Wish you were here?

After 23 years in the profession, all of it in the Gloucester area, I thought I had seen most things that loss adjusting had to throw at me. What I should have remembered is the job's ability to surprise.

Having just returned from the Sheffield floods, I was home to tidy things up prior to two well-earned weeks in the sun with my wife and kids. Little did I know that a week later I would be waving them off at Stansted and turning the car round to deal with the worst flooding the west country had experienced for over a century.

For its sins, south-west England received 382 mm of rainfall between 1 May and 22 July, against a May to July average for the previous 30 years of 178mm, beating the previous west country record of 345mm set in 1879.

Friday 20 July

Because the rainfall was almost 121mm today alone, the area was caught very much unawares. What unfolded quickly was widespread flooding along the Severn Valley, particularly affecting Gloucester and Tewkesbury. Many roads became impassable and a major emergency developed. Before personal safety came under threat, business premises were protected as much as possible. Eventually, however, most employees headed home to look after their own families and property.

A family conference established quickly that in view of the impending disaster the best thing to do would be for them to decant to relatives in Taunton, prior to setting off for our Spanish holiday without me.

Saturday 21 July

After saying goodbye to my less-than-impressed kids this morning, I drove to my first call of the day, major factory premises in Gloucester under three feet of water. I was on site all day facilitating the emergency actions critical to the recovery of the business. Flooding brings many issues not seen in other types of loss. Contamination was clearly going to be a major feature, with foul water from backed-up drainage systems releasing untreated faecal waste.

During the inspection my phone was ringing off the hook with more instructions coming through from brokers that had declared their intention to man their offices right over the weekend to help clients as much as possible.

Sunday 22 July

The day was spent attempting to make further visits to other affected sites. On several occasions, even when it was possible to get close to the site, access was impossible because of standing water. Inshore lifeboats and coastguard vessels could be seen rescuing stranded people and taking them to places of safety in and around the worst affected areas.

At this point in proceedings the major value of having adjusters involved in these crucial early hours became clear; reassurance was required and thereafter, sound technical advice and assistance.

Monday 23 July

By now the region had started to come to terms with the emergency and there was some evidence of the floodwater subsiding on the major roads at least. I inspected four schools that were badly hit and it is unlikely that some will be in a fit state to receive children at the start of the new term, with hardwood floors having lifted across entire classrooms halls and gymnasiums.

Tuesday 24 July

A much clearer picture has begun to emerge to indicate the extent of the incident and the hot spots in terms of the most serious damage. New instructions arrived alongside several colleagues from elsewhere in the UK and we formed major loss teams for the more serious claims we had been instructed on.

The local news in the evening showed scenes of disturbances and fighting in supermarket queues for water. Soldiers had also begun installing bowsers and portaloos.

Wednesday 25 July

Water started to recede and some major roads re-opened. Re-visits and visits that were not possible earlier could now be made, although waders were required. Water supplies remained disconnected but I managed to use a colleague's bathroom outside the affected area and so was able to arrive reasonably fresh at a meeting I had organised in a community hall for members of a housing association.

Thursday 26 July

As many people became able to reach their premises for first time in nearly a week, a second wave of new instructions filtered through. The priority had now become matching up the demand for specialist contractors and suppliers with the immediate and urgent requirements of clients. The most important factor was to manage lines of communication and expectation between broker, insurer and client.

Friday 27 July

Most roads were open today though they were cluttered with flood debris, but our team remained on the case. The whole environment was still somewhat chaotic as the main pumping station at Tewkesbury remained out of action. Businesses were keen to start clean-up procedures but had no water to facilitate it. Severn Trent Water indicated that it would take another seven to 10 days before supplies would be useable. At that point Spain appeared very attractive, if only for the bathing.

Looking back only a short time to a week of 16 to 18-hour days, it somehow seems like some time ago. There is still so much to be done before we can all look back and pronounce a truly good job done, but it is very satisfying to see how the cogs of the insurance machine always manage to mesh together; from the time the broker receives that first call or instigates the contact, to the end point when the disastrous situation that becomes the claim is finally put to bed and the client realises why he paid that premium in the first place.

- Nigel Colwell, Chartered loss adjuster, MYI UK.