The yearly round for the Association of Burglary Insurance Surveyors closed with the annual general meeting, before a presentation by Martyn Halliday, the ABIS award winner for 2003.
Martyn, who has had a number of senior roles in the insurance industry, briefly described how the persistence and wide knowledge of an insurance surveyor was used to good effect in identifying a fraudulent claim and saving his company a considerable amount of money. The AGM followed with 24 members present. Chairman Andrew Templeton reported another successful year with a full programme of evening lectures. He also reported with regret the passing of old friends in the industry including Norman Johns, Mike Hunt and Jack Worsley. The Chairman announced the appointment of Ken Bristow as President ,and Roy Bottomley as Vice President. After committee reports and the re-election of board members, members retired to the English Club for refreshments.
At their March meeting the association heard from Paul Strasburger Director of Safe Estates Services Limited.
Based in Borehamwood, north of London, Safe Estates provide a managed service to owners of void (empty) buildings. Established for four years, the company is half owned by Reliance Security and half by its directors. Working capital is £3m. Customers include local authorities, property managers, NHS trusts and building societies with repossessed properties. It was reported by Paul the national vacancy rate of property is around seven per cent with inner London as much as 15pc. Services can include: an initial survey and risk assessment; disconnection of services to the building and site preparation; rubbish removal inside and outside building; installation of perforated steel screens to accessible doors and windows and sealing of letter boxes; temporary fencing and vehicle entrance barriers; protection of thief attractive contents if these cannot be removed and stored off-site; and installation of one or more SmartAlarm. This is a self-contained battery-powered device with GSM mobile phone signalling to an alarm receiving centre and audible or speech warning. Reliance’s uniformed security officers provide response. The alarm supports up to 19 wire-free movement detectors or smoke detectors. Sequential verification reduces the risk of false alarms. The base of the alarm can also incorporate flood detection if this is considered a risk. There can be manned guarding by Reliance Security. This is costly and often only a temporary measure until other controls are made effective. Or, visiting security patrols by Reliance. Internal and external inspections are made to check the integrity of the security. The frequency will depend on the threat level and can be temporarily increased or decreased depending on local conditions. Finally the company offers details of the customer’s site over a password-protected web site. This can include digital photos, summary of inspection reports and alarm activation log. Services could reduce the risk of fire, theft and vandalism to void properties and may also mitigate public liability risks under the Occupiers Liability Act, the meeting heard.
