LOOKING OUT FOR
OVERHEAD DAMAGE UNDERWRITING AGENCIES OF AUSTRALIA IS AIMING TO INCREASE AWARENESS AROUND THE INCORRECT LOADING OF MACHINERY, WHICH IS CONTRIBUTING TO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO OVERHEAD INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS BRIDGES.
M
ichelle Morrissey has witnessed a wide range of insurance claims during her tenure as the National Claims Manager at Underwriting Agencies of Australia (UAA). Morrissey and her team of ten claim consultants help manage claims Australia wide, which sometimes include complex insurance matters. One such matter, which Morrissey says is becoming more frequent throughout the industry, is damage inflicted on overhead
infrastructure. These incidents commonly involve damage to power lines, bridges, overpasses, and other vehicles. As Morrissey explains, what began as an infrequent incident has now become an increasingly common occurrence. A pattern that she and her team are keen to disrupt. “We are quite concerned with this as we have had several recent claims where these incidents seem to be the issue,” she says. “We are also seeing these increase in both severity and frequency.”
Morrissey adds that these incidents are commonly caused by one simple oversight. “There are some commonalities between the claims, which seems to be due to simply incorrect loading. This affects mostly clients that either have a transportation business, or businesses who engage a transportation business to move their machines,” she says. Morrissey says damages incurred in such incidents are not limited to the insured machinery, but also impact the infrastructure and other third-party assets and vehicles.
UAA’s team of claim consultants help manage claims Australia-wide.
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