Horton & Hogarth team up with market leader Saint-Gobain in new venture for property damage claims

Home Repair Network LTD (HRNL)

Ex Evander CEO and Independent Group Chairman Alan Horton and Ex Innovation Group & LAS Sales Director, Ian Hogarth have joined forces with Saint-Gobain, the global manufacturer and distributer of building materials to create a new innovative solution to manage lower value building damage claims in the UK property insurance market.

The new venture will harness the skills of local tradespeople by creating individual trade networks to deliver a national supply chain solution for UK insurance companies. The networks will be linked via smartphone technology, sophisticated back office IT platforms and a team of technical claims advisors.

Initially the service will be offering a supply chain solution for claims relating to; garage doors, roofing and small building works. Aimed at the handling of less complex claims, only requiring one or two different tradespeople, it will enable a higher than average proportion of work to be commenced during the first visit to a policy holders home.

HRNL Managing Director, Ian Hogarth commented, “We are delighted to bring a range of new, innovative and value adding claims solutions to the UK Property Insurance Claims market. We believe that local tradespeople are best placed to deliver a fast efficient “no hassle” service that home owners can trust. The HRNL solutions will change perceptions in the industry not only by delivering benefits for home owners, but also by reducing the time it takes to handle a property damage claim.

HRNL has already begun discussions with some of the leading names in the UK property insurance market and plans to start trials in the coming months.

Hogarth added, “we are confident that by using local tradespeople, combined with the use of the latest digital technology, the time taken to complete claims can be significantly reduced thereby improving customer service. To provide added re-assurance to customers our tradespeople will be vetted and approved and will be rated through an independent third party site”.

The HRNL solution also provides home-owners who made a claim for which insurance cover is not in place with the option to still use the services of our vetted, approved and managed local tradesperson to undertake the required work.

Simon Carin, Managing Director of Building Glass UK&I a division of Saint-Gobain says: “I am excited that Saint-Gobain has invested in this new venture. Home Repair Network Limited is the vision of Alan and Ian following their extensive experience working with the UK Insurance sector. The company will operate independently within our group and will be given the freedom to grow and develop, whilst benefiting from our considerable resources and expertise”.