[martin19842]

hi there

weve done work for insurance claims, using several different routes.

one being tagging on to the back of the main contractor for loss adjusters, by doing that we managed to get chemdry off site during last summers floods, but they do fight back.

another we won, by giving the client a great level of service, we carried out a survey of the property whih completely reported the opposite of what chemdry said, we won the job and proved that we were right.

we have recently been accepted as main contractor to what seems to be a large player in the market place, there may be opportunities in the future, as i do have some meetings planned with thes guys, as we seem to be ccovering the whole of the east midlands, east anglia and london, so fingers crossed.

one tip to people who want to get into this in a bigger way,build relationships with loss adjusters, at ground level, deliver a quality service anf they will use you again,

another tip make sure that you get satisfaction notes signed by clients, and if working direct fo a policyholder get the policyholder to sign a payment mandate authorising the direct payment of the invoice to you.

we do alright out of this type of work, and long may it continue.

regards

martin sales

[richie]

Lionheart,

What you have to realise is that Companies like Rainbow/Chem Dry have a guide to work to.  Drying equipment is put in place and regular WME readings are taken to check on the drying process.  The drying equipment must stay in place until the WME readings are at an acceptable level then a Certificate Of Dryness is issued.  The potential of court action is too high for these companies to pull out the drying equipment to early plus its all about doing the job right FIRST TIME.  The only reason i can see for the carpets/underlay not been removed is that the policy they were dealing with was Buildings only.  This means they cannot remove carpets.

Richie.

[doug@munters]

richie

As somebody who spent 6 months in the floods last year and who was disgusted at the quality of most of the "drying" completed by the frannies and others i can assure you getting it right "FIRST TIME" was a rarity,we are still getting approx 6-8 of their mess ups back every single week and to be honest im surprised it isnt more

The typical scenario was they would turn up with their hired out ebac bd150 units (very rarely any fans) and pull them 2 weeks later,now air temperature back then was quite low 8-10 c if memory serves me right well outside that units efficient operating range and of course we are next door with dessicants/heaters and plenty airflow where does the moisture trapped in that party wall/building  wanna go,yup thats right towards our side increasing our drying times and reducing the profit whereas frannies are thought wonderful cause they "dried" their side out in 2 weeks..wrong ???Of course some of them got it right but mostly from what i witnessed it was calamity

These cases never go to court the frannies settle up because WME readings would never stand up in court and they know it,WME is not a british standard and i use it only as a guide(part of a bigger picture) during monitoring visits.I would only use it as a signoff figure in timber were it onvioulsly then becomes M/C

As for indipendants getting into insurance works as said elsewere its difficult but building relationships with local adjusters is the way to go,however drying/FDR works require lots of resources/knowledge but am glad to see indipendants around especially if they know what they are doing,there is enough work for everybody i fee

[doug@munters]

richie

As somebody who spent 6 months in the floods last year and who was disgusted at the quality of most of the "drying" completed by the frannies and others i can assure you getting it right "FIRST TIME" was a rarity,we are still getting approx 6-8 of their mess ups back every single week and to be honest im surprised it isnt more

The typical scenario was they would turn up with their hired out ebac bd150 units (very rarely any fans) and pull them 2 weeks later,now air temperature back then was quite low 8-10 c if memory serves me right well outside that units efficient operating range and of course we are next door with dessicants/heaters and plenty airflow where does the moisture trapped in that party wall/building  wanna go,yup thats right towards our side increasing our drying times and reducing the profit whereas frannies are thought wonderful cause they "dried" their side out in 2 weeks..wrong ???Of course some of them got it right but mostly from what i witnessed it was calamity

These cases never go to court the frannies settle up because WME readings would never stand up in court and they know it,WME is not a british standard and i use it only as a guide(part of a bigger picture) during monitoring visits.I would only use it as a signoff figure in timber were it obvioulsly then becomes M/C

