Guest comment from Richard Hansen James, Lorega Loss Adjuster

A recent press story about the dramatic and devastating Cutty Sark fire shows one sad fact very clearly: this will be feeding time for the lawyers.

According to reports, possible causes include a crew not turning off a dust extractor, deficient crew supervision and the failure of a fire alarm. The blame lies with someone. So, after the Cutty Sark’s insurers have paid the claim, they will of course look to reclaim their money and the potential targets are many: contractors, subcontractors, alarm providers, project managers and others.

But insurers are not the only losers. The Cutty Sark Trust is said to have suffered serious uninsured losses and, because it is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site that relies on public money, it affects us all.

While we are not involved in this case, in murky legal seas like this case the initial actions of Lorega’s adjusters would be to steer the future course which could be vital in protecting the client’s interests.

The insurer’s adjuster is only interested in protecting insurers; there is no reason to consider the wider picture. By contrast, if a Lorega adjuster had been called upon the expert would see what the client’s insured and uninsured losses are likely to be, from the beginning. That’s important, bearing in mind that these cases can often take five or six years to come to court, and all too often the uninsured losses are only added as an afterthought. Few clients will be able to afford the several hundred thousand pounds it may take to bring an action, so there is benefit from the lead taken by insurers.