Dairy Insurance Loss Adjuster and Loss Assessors

The financial aspects and profitability of a dairy company are critical but equally if not more important is the sense checking of how the profitability was achieved and if budgets, equipment and capex are appropriate for the dairy business to achieve its goals.
The summary included here is not comprehensive and should not be relied upon, it is for general guidance and indication only.

The objective of a Loss Assessor is to assist the insurer in evaluating the liability ensuing after an incident involving an insurance claim. The assessor will review the contract wording and assess the degree of liability / non liability. It is critical to employ the services of an experienced professional who can usually pick contract details instinctively where someone with less experience could miss out seemingly minor issue which may result in misunderstandings later.

The dairy loss adjustment process will usually commence with opening up an online secure shared folder. The folder should be pre-indexed where documents for various parts of the Adjustment information can be shared securely with changes and access password protected and logged.

This will be followed by a detailed preliminary information request to minimise time on site meetings and allow the business to prepare the necessary documents / information. There should be a priority highlighted for critical information as some information is more important. Prepare a spreadsheet where the impact of findings can be collated e.g. dairy equipment in need of replacement or refurbishment. Condition of buildings, drains, utilities etc etc.

Example headings:

The Due Diligence information below is an outline guide only.
1. General and Legal:
2. Human resources:
3. Contracts / agreements:
4. Financial:
5. Technical: Watson Dairy Consulting

Information to be gathered

• i. Sales contracts with major distributors
• ii. Supply contracts with major suppliers - e.g. milk supply
• iii. Financial agreements including bank loans, lease liabilities and other loans
• iv. Insurance policies
• v. inter company agreements
• vi. All Sales and Purchase Agreements
• vii. Business Plan and Projections:
• viii. P&L accounts
• viiii. Bank and cash position
• x. Receiveables
• xi. Stocks
• xii. Leases
• xiii. Fixed assets
• xiiii. Other assets
• xv. Creditors
• xvi. Financing
• xvii. Any other commitments / liabilities
• xviii. Tax
• xviiii. Leases
• xx. Employee liabilities
• xxi. Disputes / any Legal concerns
• xxii. Major agreements with other parties

The Dairy Loss Adjustment Report

• Identify where there has been a significant benefit in terms of upgraded plant compared to pre claim e.g. additional volume capavity, reduced utilities consumptions etc.
• Review of installed dairy production and packing capacity and utilized capacities
• Review of existing dairy factory site (environment and buildings)
• Review and cost estimation of any planned factory expansion plans, budgets for dairy equipment and buildings. This includes risk assessment (delays, lead time and spill-overs)
• Review of projected maintenance costs / contracts - mean time to failure vs new equipment benefits.
• Review of utilities (Effluents, water, power, steam, compressed air and refrigeration)
• PCB's / improved safety
• Dairy Building construction / presence of asbestos
• Insurance / Fire risk / Buildings suitability and condition
• Security of supply and quality assurance of supply
• Evaluation and valuation of dairy equipment and buildings

The Technical DAiry Loss Assessment Report may also include a review of commercial and other issues providing an independent Expert Dairy Consultant opinion on:-

• Consumer preferences
• Milk Industry Regulatory insights / Planning restrictions
• Staffing and ability
• Competitive advantage
• Commercial viability of any planned new dairy products
• Emerging trends in the dairy industry in country and globally

Dairy Utilities consumption/h2>

DAiry Loss Adjustors

Utilities:

Equipment and other benefits of replacing or refurbishing the equipment, utilities and buildings

Electricity:

supplier, incoming supply, Cable size, Transformers proximity, transformer size, restrictions, interruptions, costs etc

Water:

Mains, Well, Water table, Consents, Costs, depth, seasonality, security of supply, wquality, treatment, sensitivity, security

Waste Water:

Availability of treatment, cost, consents, quality, volume, restrictions, security

Steam

Gas

Diesel / Oil

Compressed air

A shortage of a single utility can cripple a dairy Business

We can work independently or as a part of your team in the acquisition and disposal / sale process.