VALIDUS SHOWS A CUTTING EDGE ON CLAIMS TO THE CREDIT HIRE SECTOR

Keep an eye on Validus-IVC – if only because it is growing so quickly that you might not recognise it in a few years. 

This is an exciting and innovative company which provides major UK insurers with claims analysis and management in the credit hire sector and its cutting edge technology means it is destined to become a leading provider to the industry.

So it is a company on the move – but certainly not from its Norfolk base. The county is the adopted home of Chief Executive Mike Srokowski and he is here to stay, along with a youthful, home-grown workforce operating from Paston House in Princes Street, Norwich.

Set up in March 2008, with a team of eight, today it employs nearer 100. Within the next six months Mike expects it to reach 150. In the year to April, he believes turnover will hit £4m. By the spring of 2011 he predicts it will be £8m; some of that from selling the technology rather than the service.

So what exactly does the Validus technology do? It offers insurers a unique, specialist service which enables each credit hire claim to be tracked and critically appraised. That means claims can be settled more efficiently and with greater financial savings for the insurer.

Credit hire operators were established in the 1980s to give innocent drivers replacement vehicles on credit after an accident. The companies can arrange repairs, provide replacement vehicles and recover the cost of the hire and other uninsured losses from the person-at-fault's insurer.

Validus deals with third party insurers and currently handles a significant percentage of the UK's estimated 50,000 claims a month.

Mike initially set up his own credit hire business after working for one of the UK's largest operators.

“I moved from a credit hire company to managing claims for UK insurers and the credit hire sector because I wanted to overcome the inefficiencies of motor claims handling,” he explained.

“I believe Validus resolves cases objectively and rationally.We've done that by designing and building the most technologically advanced credit hire claim analysis system available. It took two years to develop.”

The protocol and documentation for handling cases are set down under the Association of British Insurers General Terms of Agreement. The Validus system generates the documentation automatically. Documents from the credit hire company are processed through an intelligent scanner. It extracts large amounts of key data which, through analysis, allow payment to be settled in full in as few as ten days from receipt.

Mike is delighted that Norfolk people have been attracted into the business and believes they complement the company's hallmark of quality and attention to detail.

“It also demonstrates how innovative, creative and ambitious Norfolk people are – far from being the graveyard of ambition,” he added.

The company is soon launching another brainchild, a virtual mediation service in which Validus shares a 50-50 interest with Norwich-based law firm, Leathes Prior. The aim of the service, known as go2mediation, is to provide a more cost effective alternative to standard mediation, which generally requires both parties and their representatives to be physically present.

As a rugby enthusiast and supporter of Norwich RFC, Mike knows the importance of being first over the line.

Visit www.validus-ivc.co.uk