Bermuda insurance firm Freisenbruch Meyer has swung into post-Hurricane Gonzalo mode with military efficiency.

The firm’s William Madeiros, a former Bermuda Regiment Major, said: “We’ve got a plan, we’re sticking to it and working our way through.”

Mr Madeiros, executive vice-president and general manager of the Front Street company, said the firm had dealt with more than 200 claims from Tropical Storm Fay, with a further 300 claims flooding in following Hurricane Gonzalo.

He said the firm had brought in specialist loss adjusters from the UK, as well as a marine surveyor and a quantity surveyor to help boost the team and deal with customers faster.

Mr Madeiros added: “I fully expect more people will be contacting us — people are just getting phones and internet back. The numbers will definitely increase.

“We’re endeavouring to get out and see every client as soon as possible.”

But he said: “As bad as it was — and I feel for people who have lost roofs and power — nobody died. We dodged a big one.

“In some ways TS Fay was a blessing — it was a pruning that took place before Gonzalo and Fay helped us with that. I think we were very blessed compared to what I had in mind for the aftermath of Gonzalo.”

Mr Madeiros added that TS Fay had also highlighted the need to take precautions before Gonzalo hit and that people had battened down, boarded up and stowed things like garden furniture safely before the hurricane hit.

And he said: “Fay the week before got everybody’s attention and reinforced the need to take sensible precautions.”

Mr Madeiros said: “Things are going well and I’m pleased with our response.

“I have been through this kind of thing before and it’s largely proceeding as we predicted and planned.”

Part of the insurer’s informal assessment of the scale of damage inflicted by Gonzalo came from checking up on what Mr Madeiros called “bellwether properties” — residences that appeared to stand a good chance of becoming hurricane casualties.

“A lot of the ones that I thought would be pasted in Hurricane Gonzalo were not,” he said. “We’d anticipated a Fabian-type event. As bad as it’s been, and I feel very sorry for the people who had damage, we can breathe a sigh of relief. Another message I would like to send is that the market as a whole has responded very well to this. The world press and reinsurers are all watching how we handle this, and so far it’s been very complimentary.”

Freisenbruch-Meyer’s extensive property book is seeing numerous claims for roof damage, he said, including several “in the hundreds of thousands”.

“On the marine side, we’ve seen damage throughout the Island — the good news, again, is that people took the time to go out and secure their vessels. Unfortunately, some damage was occasioned by other boats breaking away and hitting our clients’ boats. Boatyards right now are chock-a-block trying to get boats back in the water. I tend to find on the marine side that it takes a while for that to settle down.

“My advice to people right now is, if you haven’t contacted your insurer, do so as soon as possible, because we need to get someone out there to see the damage. We also advise people to secure their properties, and get their estimates as quickly as they can.

“This is one of the few times that people want to hear from their insurance company.”