The Incident

Date: 6^th November 2008

Incident Type: Fire

Scope of damage: 35 fire fighters in attendance, 6 pumps, water carrier and 2 aerial ladders

The Consequences

Contents: All contents destroyed or damaged beyond repair

Buildings: Severe structural damage resulting in complete demolition

Loss of Income: Due to loss of venue, loss of income from congregational offerings, regular seminars & courses, associated publication sales (books, videos etc)

The Team

Broker representative – Dave McHarry, Partner, Barries of Durham

Paul Taylor – Director, Harris Balcombe, specialising in material damage losses

The Outcome – Claim settled in June 2009

Alternative long-term venues sourced and secured for church services, seminars, courses and administrative facilities within 2 weeks of the loss to enable the Church to operate as normally as possible.

Negotiated settlement of full sums insured for buildings, contents and loss of income on a cash basis to enable the church to reinstate at a location of their choice and in their preferred format.

Normal activities resumed.

Team Work In Action

The team was assembled the morning after the incident and a meeting with the insurer’s loss adjusters, to address the most urgent issues, had taken place before the day was out.

Firstly, the site was made safe to comply with the Local Authority requirements and to prevent the risk of further damage or injury. Demolition contractors were appointed within 24 hours.

Secondly, there was an urgent need for temporary facilities to be located and secured to enable pre-arranged events and regular services to continue with the minimum of disruption to the Church and congregation.

An emergency payment on account was negotiated with the loss adjusters within days of the fire so that temporary accommodation could be obtained. An agreement was reached to hire a function suite at Burton Albion FC to accommodate a conference originally booked at the Church premises for 7^th, 8^th & 9^th November 2008 so that it could go ahead as planned. Additional conference facilities were sourced for future Church events and services together with temporary office accommodation.

Further funding was agreed to cover the expenditure incurred on the demolition work once the cost had been identified. Once the immediate concerns had been addressed we concentrated on the task of preparing and submitting full claim details.

The extent of the damage, and the subsequent demolition work, meant there was little physical evidence remaining upon which claim details could be based so we set about acquiring photographic and video evidence from the Church and its congregation, together with historic documentation and inventories of contents. This enabled us to produce a detailed schedule of loss, covering all heads of claim.

The claim was duly presented to the loss adjusters for discussion and agreement. The Church leaders expressed a preference for an overall cash settlement, which we successfully negotiated, enabling them to reinstate the Church on another site.

Quick action by the assembled claims team meant that the Christian International Ministries Church was able to concentrate on delivering services to its congregation and users of its facilities. Negotiation of a cash settlement enabled the Church to consider a style facility, more in keeping with their future requirements.