The Incident

Date: 6^th March 2010

Incident Type: Fire

Scope of damage: Over 25 fire fighters in attendance

The Consequences

Medical Records: Thousands of records lost

Fixtures & Fittings: Completely destroyed

Stock: Drug stocks completely destroyed

Buildings: Reduced to a shell

The Team

Howard Armstrong – Harris Balcombe, Senior Claims Consultant specialising in material damage with extensive knowledge of adjusting

John Williams – Partner & Chartered Loss Adjuster, Harris Balcombe, specialising in material damage and business interruption

The Outcome – Claim Nearing Settlement

Interim funding was negotiated with insurers to build an extensive temporary practice building. Based on a complex Portacabin structure the temporary accommodation houses all of the doctors, together with waiting rooms, examination rooms and other medical facilities. Ongoing reparations include:

Building work for a new permanent structure is in progress

Stock, fixtures and fittings settlement negotiated

Medical services provided for patients throughout the claim

Teamwork In Action

The intensity of the fire was such that nearby shops, including a large supermarket had to be evacuated. Fearing nitrogen and oxygen cylinders at the surgery might explode the area was quickly cleared.

As the fire was being dampened down we assembled a team with all the disciplines need to bring about a comprehensive and speedy settlement:

Howard Armstrong – Harris Balcombe, Senior Claims Consultant specialising in material damage with extensive knowledge of adjusting

John Williams – Partner & Chartered Loss Adjuster, Harris Balcombe, specialising in material damage and business interruption

St Andrews Medical Practice provides services to 10,000 local residents and the first priority was to ensure they could continue to maintain sufficient levels of care.

It quickly became clear that the temporary accommodation provided by the local health authority in the immediate aftermath of the fire would not be sufficient for the practice and its patients.

Our first task was to negotiate more suitable temporary accommodation so that doctors could continue to provide care to the practice patients. Agreement to a complex structure of Portacabin like buildings was quickly achieved, delivered and made operational.

In parallel we’ve negotiated settlement of the material damage, which despite being initially contested by the insurer, is nearing completion to the satisfaction of the practice managers.

Throughout our negotiations with the insurers we concentrated on the claim quantum and the interim payments that the practice needed to continue providing healthcare to the local community.

Quick action by the assembled claims team meant that the managers of St Andrews Medical Practice were able to concentrate their efforts on healthcare provision and not be distracted by claims negotiations. The result has been minimal disruption to patients and a schedule to return the practice to a permanent healthcare facility.