Business as usual despite fire catastrophe

Picador PLC is one of the south's largest family run businesses and has been selling Vauxhalls in the Southampton area since 1963. Still run by the same family, the company now has five sites covering north and east Southampton; the Solent and Winchester Regions.

The Challenge

The storms of 1991 and 1997 both caused phenomenal damage and the company was very well supported by its insurance, but it was a fire in 1996 where Noyce understanding of the Picador business and our insurance know-how reaped significant added value. The fire caused a 30-foot wall to collapse in a garage workshop, where 20 customers’ cars were awaiting repairs.  The workshop was unusable, and 20 customers were expecting their cars back within agreed times.

The Solutions

The proposed insurance arrangements by Noyce Insurance included business interruption cover, which meant that Picador were able to use their company insurance to pay to move all the customer cars, plus the necessary tools and paint-spraying machinery, to another site. This way they avoided suffering thousands of pounds’ loss through work interruption and were able to deliver the cars back to their owners when agreed. “The damage was very well limited,” says Graham Jacobs, “in financial terms, in customer satisfaction and in the reduced stress levels we experienced".

"We trust Noyce Insurance completely to provide us with the best advice. They provide an umbrella understanding of every aspect of insurance and can mediate between client and Insurance Company. Over the years we have built a solid working relationship and I wouldn’t choose to use anyone else."

The Result

Picador was able to manage a very disruptive event and reduce the impact on the performance of the business by using good insurance broker practise. We were able to reduce both the impact of the incident as well as make sure the business is fully protected.