The Lawyer Monthly Expert Witness Awards 2021

A peculiar badge of honour is the knowledge that the insurance and restoration industry don’t like me. I have worked for insurance company executives in their own home floods, but never their policyholders. I have audited insurers claims process and proven they are being over charged by 40% but never won a contract. I started the recognised trade association BDMA and was founding chairman and launched in the Old Library at Lloyds but did not have a position the following year. Winner of two Disaster Recovery of the Year, trainer of the year and Lifetime achievement awards but still ignored? This could all be chance but as someone achieving the highest worldwide certification in disaster recovery, I had to wonder why I was not a success. Over the past 20 years I have focused on water damage, mould and supported the policyholders who had been hoodwinked by insurers, contractors and loss adjusters in the belief their homes and businesses have been restored to pre loss conditions after escape of water or flood event. Initially I was ignored by loss adjusters and insurers and later told that I was not qualified, did not use recognised protocols or quite simply that mould and bacteria was not a health hazard. I was even criticised for ambulance chasing and using American laboratories. It was a brick wall that I had to, and did demolish brick by brick Recently insurers, loss adjusters have resorted to libel and slander, with malice thrown in and again I have had to engage a leading libel law firm to fight my case, so I now know the wall is down. My lawyers have stated they have never seen such malice recorded from a publicly listed company. Of course, the lawyers asked the simple question why would they do that? Of course, being lawyers, they saw very quickly that reports I have provided were generally likely to result in water damage claim and decontamination more than £100,000 as health issues were confirmed. This was in stark contrast to insurers nominated contractors usually quoting £1500 for a 30-minute fog treatment which flies in the face of all international guidance. Of course, personal injury claims could follow too. You could of course be forgiven for thinking that this is a rant from a disgruntled expert, but it is now a pastime and hobby in my semi- retirement and so very easily supported by a review of facts. The Health and Safety executive in their paper Human Pathogens, list Aspergillus as a class 2 hazard. The Housing Health and safety Rating System (2006) recognise mould as a class 1 hazard, the same category as asbestos. CoSHH 2006 recognises mould and its components as a substance hazardous to health. British Standards BS 12999 and PAS 64 recognise the need for measured risk and hazard assessments with verified clearance certification. Now simply ask anyone that has ever been flooded or affected by escape of water if they have ever been given any form of risk assessment, or verified clearance certificate? The answer will be a resounding no. Now we move into the legal requirements of Construction Design Management (CDM) and reflect on the ABI guidance notes 2015 which emphasise the legal requirement to trigger CDM in most water damage claims. Ask anyone if CDM was triggered the resounding answer is, no. After studying across the world, I am rightly proud of my competence and certification, so it becomes a hardship when I must review unqualified LAWYER MONTHLY EXPERT WITNESS AWARDS 2021 UNITED KINGDOM - 23 - www.lawyer-monthly.com Challenging Insurers, Loss Adjusters and Contractors in Water Damage and Mould Claims ‘Detailed Measurement of Latent Damage’ Known Health Hazards of Mould Aflatoxin All Patucin Lungs, Brain Haem Sarartoxin Opportunistic Infection Abortogenic & Lethal Ochratoxin Kidney, Liver, Immune T2 Toxin Digestive System Sterigmatocystin Carcinogen Zearalenone Estrogen Reproduction Gliotoxin Immune System Citrinin Renal & Bronchial Vasodilatation