Hurricane Tomas

Location

St. Lucia

The Incident

Hurricane Tomas ripped through St Lucia on the 30th October 2010, with 75mph winds causing total devastation. Property and parts of the island’s infrastructure sustained a heavy battering, leaving roads and bridges totally destroyed and communities stranded. Our client lived in the southern region of Soufriere, which was one of the worse affected areas, and hired us to work on the loss of their prestigious hotel resort, spanning 120 acres.

Our Response

Our major loss team flew out on the first available flight to gauge the true extent of the damage. Initially they focused on building easy forums of communication between the insurers and their loss adjusters and our client and their broker. Our specialists then measured and quantified the state of the buildings across the resort, preparing a detailed damage report for the owners and producing a document that addressed policy wording. Although it was clear that complete reinstatement would take a long time, this early work enabled all parties to work together on mitigations and a practical plan for recovery that took into account the upcoming lucrative Christmas and New Year period.

The Outcome

This quick response and the detailed documentation we produced meant interim payments were agreed early on in the claim process. Our chartered accountant was able to base these on both the gross profit and the potential losses, which meant they could set suitable reserve figures.