Vijaybhai Shah: "Insurance agents are not knowledgeable"

3 December 2003 is a nightmare that cannot be forgotten. It took place in my factory just a week before my son's wedding. All my joys and celebrations turned into  to ashes when at midnight I saw the blazing fire brutally burning down one after the other units and burning everything to ashes. The cause of the fire was a short circuit in a far away unit. But it was an old compound and all the galas are inter-connected. Most of the units are paper related work. Cool windy breeze favoured the huge flames and one by one all the units went into a blaze. We lost everything in our pre-press, post-press and press department. The only survival trump card was the 72V and SORMZ and web-off set machine out of 13 major units. Everything else was turned to ashes. 

Approximately the units came to a standstill for 60 days. The factory is located in an old mill compound of the city. It has a gala system. Our unit was working into five galas, out of which four were completely burnt. Apart from the pre-press and post-press department, the design studio, computers, office record section, the store-units, accounting department, all the positives and films went up in flames. All that remained was: fumes. 

My tip for fellow printers: After every sunset there is a sunrise. The general guideline of fire brigade is "first they prevent the fire from spreading to the adjoining unit rather than who are a flame. We must maintain the log book of machineries The stock was covered properly with "held in trust" clause. it helped a lot.

If we talk about insurance and insurance policies, the policies undertaken to get print firms insured works on a 50-50 basis. This is because of our lack of knowledge and interpretation. Some clauses of the insurances policies do effect the valuation and settlements of the claim. For the print building that caught fire, we were a tenant so we were not insured due to our interpretation. As per their guidelines and terms, we were able to recover only 60% to 70% of the insured amount, and the rest were the loses.  

To elaborate: The plant and machinery re-instatement value clause (It states the calculation at "Market Price") for repairing of machineries and for replacement of parts. This meant we lost approximately 50% amount (due to depreciation on value of parts). Unfortunately plants and machinery which were recently purchased was not included. 

My advise to all printers is: We must maintain the log book of machineries for the same. Our stock was covered properly and was held in trust. This was completely covered under the claim "as there was stock held in trust clause" and it helped a lot. The most difficult part for me was the settlement and valuation of machinery, services rendered by the mechanics for their repairs parts, valuation of all furniture and fixtures. And last but not the least, the valuation of debris also.

Generally insurance agents are not knowledgable nor are printers serious about our policy. We look into it, only because it is a statutory requirement or for purposes of legality. 

The general guideline of fire brigade is "first they prevent the fire spreading in the adjoining unit rather than who are a flame. Here I would like to say in printing press inks and chemicals are highly inflammable. And to suppress the impact of these volatile substances, requires huge quantity of water. The fire brigade was not ready to provide water due to their policies. 

I got advice from an independent consultant. The insurance companies are biased when you appoint a consultant. They got afraid that we are working against them so they became a bit more biased in paperwork with us. 

As I have already mentioned that we printers take the policies just as a matter of legality. Moreover I would like to add that the insurance agents who sell us their policies also are unaware of their terms and conditions fully and the procedure we need to go through at the time of actual claims and settlements. 

As a precaution for the future, and as a part of safety and security to cope with these kind of calamity, we have equipped the whole unit with smoke detectors bifurcating them into zonal system near the security guard; so that fire (if any) can be immediately traced out. Many fi re extinguishers and water pumping valves have been installed in the factory. 

As a part of practice the insurance covering the proper and sufficient amount has also been taken. This is regularly revised by me after consulting a proper expert for the same. We consult an insurance adviser, regularly, to keep a continuous check for any additional kit or re-check for policies revisions, as when it is required. 

We lost everything, the data, the designs, the accounts, etc. The ashes and debris were the only things that we had. All the designs and data were retrieved from the clients and plate processors. Our clients supported us in each and every pace. They were the back-bone of our revival. For the accounts, we take back-ups at regular intervals and the copies were saved, so it was helpful.

Printing business as a whole is very lengthy process from pre-press to post-press to desptach. It has got various processes from base to end product. So it is advisable to appoint an insurance advisor who points out the guidelines and recommendations for the policies. There are various factors to be considered. These include: type of work; to the weather conditions, locations base of the unit, surroundings to be considered before any policy is prepared.

Our customers and clients were a boon and asset to us. They were the back-bone for our revival. They supported in each and every single way to help us grow and sustain. Their loyalty towards Chirag Offset permitted us to be re-born and re-grow. Even our business competitors extended tremendous support.

We are associated right from the beginning with Navneet Publication India Ltd. The management offered their premises to us for a start-up unit. Neighbouring printers who were unaffected helped us by offering their machines and taking care of deliveries. Customers paid us in advance and the credits of payments were received without any documentation.

Medha Virkar was honoured with the Outputlinks' Women of Distinction Award for her industry experience, leadership skills and participation in the industry. Virkar who heads Kaleido Graphics has compiled a set of interviews with the printers affected by fire, floods and other accidents as part of Special Insurance Theme in the latest issue of Mumbai Mudrak Sangh's Print Bulletin. The above interview is an excerpt from the November 2014 print edition.