What Happened?
First there was a fire on 12 November 2022.
Then there was a flood. On 12 February 2023 Cyclone Gabrielle caused flooding and a 5 day power outage.
The Damage
The fire badly damaged the ground floor dining area. The kitchen suffered smoke damage. The upstairs was undamaged.
Cyclone Gabrielle caused damage to the roof and the five day power cut meant there was a total loss of food stored in the refrigerators and freezers.
How long was the business interrupted?
The fire meant the restaurant was closed for two weeks. Once the kitchen was able to function, the upstairs was able to reopen and the two Flame Grill Take Aways and two Rib Trucks were also able to operate. The downstairs remained closed until the 31 of December which meant there was reduced turnover during this busy period. The restaurant fully reopened at the beginning of January and turnover had recovered by the end of January.
Then there was the cyclone. Cyclone Gabrielle caused a complete loss of turnover for 8 days due to the power cut and the time it took to restock. There was also continued loss of turnover in the months following the cyclone because many customers had property damage or had moved away because of flood damage.
How Able Business Claims Helped
1) The Fire
The Problem
The insurer believed the losses were for material damage only and Material Damage payments were made promptly but there was no Business Interruption payment.
What We Did
We reviewed the turnover during this period compared with the five previous years and we were able to show that there was a loss of turnover from the date of the fire to the end of January. We were able to confirm that the business had recovered by early February when Cyclone Gabrielle arrived in the Hawkes Bay.
The Result
The insurer made a payment of just over $76,000 in August 2023, 9 months after the fire.
2) Cyclone Gabrielle
The Problem
The insurer believed there was only a few days disruption.
What We Did
We prepared the 1 progress claim for loss of income during the days the restaurant was closed due to the power cut and through to 31 March.
The second claim to October 31 was made under two contingent extensions:
1. Prevention of Access
2. Property Damage to Customers or Suppliers Premises.
This extended the claim from 1 month to 9 months.
Going the Extra Mile
We visited the area and saw how the damage to the Waiohiki and Puketapu Bridges hindered customer access.
We also saw that the Eastern Institute of Technology was closed. We found that with the Institute closed a population of 10,000 students was no longer in the area from February to July. In July 3000 students and staff were able to return but this was still a significant reduction in numbers, and we were able to make a claim under the extension Property Damage to Customers’ or Suppliers’ premises through to October 31 when the EIT reopened fully and all students and staff returned.
We also prepared the stock claim as this had got stuck. We analysed multiple photographs of damaged stock, identified the photographs and linked them to invoices. This gave the insurers the proof they required.
Success!
In total these two claims which began with a fire and then a cyclone were settled at just over $500,000.
The business was able to survive these two interruptions because they got both fair MD and BI settlements because of our work.
The result
There was no immediate Stock or BI payment made for the damage and interruption experienced because of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Once we had prepared the stock claim the insured was paid over $30,000 for the lost stock.
It took until December 2023 to achieve a BI settlement. Initially just over $85,000 was paid for losses a result of the closure. The claim was finally settled in May 2024 with a total settlement of just under $300,000.