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Even the best planning cannot anticipate all of the contingencies an organization faces in the wake of a catastrophic event. Restoring operations and ensuring that the business is up and running as quickly as possible is of paramount importance. And obtaining assistance from your insurers and fully recovering losses can be critical to the future of your organization. In such times of crisis, you need professionals on whom you can rely to assist you in quantifying your losses and presenting your insurance claims.
What Will You Say When They Ask What Happened?
To determine whether your organization has the appropriate resources to recover from losses quickly and efficiently, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do we understand that the failure to promptly document losses can limit recovery later?
- Have we already established the necessary accounting and technical protocols to measure and track the extent of our losses?
- Can we recover lost revenues and other expenses resulting from the event?
- Have we accounted for direct and contingent losses?
- How can I present my claims to help ensure the maximum recovery from insurers, governmental disaster relief agencies, and third parties?
Who's Looking Out for You?
Our Forensic Accounting and Claims Services (FACS) practice comprises certified public accountants and forensic accountants, as well as insurance coverage consultants, engineers, architects, and project managers, who deliver world-class insurance claim preparation and advisory services. We provide insurance loss measurement, accounting, and claim preparation assistance and are routinely engaged by leading companies to handle large and complex losses, such as those resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the World Trade Center disaster.
Our senior practitioners have spent the majority of their careers in this very specialized field and have extensive experience in insurance loss accounting, valuation, and insurance policy formats and requirements. FACS’ clients also have access to Marsh's extensive capabilities in insurance coverage issues and claims advocacy. Marsh does not provide financial statement audits or attest services. Accordingly, the Sarbanes-Oxley auditor independence rules do not apply to FACS services.
Post-Loss Measurement and Claim Preparation Services
We have deep experience in post loss measurement and claim preparation for all types of losses, including:
- Business interruption/contingent business interruption/extra expense
- Property damage and contents
- Service interruption
- Product recall
- Stock losses
- Fidelity claims
- Environmental issues
- Casualty and liability claims
- Builders risk claims
- Subrogation claims
Within 24 to 48 hours, our professionals can be anywhere in the world to assist with your crisis. We can provide the claim leadership required to mitigate your loss—helping to ensure that solid procedures are in place to help secure your full financial recovery. Our reputation for integrity with insurance providers and familiarity with the adjustment process provide a distinct advantage to our clients—both in terms of reducing time for receipt of settlement and overall service quality.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Claim Preparation Services
When your organization has been affected by a federally-declared disaster, FACS can assist you with the management and calculation of your FEMA claims so that you can focus on your public duties and return to normal business operations as soon as possible. Our experience in the public sector enables us to identify both insurance and FEMA requirements during the preparation of your claim, helping to maximize your potential recovery. We can provide assistance with:
- The FEMA application process
- Preliminary damage assessments
- Proper accounting methods to capture loss-related disbursements
- Tracking and allocating expenditures per insurer and FEMA requirements
- Eligibility advice with loss expenditures
- Preparation of project worksheets including debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent repair and replacement work
- Integration of the insurance settlement into the FEMA recovery formula
- Compliance with insurer and FEMA guidelines
- The final inspection and audit close-out process
Claims Project Management and Engineering
Because large casualty and property losses can involve complex recovery issues, your organization may require additional resources, particularly if your business was affected in a location where you are not familiar with local and state regulations and procedures. FACS claims project managers travel to loss sites and assist in managing your claim processes, working closely with local management personnel, repair contractors, loss adjusters, and other parties such as governmental disaster relief representatives. During the recovery period, we:
- Provide timely claims process progress reports
- Identify critical claims issues to be resolved before they develop into challenges that could delay recovery
- Help establish the scope and values of property damage, separating the damages from maintenance or related repair upgrades, which may or may not be insurance recoverable
- Prepare detailed building repair estimates and address code upgrade issues
- Prepare actual versus hypothetical baseline schedule analyses
- Identify and address damage scope issues that may not be evident to your insurer or the adjustment team
- Protect your interest in scope repair disputes
FACS Customized Technological Solutions
FACS supports its work with a powerful database tool FACSdb which allows us to assist you with your complex damage claims. FACSdb streamlines the process of compiling, managing, and distributing large amounts of critical claim data. Through the use of FACSdb, we can efficiently and accurately capture and categorize distinct information to package and distribute the claims according to the unique claim processing requirements of the individual parties involved.
Other features of FACSdb include:
- Highly customizable and easy-to-use
- Quick and secure online access to claim information
- Control over data-specific access privileges
- Capability to allow for database entry, updates, and data manipulation from multiple locations
To further facilitate communication and help increase efficiency during the claim preparation process, FACS utilizes additional Web-based technology to allow for review and collaboration on claim schedules and supporting documentation. Each claim-specific site has restricted access, so clients can designate appropriate authorization for claim documents as they become available for sharing.
Pre-Loss Valuation Services
Our extensive experience in measuring and accounting for losses on a "pre-loss" basis can help you in property valuation and estimating the potential impact of business interruption prior to purchasing insurance. And our ability to calculate time element and property values can assist you in meeting today’s detailed underwriting requirements.
Our pre-loss valuation services include:
- Business interruption/contingent business interruption values
- Extra expense valuation
- Stock values/finished goods calculated at selling price
- Property values/replacement cost valuation
- Anticipated maximum business interruption loss (AMBIL) calculations
Additional Claims-Related Services
We provide additional services and expertise to aid in recovering from significant business disruptions, including:
- Insurance coverage issues and advice
- Construction claims expertise
- Clerk of the works
If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact us.
If you are seeking information about insurance and related services, please visit marsh.com.
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