DAS appointed Thompson & Bryan to deal with an extensive fire, which took place at a laundry in Leeds. The client was covered by the DAS Loss Assist business policy.

We attended the fire within 24 hours and detailed equipment and property. We assessed business interruption cover available under the policy and recommended alternatives the client might consider to help them retain their customer base, including sub-contracting work to other laundries.

Early difficulties including finding there were issues within the Statement of Fact provided by the insured that they wanted to investigate further, which could result in policy liability being denied.

Crucially, we appointed a forensic scientist to establish the cause of the fire. This work involved taking statements from employees and interrogating the alarm and CCTV footage from the night of the fire. However, it became clear that the cause of the fire could result in the insured being in breach of policy conditions.

Even so, we were determined to make sure that the insurer took into account mitigating factors.
Our scientist’s report concluded that the cause of the fire could not be disputed and the insurer should accept liability. Throughout this process we maintained a constant dialogue with the client’s broker. This enabled the broker to make separate representations directly to insurers in support of the policyholder.

After further negotiations, we agreed a substantial interim payment for our client and the machinery replacement costs so that the orders for new equipment could be placed quickly.

“From the first phone call and our initial first meeting I knew I had a formidable team representing me. The quality of the advice and manner in which it was given filled me with confidence. Not knowing if the insurance were going to accept liability was so frustrating, but John Leivers remained calm throughout, which really helped me to remain positive about the final outcome of my claim.

“He is a very shrewd negotiator and I am so pleased he was on my side. I cannot praise John Leivers and Thompson and Bryan enough.

“The £40 premium I paid for my claims fees policy is, without a doubt the best £40 I have ever spent!”

DAS appointed Thompson & Bryan to deal with an extensive fire, which took place at a laundry in Leeds. The client was covered by the DAS Loss Assist business policy.

We attended the fire within 24 hours and detailed equipment and property. We assessed business interruption cover available under the policy and recommended alternatives the client might consider to help them retain their customer base, including sub-contracting work to other laundries.

Early difficulties including finding there were issues within the Statement of Fact provided by the insured that they wanted to investigate further, which could result in policy liability being denied.

Crucially, we appointed a forensic scientist to establish the cause of the fire. This work involved taking statements from employees and interrogating the alarm and CCTV footage from the night of the fire. However, it became clear that the cause of the fire could result in the insured being in breach of policy conditions.

Even so, we were determined to make sure that the insurer took into account mitigating factors.
Our scientist’s report concluded that the cause of the fire could not be disputed and the insurer should accept liability. Throughout this process we maintained a constant dialogue with the client’s broker. This enabled the broker to make separate representations directly to insurers in support of the policyholder.

After further negotiations, we agreed a substantial interim payment for our client and the machinery replacement costs so that the orders for new equipment could be placed quickly.

“From the first phone call and our initial first meeting I knew I had a formidable team representing me. The quality of the advice and manner in which it was given filled me with confidence. Not knowing if the insurance were going to accept liability was so frustrating, but John Leivers remained calm throughout, which really helped me to remain positive about the final outcome of my claim.

“He is a very shrewd negotiator and I am so pleased he was on my side. I cannot praise John Leivers and Thompson and Bryan enough.

“The £40 premium I paid for my claims fees policy is, without a doubt the best £40 I have ever spent!”