For the spring edition of INSURANCE MATTERS, Action Insurance Repair's quarterly newsletter, we interviewed Toby Burrows and Andrew Turner, owners of Pendle Hill Properties.
Pendle Hill has almost doubled the number of properties they manage, and Andrew quickly realised that partnering with Action Insurance Repair made sense for their team and their clients. As soon as you’re managing more properties, chances are you will have a property that needs an insurance repair at some point – and that’s not related to how well maintained properties are, it’s just a fact of life! But why is using Action Insurance Repair such a good idea for Letting Agents? Toby and Andrew explain in their interview.
HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT ACTION INSURANCE REPAIR?
Toby: Andrew first met Joanne at a networking event, and quickly understood the advantages of partnering up – so he introduced me to her. Before using AIR, we were having some difficulty with organising the larger repairs, as it was hard to find a contractor who could handle everything. Most of the contractors we had on our books could only handle one trade, a roof issue or a plumbing leak, but to find a company that can handle everything – small and large jobs – is a big advantage.
Even though AIR specialises in insurance repairs, we still look to them when we have a property that we manage property that needs several different repairs or maybe more substantial work, which has really helped us and saves us so much time.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF USING A TEAM OF INSURANCE REPAIR EXPERTS LIKE AIR INSTEAD OF SOURCING YOUR OWN TEAM OF CONTRACTORS?
Toby: It’s better to have one company, one point of contact, to handle all the different jobs. Before using AIR, we would often have to call a plumber, then a joiner to fix the floor or a tiler and a decorator, this way we just need to make one phone call!
Andrew: It’s the time. Managing lots of different contractors takes a lot of time, time we don’t always have. We manage over 80 properties, and not having to worry about making lots of phone calls to different contractors, meeting them at the property is priceless. I know that if I have an issue I can just contact Joanne, who quickly gets a quote sent over to us, I can outsource everything to her and I know the job will be done properly. It saves so much time, because I also know Joanne gets back to me quickly. We don’t have to chase, and even if we did it was only chasing one person, not multiple contractors.
Joanne keeps us updated, which saves us a lot of time and gives us extra peace of mind. Before it would often take weeks to get all the quotes we needed, now within a week of reporting the issue we usually have a team on-site, and a team we can trust.
HOW DOES OUR TEAM STAND OUT?
Toby: Joanne keeps us updated, and we feel confident that whatever job they are on it will be done properly. There are no last-minute surprises, we know what’s been done and when it will be done by. AIR is good at keeping to their deadlines, and if there are delays, they tell us about it before we have to ask. Anyone who has ever worked with contractors knows how stressful the management actually is, so to not have to worry about it is amazing!
WHAT ARE THE MAIN BENEFITS OF USING AIR?
Toby: We’ve never had an issue with any of the repairs jobs done by AIR. If you have a tenant who reports a problem in a property you manage, as a Letting Agent you need the work to be done to the best standard and as quick as possible – not an easy task!
By using AIR, we know the job gets done properly, quickly, saves us a lot of time and we know that both our tenants and landlords will be happy with the results.