Crawford’s leadership took a moment last week to thank its many unsung heroes for their tireless efforts responding to Storms Ciara and Dennis. The extent of the devastation caused across the UK can be seen in our drone footage - https://youtu.be/bge6mY_Ejqc
Adjusters who put ‘boots on the ground’ in the many flood-stricken areas and employees who manned the phones to take hundreds of calls were thanked by leaders after they visited affected areas to see the extent of the damage for themselves.
Kieran Rigby, global president, Crawford Claims Solutions, visited Cardiff on 19 February and accompanied Jonathan Pendennis, general property adjuster, as he travelled to help homeowners affected by the recent floods.
“These are challenging times for communities and we aim to provide as much assistance and support as possible. It is hard not to be affected by the emotional turmoil that people face after such devastation.”
For many people, they woke up on Sunday morning to find the ground floor of their homes or businesses flooded and cars under several feet of water.
Lisa Bartlett, president, UK & Ireland, travelled to Telford, Wolverhampton and Bromsgrove on 20 February with Martin Seabright, agricultural adjuster, as he started the adjusting process at homes, farms and businesses. Like Kieran, Lisa was genuinely shocked by what she had seen and spoken of the sadness and resilience of the people affected.
Turning her attention to the work of Crawford’s teams, Lisa thanked the “fantastic effort” made by everyone in responding to the floods caused by Storm Ciara and Dennis over the past two weeks.
“The devastation was quite shocking but I never fail to be both impressed and proud of colleagues, as they throw themselves into the job of helping people find order from chaos created by the weather and if any client wanted an answer to the perennial question of 'where do you add value?' I would recommend they spend a few hours with a member of our teams handling these claims.”
Kieran commended the claims management service centres in Glasgow and Manchester who had been working “flat out” to contact policyholders. “This is not always easy when customers are out of their homes or have no electricity to charge mobile telephones, but they have been arranging appointments, alternative accommodation and drying contractors when we have received a 200 percent increase in claims.”
The surge of claims has called on almost every element of the Crawford UK network.
“WeGoLook Lookers and Crawford Building Consultancy Services have been out in force and as the event moves into its next phase our managed repair service, Contractor Connection, will see a much-increased workload,”
added Lisa. “Finally, the client relationship teams have been keeping in constant touch with insurers and brokers to communicate our response as well as receive their feedback and special instructions.”
“We are only at the beginning and there is a huge amount of work still to do but the early signs are that we have acquitted ourselves well and retain our focus on restoring and enhancing lives, businesses and communities.”
