The following statement has been issued by RiskSTOP to its clients and other stakeholder today (9 August 2011) following recent scenes of civil unrest affecting London and other cities in the UK:
With civil unrest spreading from London to other areas of the UK, and showing no signs of abating at present, we want to take the opportunity of emphasising to you that we continue to be available to support you and your policyholders through these very troubling times for us all. If you or any of your policyholders require any risk management advice from a property or life safety aspect then please do not hesitate to contact us.
Whilst the scale of the arson damage and looting is unprecedented in the UK, there are some additional measures that can be taken to minimise the arson risk in particular. It appears from news footage that vandals are igniting wheelie bins and other loose external combustible material in streets and yard spaces, and these small fires are threatening buildings, with the fire service not always in a position to intervene and prevent fire spread.
Policyholders should therefore look to remove any such easy targets from the streets and in proximity to buildings, even if this means temporarily retaining bins within premises (we appreciate this may contravene policy warranties in certain cases but you may wish to consider this in the short term).
If we provide you with SURVEY services, we are sure you will appreciate that the safety of people is of paramount importance. Every effort is being made to complete surveys on schedule, but our team is of necessity placing greater emphasis than normal on policyholder/surveyor safety. If the level of unrest does not quickly abate there will be an inevitable effect on our field survey activity. We may, for example, be unable to safely reach some premises in inner city areas due to personnel/policyholder safety concerns or where areas are cordoned off by the Police. We will endeavour to accommodate urgent post loss surveys on request subject to these considerations.
Where the ASSIST service is provided, we will continue to follow up current risk improvements and advise you via the underwriter of any issues that become apparent for risks within impacted areas. When discussions are taking place with policyholders, our Risk Management Advisors will reiterate the importance of vigilance around security and waste control.