Insurance may be a complicated business, but after a natural disaster two of the Island?s industry experts say the first step is really very simple ? have plenty of staff on hand to answer the phones.

In the aftermath of Fabian, both Argus President and CEO Gerald Simons and BF&M CEO Glenn Titterton (pictured), said hundreds of calls poured in from people looking for information about their claims and how they could be settled.

Both Mr. Titterton and Mr. Simons said the insurance industry was brought back to basics and reminded of the importance of customer good service.

Initially, people want to hear a voice on the other end of the phone to talk to about their damaged home, car or boat.

?The difficulty is that we have to go flat out to give good, reasonable service to customers,? said Mr. Titterton.

?Last year we had 2,500 claimants all wanting attention which means we have to work flat out to put everyone into looking at the damaged areas.?

The company met that aim, and in its annual report, it said that within 36 hours of notification and with a few exceptions, the goal was met.

Since Fabian, BF&M has dealt with 2,014 property claims amounting to $60 million gross. Motor claims, of which there were 276, amounted to $0.7 million gross.

Marine claims, of which there were 283 amounted to $5 million gross.

To date, BF&M has 284 outstanding claims (206 properties, ten motor vehicles and 68 boats) with many partial payments already made and the company awaiting final bills. Since Fabian, the total number of 2,573 claims amounted to $65.7 million gross for BF&M.

At Argus, Mr. Simons said more than 90 percent of claims have been settled.

Fabian reduced the company?s earnings at the end of the financial year by $3 million. A breakdown of claims since Fabian at Argus revealed that 5,000 property claims were made amounting to $150 million.

There were 1,000 motor claims totalling $2 million.

The company dealt with 500 marine claims amounting to $10 million.

Mr. Simons said Fabian reminded insurers of the importance of organising an efficient method for managing claims.

And he said home- owners also learned the importance of fully insuring a property close to the value it was acquired for, a basic but important principle to follow to protect your home and belongings against a natural disaster.

?I think people learned the importance of maintaining a total sum insured close to the value of their home,? he said.

Fabian?s blow taught the Island a lesson about the unpredictability of Mother Nature and also about the solidarity of the insurance industry.

?I think the Island as a whole is more aware of the property and casualty insurance policies ? it?s possible that another storm could hit us but now we?re seeing businesses and home owners stay on top of their Insurance coverage more than they may have done in the past,? said Mr. Simons.

Mr. Titterton said Fabian also prompted businesses to look into insurance policies which fully protect their business, not just from physical damages but from the costs of having to close down.