As for indipendants getting into insurance works as said elsewere its difficult but building relationships with local adjusters is the way to go,however drying/FDR works require lots of resources/knowledge but am glad to see indipendants around especially if they know what they are doing,there is enough work for everybody i feel

[richie]

Hi Doug,

I know 4 Rainbows in my area & all are very professional & dealt with many of the floods that have taken place in the midalnds area.  I have should have probably not spoken for all Rainbow & ChemDrys.  I must say though,  about 4 years ago i was asked to attend a flood at a hotel in stafford.  I was onsite from 1.30 am and at 8 am someone from Munters came out along with someone from NFU insurance.  I had at this point extracted with my truckmount 1000s of gallons of water from carpeted areas.  Munters then started a area with a wet & dry vac.  These areas were still SOAKING WET so i went over the areas myself.  The insurance company said to me "thank you for what you have done but Munters will be taking over from here".  The Hotel owner heard this conversation & told the Insurance guy that He wanted me to carry on with at least the extraction as Munters had a machine that was obviously not upto the job.  So lets be honest.....its not just Rainbow & ChemDry that cant do the job right first time.  Once i finished the extraction i left site telling the insured that if he wants me for anything else then just simply call me.  I got a call a few days later asking to go to the hotel.  The owner asked if i thought everything regarding drying was as it should be.  Simple answer was NO.  Not enough dehums installed,  no air moving equipment (paddle fans or air movers or nor venting kits).  Leads trailing from dehums without be taped down or covered over.  Owner was not advised on prefered drying conditions.  Walls had started to condensate.  In my view all was wrong.  Owner called the insurance company & demanded someone came out to install correct equipment & so on. 

I am not going to go to war over any of this,  The Rainbows that i know are good at there job and can say that they are good at there job yet i had seen sub standard work from Munters.  As you can see......not all are perfect.  The floods that have happened the past 12 months caused a VERY SHORT SUPPLY of drying equipment.  Most companies were struggling to get hold of it.

Richie.

Richie.

[doug@munters]

sorry richey wasnt meant to be a swipe at anybody thats why i never named anybody in particular and wont,i have worked with all companies mentioned in this thread and servicemaster and was just stating what was a continual occurrance.Off course munters get the odd job wrong too but on the whole i believe we get most of them right thats why i stay were i am.Unusual for both our companies to be on a NFU job thought they only ever used servicemaster or am i behind the times?

[richie]

Hi Doug,

My last post was just to confirm my findings as too was yours.  NFU use a few different companies and with ALL insurance companies this can and does change from what appears to be a month to month basis.  Its almost impossible to keep track of which insurance company uses which restoration company.  Alot of it i think is down to the Loss Adjusters.  I also know of 1 or 2 service master.  Years of old,  ServiceMaster had the insurance work pretty much to themselves.  If only they had moved with the times im sure that this would be the same today.  I believe now that the main players are Rainbow & ChemDry followed by Munters & ServiceMaster. 

Richie.

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Steve Gunn

Were you quote at a big house in Morpeth today? Did you get the job? She had a few others up there to quote and I was unsuccessful 

John

[stevegunn]

Steve Gunn

Were you quote at a big house in Morpeth today? Did you get the job? She had a few others up there to quote and I was unsuccessful 

John

No not me,was in Morpeth but not for that job.

[jasonl]

Doug, I have photos, moisture readings from 4 Munters jobs , I went to and dried properly with the correct amount of equipment last year,The mess made of these jobs was elementary.
 I think the problem was that the big companies took on far too much work , and simply did not have the resources to cope.

[doug@munters]

I take that as valuable feedback if thats the case.If you want to give me the post codes i will look into them and give some feedback.You can email me at

magnifiquesauzee@hotmail.co.uk

[richie]

Hi Jason,

I think that you have hit the nail on the head.  It would certainly appear that SOME franchises just simply took on more than they could deal with. 

Richie.