A fire or serious damage by other insured perils including subsidence, high winds, flooding, or the impact of vehicles can be a traumatic experience for most property owners, and fortunately one in which they are unlikely to have previous experience.

In cases such as fire and flood, your first point of call will of course be the emergency authorities, but in others such as subsidence the damage may only become apparent over a period of time. However, in all cases you will need to consult your insurance company or broker to find out what you should do next, and whether the insurance company is going to pay for it.

Orpwood Associates have considerable experience in dealing with property insurance claims and have repaired many buildings following the effects of fire, flood and subsidence. In particular, we can:

• Assess the extent of the damage and arrange for any necessary temporary protection or support
• Assist you in submitting your insurance claim
• Meet and agree the scope of the necessary repair works, with the loss adjuster appointed by your insurance company
• Prepare a detailed specification of works and submit for competitive tender to suitable builders
• Submit the tender results to the loss adjusters, and agree the contract sum and the contractor to be appointed
• Administer the building contract checking on work standards, and progress, and negotiate and agree the contractor's final account
• Arrange for the provision of interim payments to the contractor with the loss adjusters
• Submitting and agreeing the final details of the insurance claim, with loss adjusters, including any consequential losses

In dealing with such claims it is important to note that the loss adjuster is appointed by and acts in the interests of your insurance company. His/her function is to ensure that the damage has been caused by one of the insured perils, that the claim is bona fide, and that the remedial works are carried out as economically as possible.

For this reason, unless the claim is simple or small in nature it would be prudent to have your interests represented by a Chartered Building Surveyor.

It is of course the case that prevention is better than cure, and we can also provide advice on how to reduce the risk of having to make a claim.

We would remind you that it is always important to ensure that you have adequate insurance cover at all times, and we can assist you in this by carrying out a Reinstatement Cost Assessment (previously known as a fire insurance valuation) to advise you on the appropriate level of cover for your building.

Finally, we would point out that we are approved by the regulation section of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to provide advice on insurance related matters.