CASE STUDY

By: Duane Pretorius, Environmental Manager – Sedgwick Australia

Incident summary

A fire occurred at a retail premises in Queensland causing soot, heat and smoke damage to various automotive parts, spares and components. As a result, the products were no longer able to be sold at a retail level.

Claim summary

The insured was not willing to make a buyback offer on the stock items due to concern over potential reputational and brand implications associated with selling stock that wasn’t ‘pristine’. To ensure they received some value back for the damaged goods, several salvage service providers were approached to make offers.

Works conducted

Sedgwick’s scope of work included assessing the stock schedule provided, inspecting the stock, requesting and gathering offers from the appropriate salvage companies, and compiling a report with recommendations.

Savings and contributions

Upon assessing the salvage offers and conditions, we recommended the insured consider offers from two of the service providers, or a combination of both, to generate the most value for the damaged stock items. Both recommended salvage companies covered all associated removal costs. One guaranteed the branded goods would be sold outside Australia, and the other proposed an option involving scrapping branded metal items and removing the branding from others. By choosing these offers, the insured saved on removal and transportation costs, which were covered by the salvage service providers. Additionally, they avoided the costs associated with disposing of the branded stock, as one salvage company offered a cost-free option for this.

Conclusion

Sedgwick’s coordination with multiple salvage companies ensured the policyholder received the most comprehensive offers, including options that covered removal and transportation costs and solutions for branded and unbranded items. Our recommendations helped the insured maximise the value recovered from the damaged stock and minimise additional costs. Overall, our collaborative efforts with the salvage service providers resulted in a well-coordinated plan to address the aftermath of the incident and helped improve the outcome for the insured.