We’ve joined forces with our underwriters to offer members the opportunity of having their assets assessed for potential threats.
Council assets aren’t only an investment, but also play vital roles in the community. They house residents and businesses, provide vital amenities such as health services and recreation, and accommodate councils themselves.
Damage resulting from fire, flooding, plant and equipment breakdown, or security breaches can have a big impact and affect lots of people. Minimising, or even better, preventing property damage is an important part of risk management that goes a long way in supporting the security and progress of a community.
Loss control visits
The free service is available to all members and allows you to play a part in reducing your assets’ exposure to risk.
Let’s face it, the less time and money that’s spent on dealing with avoidable claims, let alone the interruption property loss or damage causes, the better.
Underwriters carry out a programme of scheduled visits based on asset values declared by Council at renewal each year. It’s recommend that visits are scheduled every 18 months for high value, complex assets, and every three years for the smaller.
How it works
Highly trained risk engineers conduct site inspections on the look out for areas where there’s potential for loss. They then deliver the findings in a report that identifies problem areas, provide a brief explanation of hazards, and offer solutions to eliminate or reduce risks before they become an issue.
In the past, risk engineers have found problems with:
electrical switch boards faults;
over-filled storage areas that present fire risks;
inappropriate designation of hot-work areas (e.g. welding and soldering); and
flood risks.
Most hazards are usually cheap to fix, and a small investment in avoiding a potentially huge loss. However, this isn’t to say that larger-scale hazards aren’t present. These can involve bulk removal of dangerous materials used in construction, such as flammable cladding or asbestos, or retro fitting safety systems, such as re-wiring electrics and installing adequate fire suppressing units (i.e. sprinklers).
As they say, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Construction stage service
We can also arrange to have risk engineers involved at the construction stage.
When building a property or renovating and existing one, new risks are always introduced. Risk engineers can often suggest changes that reduce loss expectancy at minimal or no extra cost to the project. They’ll look at factors that might contribute to additional exposure before a building project begins, taking into account:
inappropriate building materials;
deficiencies in the plan designs;
construction schedules that might compromise quality; and
natural hazards.
Like the loss control visits, this service is free of charge and available to each and every member council.
Like to know more?
Have a chat to your account manager about on how you can take us up on this fantastic offer.