Make an Insurance Claim
Tell us about your claim as soon as possible: a delay can prejudice the outcome. The steps that protect a claim:
1. Notify: call or email FRS as soon as the incident happens, before repairs are ordered or anything is agreed with a third party.
2. Make safe: take reasonable steps to prevent further loss, and photograph the damage before anything is moved.
3. Report: for burglary, theft or malicious damage, report the incident to the police and keep the report number.
4. Do not admit liability: for a liability claim, do not admit fault or offer compensation, and send any letter of demand to FRS unanswered.
5. Keep records: invoices, quotes, receipts, trading figures and any correspondence about the loss.
6. We lodge and manage: FRS lodges the claim with the insurer, coordinates the assessor and follows it through to settlement.
We manage claims across all our business insurance and personal insurance covers.
This page is for existing Fortis Risk Solutions clients. Not insured with us yet? Get a quote.
If anyone is hurt or the property is unsafe, call 000 first.
Weekdays 9:30am to 6pm
Telephone: 03 7046 3766
Claim form
Recent claims we have managed
Cases from the Fortis Risk Solutions broking team. Client names have been removed.
Client case: Storm and Water Damage While the Owner Was Away on Holiday
The client situation: A newly built prestige house, less than one year old, with a total building cost of over $10,000,000, suffered severe stormwater overflow into the garage and the cinema room on the lower ground floor. The storm caused power outages in the area, and the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) was burnt out by a power surge. Stormwater entering the cinema damaged the skirting, carpet and some cinema equipment, all of which needed replacement. It happened during the Christmas and New Year period.
How we handled the case: We worked closely with the builder who originally built the property, provided the list of documents required to expedite the claim, and had high quality materials ordered to match the original build and design.
Claim result: A total claim indemnity of $137,413.50 was approved within 3 days of the builder providing the repair quotation and report. The client’s long overseas trip was not interrupted, and on their return the repair was nearly completed.
How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: For a prestige home the repair has to match the original. We bring in the original builder and manage the claim so the owner does not have to be there.
Client case: Property Damage, Stock and Business Interruption After a Cyclone
The client situation: A restaurant located inside a shopping centre was forced to temporarily close after a cyclone in Queensland caused a prolonged power outage to the centre. The loss of electricity caused refrigerated and frozen food stock to spoil and prevented the restaurant from trading.
The incident happened just 6 weeks after the restaurant opened. We had provided holistic risk advice prior to the opening, and they had taken the necessary insurance to protect their operation.How the policy responded: Its Business Insurance policy included cover for Business Interruption arising from damage and loss of stock from storm damage affecting utility services, allowing the cyclone-related power outage and the resulting loss of income and gross profit to be recovered under the policy.
The restaurant claimed approximately $2,368 for spoiled stock and subsequently $1,384 a week of lost Gross Profit for 13 weeks until they fully recovered from the cyclone, a total indemnity of $23,989 including cleaning costs and other additional increased costs of working.How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: We advise on risk before a venue opens, not after the first loss. Utility failure and stock spoilage were on this policy because we raised them at the start.
Client case: Success Story: Break-in Causes Building Damage
The client situation: Thieves broke into a warehouse property in Queensland owned by our client overnight, forcing open the motorised sliding gate at the front of the property and damaging the roller door, locks, security fixtures and sections of the main warehouse building. The thieves stole a whole van of white goods belonging to the tenant who leased the warehouse.
How we handled the case: We helped our client, as the warehouse property owner, lodge a claim through their Commercial Property Owner (CPO) Insurance for the insured damage to the building and landlord-owned fixtures caused during the break-in. The insurance covered the cost of repairing the sliding gate and motor at the front of the warehouse, as well as the roller door, at a total cost of $24,598.
The tenant also reported that stock had been stolen from inside the warehouse. The tenant would generally need its own insurance for stolen tenant-owned stock and contents. If covered building damage made the warehouse temporarily unusable and resulted in lost rent, applicable Loss of Rent cover could also respond.Worth knowing: It is important for a commercial property owner and a tenant to understand that the landlord’s insurance and the tenant’s insurance for the same warehouse do not overlap. The commercial property owner policy covers the building, fixtures and landlord liability, while the tenant’s policy typically covers the tenant’s business stock and operational liability.
How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: We explain to owners and tenants where one policy ends and the other begins, before a loss shows up the gap.
Every policy is different and the outcome of a claim depends on its terms. As your broker, Fortis Risk Solutions compares insurers and policy wording before you buy, and lodges and manages the claim for you when something happens. Talk to us about your own cover.