$4M Fire destroys Hamlyn Heights supermarket

NATIONAL

Would your current insurance policy provide you with adequate coverage if such an event occurred at your supermarket?

A blaze destroyed an IGA supermarket at Hamlyn Heights as flames engulfed the roughly 160 square metre building in the early hours of a Monday morning. Fortunately, no supermarket staff were in the building during the ferocious blaze.

Unfortunately, instead of opening for a new week, the owners were faced with the devastation that their business was destroyed by the fire. The building, contents, stock, and equipment were completely engulfed by the fire and destroyed beyond repair.

The cause of the fire was an arson attack. A skip bin located on a wall of the supermarket was full of combustibles and deliberately set alight by a person and then the fire spread to the supermarket, causing $4M of damage.

Luckily, our team of supermarket insurance Risk Advisers were able to ensure that they were adequately covered for the fire and enable them to set up a make shift store beside the damaged premises. This allowed for the owners to continue offering the community a similar service while they rebuilt their business. Have you checked your supermarket insurance policy lately to make sure you are covered for the following?

» Building damage – have you had a professional property valuation in the last 3 years to ensure you have the correct rebuild replacement cost in place if your building was destroyed? » Contents and equipment damage – do you have the correct replacement value in place if you lost all your contents and equipment such as cash registers, shelving, fitouts, refrigeration equipment » Stock Damage – do you have the correct replacement value in place if you lost all your stock (food and liquor)? » Business Interruption – do

you have the correct income insured to get you through an extended period of closure to your supermarket business? » Claims preparation expenses – are you adequately insured for claims preparation expenses to accountants, engineers, or architects in preparing a large claim? » Removal of Debris – do you have adequate insurance cover for clean up and removal costs to remove charred remains of your building, stock, equipment, and contents? » Additional Increased Costs of working – are you covered for expenses incurred to assist you in resuming and/or maintaining your normal supermarket business operations such as a temporary premises to operate from?

If you would like a free Supermarket Insurance health check from an Adroit Insurance Risk Adviser, contact us today 1300 MY ADROIT, adroit.com.au or mail@adroit.com.au

MOCHA