Rivals circle as Merlin Claims cuts 50 more jobs

Merlin Claims has made a further 50 redundancies, bringing the total number to 217 since going into administration this month.

The latest report from administrators BDO said that the loss adjuster, which is headquartered by Bromborough, Wirral and has offices across the UK, now has a skeleton crew of 22.

A spokesman for BDO said no timeframe had been put on the winding up of the company. Merlin made an operating loss of £6m last year and had debts of £9m, according to a Companies House filing.

The loss adjusting industry has made a number of redundancies over the last year after coming under increasing pressure from a combination of the benign weather, fierce competition and fewer weather-related claims, as reported in Insurance Times.

But a number of former Merlin directors and teams who lost their jobs have already found new employment.

Former Merlin director of operations Russell Crewe joined Direct Group as claims business unit director a week after the company went into administration and seven months after LAS Claims said he would be joining its team in 2013.GAB Robins was next to swoop for former Merlin regional manager Andrew Considine, who has been installed as operational projects director at the loss adjuster.

Considine agreed to join GAB Robins before Merlin went into administration and, reporting in to chief operating officer Mike Jones, will be working on technical and service side, including rolling out a number of IT projects, as well as the graduate programme.

Jones said GAB Robins was looking to recruit as a result of a significant influx of work from the floods at the end of July and the beginning of this month. In addition, he said, the firm needed to bring in new personnel to deal with accounts that had matured and surge work.

QuestGates has also taken on a number of members from Merlin’s Scotland team in order to expand its presence in the country, including establishing a new regional office.

Merlin’s former Scotland regional manager Kevin Scott will undertake a similar role at QuestGates and will be supported by Graham Hay.

QuestGates has already secured a number of Merlin’s clients and is talking with a number of its former team about job opportunities.

Former Merlin Claims client and customer services director Alex Kilpatrick meanwhile joined glazing and locks company Evander Group as sales director.