Insurance Claims Validation – Woking Warehouse Complex, Woking
A Woking industrial warehouse complex, which houses a number of big storage and distribution companies, recently called upon our drainage specialists for a CCTV drain survey. For the past 10 years, Alan had been the property manager overseeing the business operations. He was responsible for maintaining the warehouses and supporting the businesses that rented out the units.
One rainy autumn afternoon, Alan got a call from one of the tenants, a large logistics company that operates off one of the largest warehouses situated on the site. The warehouse was starting to get water inside it and it was almost reaching the pallets with the expensive consumer electronic items. The operations manager of the company was understandably agitated thinking that due to the water, some valuable stuff worth thousands of pounds could get damaged.
Alan quickly sent his maintenance crew to check but realised the issue was bigger than their ability to solve it. The whole warehouse complex’s drainage was blocked and the water was not flowing away from the warehouse. Water overflowed at the site owing to backup resulting in flooding of warehouse.
The damage was significant. Many pallets of electronics got spoiled, and the logistics operator was getting ready to file an insurance for the damage. Alan understood that determining what caused the drain failure was the first step to tackling the claim.
He needed to show the insurance company the flooding incident was not due to negligence or lack of maintenance by the complex. With the claim involving potentially large amounts of money, the insurance company would not take this lightly and would investigate thoroughly so Alan needed to get all evidence in place.
At this point, Alan opted to contact Your Drain Experts to conduct a CCTV drain survey. He had used the services of Your Drain Expert for Clogged Drain issues in the past and had complete faith in their expertise.
Within two days of reaching out to us, our drain surveyors appeared on the site in Surrey with their CCTV kit. The prompt response and efficiency of our efforts left Alan impressed by our work. With a CCTV drain survey, they would be able to check the whole drainage system without any kind of digging to disturb the tenants.
The technicians put a high-resolution camera into the drainage system and started looking near the location of the flood. The camera took pictures of the interiors of the pipes as it travelled through the system. Alan and the tenants saw this in real-time as well. We were able to identify the problem quickly when we saw the footage.
The main drain of the warehouse complex was blocked badly. The clogging was a collection of dirt, debris, leafs and cement and small stone which has most probably taken a few years to form. Debris that had collected in the pipe for many years was starting to block off the pipe.
The CCTV survey also captured tree roots growing through sections of the drainage system, and damage due to ordinary use over the years. The blockage was caused due to soil and small stones coming into the pipe through the cracks.
The technicians explained that the drainage system of the complex was maintained but the cracks and blockages were not due to fault. As a result, wear and tear took place, as was the case with any property. This would be important for Alan to show the insurance company that the flooding was not due to any fault by the warehouse management. Also, he had another expert’s opinion to prove this point.
Upon finishing the survey, Alan’s drain technicians shared the report with him which also consisted of footage from the CCTV inspection, photographs of the blockages and cracked pipes and more. The report stated that over the years, a blockage and pipe breaks were causing the flooding.
Alan submitted the report to the insurance company as part of the claims process. The CCTV drain survey evidence helped verify the claim as it showed the flood resulted from a drainage system failure that was out of the warehouse management’s control. The claim was approved by the insurance company and thus, the logistics company received compensation for the goods.
Whilst this was happening, Alan was liaising with our drainage specialists to effect repairs. Utilising high-pressure water jetting, the team removed blockages from the drainage system at full capacity. The pipe repair was undertaken with a no-dig relining technique, which reinforced the pipes and prevented additional debris from entering into the drains.
Alan reflected: “I was worried the flooding would become a major fight with insurance. I often hear how horrible the process is.” But with the help of Your Drain Experts, we were able to obtain clear-cut proof of the drainage issues responsible for the flooding. The CCTV drain survey they performed was thorough, and their report really helped get the claim approved. They completed the repairs swiftly to prevent any future occurrence. I highly recommend them for any drainage issue or an insurance claim to make your life easy.