would be in everybody’s interests to get buildings dried out more quickly, but I think there is a real role for adjustors to take the initiative and try to promote some of these new systems.”
Jeff Charlton said that the big five loss adjustor companies, who have most of the work in the UK, are run off their feet, taking 50-60 claims a day.
But Samuelson said that in Sheffield getting anyone to show up with any kind of drying out equipment was the main problem. “I had adjustors bringing firms in from Ireland, because there was no one else.
“All the major firms were saying they could not take any more work, because they had no more kit or people.”
