Dealing with property damage and personal injury

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Q: What should I do in the event of a major property loss? (e.g: flood or fire)

A: Your first priority should be to take immediate steps to safeguard employees and members of the public by removing them from the vicinity of the damage before attempting to secure property and premises.

Before commencing any initial repair work, particular care should be taken to ensure that premises are safe to access. This includes:

• allowing water to run off before commencing clean up
• arranging to disconnect power to damaged premises
• ensuring that any overhead hazards such as fallen trees, loose or broken roof tiles and sheeting are isolated and removed.

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Q. What is the process for repairing damage to insured premises?

A: Emergency repairs to render premises safe and secure should be carried out as a matter of priority. The cost of carrying out emergency repairs at your request will be met as part of your policy coverage.

Where contractors are engaged by you to carry out emergency repairs, you should ensure that they are appropriately qualified, accredited or registered, particularly where work involves gas and electrical fittings or fixtures, or any work at heights, requiring falls protection.

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Q: When should I advise the VMIA of damage to insured property?

A: You should give notice to the VMIA of damage to insured property as soon as is reasonably practicable to do so. Please complete the attached Incident Notification Form and email it to claims@vmia.vic.gov.au.

In any cases involving very significant and extensive damage to insured premises or property, the VMIA will work with you to facilitate assessment of the damage and, if required, to assist you to co-ordinate significant repair works. The VMIA can provide after hours advice to insureds where it is required, in cases involving both a significant emergency and a major property loss. Examples of this include catastrophic flood or fire damage to public utilities and events involving loss or damage to rail infrastructure or rolling stock. In such emergencies VMIA staff can be contacted (see "Contact us").

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Q: In cases where personal injury has been suffered, what process should be followed?

A: You should immediately take all necessary steps to ensure that police, emergency and other services are engaged to treat injured people and to mitigate any risks of additional harm to members of the public. Where it is necessary to obtain after hours advice in relation to a significant event which has involved personal injury, VMIA staff can be contacted (see "Contact us).

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Dealing with clinical emergency situations

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Q: What steps should be taken in a clinical emergency?

A: The first priority is to protect patient safety and to eliminate any threat to the general public and to health service employees. Clinical emergencies, particularly involving patient safety, should be managed in accordance with each health service’s internal guidelines for critical incident management, including obtaining specialist clinical, ethical or legal (including OH&S) advice as the health service decides is appropriate.

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Q: When should the VMIA be advised of a clinical emergency?

A: The VMIA should be notified as early as practicable of any event, which might give rise to a claim under a policy of insurance. In emergency situations, this advice can in almost all cases be given on the next business day following the incident. Please complete the attached Incident Notification Form and email it to claims@vmia.vic.gov.au.

Whilst VMIA staff cannot provide insured health services with medical or legal advice, the VMIA can provide after hours assistance and guidance where it is required in cases involving a pressing emergency and which cannot otherwise be managed in accordance with the Health Service’s guidelines for critical incident management. In these cases VMIA staff can be contacted (see "Contact us").

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Potential claims assistance

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Q: What assistance can the VMIA provide with a potential claim situation?

A: In many cases, the VMIA insureds, particularly hospitals and medical practitioners, have advance notice that a claim for compensation or damages will be made by an aggrieved person. In these cases, claims staff can work closely with insureds by providing assistance with responding to issues in relation to the potential claim, for example, by settling and reviewing correspondence, witness statements, and assisting with guidance on complying with obligations to undertake open disclosure. In cases where there is potential for a claim to be made against an insured, claims staff can assist Freedom of Information (FoI) officers to comply with their obligations under FoI legislation. In other cases, for example, claims for unfair dismissal, policy conditions might require an insured to act reasonably to mitigate a risk by obtaining independent external legal advice. Insured entities and individuals should contact the VMIA to report adverse incidents and potential claims and to ascertain what the appropriate steps are to be taken in any particular case.

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Q: Can the VMIA provide me with legal advice?

A: VMIA staff can provide guidance and feedback on possible responses to mitigate a potential or an actual claim situation, but cannot give independent legal advice. Where independent legal advice is required by an insured outside the scope of cover, the VMIA can facilitate this by providing a list of specialist lawyers from the VMIA’ s legal panel, who insureds can consider engaging directly.

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Contact us

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Disclaimer

The information provided is intended for general use only. It is not a definitive guide to the law, does not constitute formal advice, and does not take into consideration the particular circumstances and needs of your organisation. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this information at the date of publication (July 2008). VMIA cannot be held responsible and extends no warranties as to the suitability of the information for any particular purpose and for actions taken by third parties. This information is protected by VMIA copyright.

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