March Talk with Mark Fletcher

It’s March! The first month of Spring, and the month when the clocks go forward. Today we're talking to business owner Mark Fletcher who is a director and loss assessor with Aspray (Swindon). He manages building insurance claims on behalf of the policyholder and helps people and business owners return their property to its pre-loss condition after damage has been caused by an escape of water, flood, fire or similar crisis.

How is March looking for you in your business? 
March was looking to be a very busy month dealing with the usual strip outs, drying and reinstatements following escape of water claims. We also have a decontamination job from an escape of oil in a garden in Malmesbury where we have to excavate the garden to a depth of 1.2m and remove 95m3 of contaminated soil due to a leak from the oil tank!

On top of this, we will still be working on the storm damage caused by Dudley, Eunice & Franklin  in February, which has affected homes and commercial properties around the country. 

Not only have the storms blown roof tiles off but in some cases have completely detached the roof. They have also brought down gable and garden walls and knocked over chimneys sending them crashing through roofs. 

So with the volume of claims, insurance companies are going to be under pressure and the process will take a lot longer than usual to get the claims processed through and put a lot of pressure on the labour and materials which is already stretched. 

Are you taking part in any wider events or business collaborations this month?
In March I'm concentrating on building relationships with new introducers. I work with introducers who recommend Aspray to the policyholder, as they are there at the customer’s time of need. This may be an insurance broker who receives the call from their client advising that they need to make a claim, a leak detection specialist that has visited the property and identified where a leak originated, along with plumbers that have been called in to fix the leak. 

This can also extend to electricians that have been called in to check electrics following a flood or to isolate the electrics following a fire. Even an asbestos company attending to take samples after a ceiling has collapsed could recommend me.

I'm pleased to work with many of the above introducers who trust Aspray and me to offer a dedicated service to their clients and to support them through the tough process of making a building insurance claim. 

This month it was pancake day - do you like pancakes? 
It brings back many memories, as I am sure it does for everyone. My most distant memory was of my nan, catching the bus from the bottom of Bruce Street to Greenmeadow in Swindon carrying her special frying pan so that she could make the grandchildren her special pancakes. 

And believe me, that frying pan was special, as it made so many memories of the pancakes sticking to the ceiling or landing on the floor, or achieving the highest number of flips in one go.

Although the choices for the toppings back then used were limited, I still prefer the sugar and lemon or some golden syrup over Nutella, sprinkles, bacon, ice cream etc. 

What else does March hold for you in your business? 
With the start of the second half of my financial year in March, along with the monthly Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) return, we have the VAT returns, with the VAT Reverse Charge for Building and Construction services being in place for a year since 1st March 2021. 

This seems to have been quite successful and has not caused any further work over that of doing the standard CIS Statements for contractors as part of the CIS. I am sure there are many contractors that won’t like working with the VAT Reverse Charges, however we are lucky to work with some great companies that have never had any objections or push back on the works they do for us. 

Did you know that March 18 is Awkward Moments Day? Can you share any awkward moments with us in business or life?
With Awkward Day coming up on the 18th March, I have thought back to the most awkward moment since becoming a loss assessor over three years ago. 

I was handling an escape of water claim for a policyholder, which was unfortunately, the second claim she had made in 18 months. 

I carried out the full survey, including moisture checks and thermal imaging, and left and prepared a full report for the insurance company. An appointment to meet the loss adjuster representing the insurance company was made for a week later.

I arrived 15 minutes early, and to my surprise the loss adjustor was already in the house and, upon me entering, rudely concluded that the meeting was over. Therefore, there were only some minor decorations required which would be below the excess value and he was cancelling the claim.

I politely reminded the loss adjustor that the meeting was just starting and asked if he could get his moisture meter out of his bag and show me the evidence that the rooms were in fact dry. 

The loss adjustor finally confessed that he did not have any moisture measuring equipment and he had used the back of his hand to determine the moisture within the structure!

Upon lending him mine, he got the same readings, that were between 50 and 100% saturation around the rooms. Following this he agreed the schedule and costs and allowed us to proceed. 

Now that was very awkward - not for me though! 

For more information visit https://aspray.com/swindon/