The hail storms in Melbourne and Whyalla have once again highlighted the problems of box gutters, particularly where they are undersized or do not have an overflow mechanism. With seemingly more intense storms and where hail is involved, many gutters are simply unable to cope and overflowing occurs. With a gutter out over an eave, if the gutter overflows it tends to pour out harmlessly over […]
Will These Natural Disasters Please Take a Break!
Large hail stones cause major damage in Melbourne on Christmas Day 2011 Despite it being a very intense year with very few days off during the entire year, the LMI Claims Services Division, Loss Management International, has responded to all three natural disasters to hit Australia and New Zealand over the past few days. First up, the New Zealand office of LMI attended to the […]
Christchurch Hit by Yet Another Earthquake
After a few months of relative calm, Christchurch has been hit with another earthquake. The quake hit at 1.58pm local time and was followed by a second sharp jolt. A visitor to the city said Westfield Mall was being evacuated. Terrified shoppers stumbled and fell as they fled the mall and items tumbled off the shelves. Phone lines are down. I was first advised by […]
Festive Greetings
I have been overwhelmed by the support this new blog has received and I would just like to thank everyone for their kind words and to wish all the readers a joyous and safe festive season and that 2012 is all that you wish for.
One Email Makes It All Worthwhile
It takes hundreds of hours to write a book on insurance and with the cost of printing, you never are financially rewarded for the effort that you put in, but that is not why most people make the effort. You do it because you want to help others and make a difference. I was fortuneate enough to receive an email that made it all worthwhile […]
Congratulations CGU on the Flood Issue
I start this series of postings with a big thumbs up to CGU for the prompt and professional way they have addressed the flood issue. Well done guys. If you have not seen the media release, here it is below: CGU%20Media%20Release%20-%20flood%20cover%2009-12-11.
Another Subtle Change (#2) to Business Insurance that weakens the cover!
After nearly 41 years of handling insurance claims, what motivates me in all I do is to work towards business and home owners having the right insurance in place so that when ‘it’ does happen to them, they are fully insured. At the same time, I fully appreciate that an insurer needs to be compensated by way of a fair premium to cover the risk […]
New Laws on Workplace OH&S
The topic of ladder safety leads me nicely to the next topic for this week: the upcoming Australian laws affecting workplace health and safety. Many business owners/Insureds should consider what they need to do to prepare for the upcoming legislative changes. Queensland, NSW and the ACT have already implemented changes and the other states and territories are expected to do the same very shortly. The […]
Shocking Injury to Molly Meldrum a Stark Warning on Risk of Using Ladders
We men in particular think we are indestructible and that it will never happen to us. Over the years, I have seen a number of friends and colleagues get badly injured from falling off ladders. Luckily, no one has been killed but there have been some very close calls. One example was a claims officer who was trimming a tree from a ladder when he fell […]
Where Does All the Knowledge Go? Give It a New Home!
Recently I have had the need to ring a senior insurance expert for advice and have learnt that they have retired and while they are still happy to assist where they can, they have advised me that they have dumped all the reference files that they had built up over a lifetime. This is not a new phenomenon. It is often at the insistence of their […]