Catalyst

It’s a mad world isn’t it?

Natural Resources Wales this week warned property owners to ‘prepare for the unthinkable’ because previously safe areas could flood this autumn.

While 24 hours ago, the Environment Agency declared that large parts of southern England are in severe drought.

Climate change appears to be doing weird and wonderful things to our weather.

The take home is that we all need to take extra care to protect homes. The areas affected by drought – including Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Sussex, could be under a lot of water by the end of the month.

Catalyst’s claims experts say the first thing to do is check insurance policies. Many property owners think they’re covered for all eventualities when they’re not.

Also, insured or not, avoiding disaster is much better than being compensated for it. So, making sure property drainage systems are working well is a must.

Read our article latest article on the topic to find out more.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/from-subsidence-to-flash-flooding-why-insurers-are-preparing-for-weather-whiplash/

Have the facts about drainage maintenance, water supply pipes and subsidence at your fingertips.

Who could say no? 🙂

We’ve refreshed our online resources hub to make it easier to use.

So, if you need accurate information about topics like:

💦 Leak detection
💩 Drain jetting techniques
🏠 Subsidence risks
👍 And many more technical issues

They’re a couple of clicks and a swipe (on mobile devices) away.

It’s part of our mission to share expertise. Then property and insurance claims professionals have the best data to make important decisions.

View our article about the new-look Catalyst Resources Hub. If you have a view on what extra insights it would be good to share, let us know.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/resource-hub-refresh-puts-expert-technical-advice-at-your-fingertips/

Rats invading your home through the sewers. It sounds like a Stephen King horror script doesn’t it?

That’s the scenario an insurance claims client asked us to investigate.

With sewer safeguards designed to prevent rodent ingress, we guessed something serious was afoot.

And our latest case study shows just what we found.

The solution required some clever drain lining that ensured the policyholder, an elderly gentleman, could stay in his home throughout.

That was better for him. And reduced our client’s costs.

It’s the kind of win-wins we’re always looking for.

Read the case study.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/case-study/uv-cipp-drain-lining-triggered-by-rat-infestation/

We love to share knowledge and expertise. It’s in our name.

By working closely with our customers and industry colleagues, we aim to create better outcomes for all.

Which is why we’re very pleased to be supporting Intact Insurance – Intact Assurance, attending their commercial property claims supplier fairs in Halifax yesterday and Manchester today.

Our managing director, Brad Jackson, and operations director, Paul Duddle, have attended both events.

It’s a great chance to meet and share experiences with their claims handlers, loss adjusters, claims account managers and technical teams. We've been:

🔎 Demonstrating the services we provide
👍 Showcasing the positive difference we make
🙂 And explaining how we contribute to making claim journeys as simple and stress-free as possible for everyone

We're also learning first hand from Intact Insurance teams, taking their advice back to further improve how we deliver our services.

So, thank you to everyone we’ve met!

Do you know your septic tank from your cesspit?

Insurance claims professionals need to know so much about the assets they provide cover for that it can be hard to keep up.

Which is why we’re creating easy-to-understand technical guides for the services we provide.

One is for off-mains drainage systems, with Part 1 of the guide now published.

👍 It gives our insurance and loss adjuster colleagues accurate and up-to-date information about off-mains drainage systems.

How they go wrong, and how they can be put right again.

❔ So, if you need to know how big a septic tank needs to be.

🤯 Or what the tell-tale signs are of a sewage treatment plant fault.

You'll find the answers in our off-mains drainage service guide.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/resources/service-guides/off-mains-drainage-guide/

At Catalyst, we’re always interested in latest service and equipment developments.

Which is why our MD, Brad Jackson , and technical director, Paul Duddle, were attending No Dig Live in Warwickshire this week.

If you’re interested in trenchless works solutions (as we are) it’s a good place to be.

We want the services we provide for our insurance claims customers and their policyholders to be as effective (technical and cost) and sustainable as they can be.

That’s about understanding delivery options here and now and being across trends as they emerge.

More portable and easy-to-use CCTV systems
Advances in drain lining technologies
And, of course, the advance of AI into underground service maintenance and repair solutions…

They all featured and were of interest.

Climate change is exposing us all to droughts, storms and – new expressions.

🌊 Here’s one – a Kelvin wave. It’s a huge, slow-moving wave of warm water in the Pacific Ocean.

And because the El Nino climate phenomenon is so strong this year, a huge Kelvin wave is predicted to wash up against California, causing major flooding.

Don’t worry, it won’t reach the UK. But it’s another sign we’re likely to be hit in the next two months by storms generated by El Nino.

And that could mean (another new expression alert) we COULD be hit by a weather whiplash.

Read our article to see what this means for and .

P.S. – Kelvin waves aren’t actually new. British scientist Lord Kelvin, he of the coldest possible temperature, first described them in 1879.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/from-subsidence-to-flash-flooding-why-insurers-are-preparing-for-weather-whiplash/

We officially tripped over the step from summer into autumn this week.

Hands-up anyone looking forward to cooler weather, basking in rain, and kicking some leaves about? 🍂🍂

The trouble is, it may not turn out quite so pleasant.

Forecasters are predicting wild weather in the run-up to Christmas. 🌨️

NW Europe could be battered by storms and beset by floods.

Now’s the time to keep an eye on drainage and water supply systems.

💦 Pooling of water around gullies could mean blocked pipes
🏚️ Reduced water pressure is a tell-tale sign of a leak, perhaps caused by ground movement
☹️ Flash flooding across hardened ground could threaten your property.

The summer drought could still catch you cold.

Here at Catalyst, we’re bracing ourselves for busy times ahead. We’re ready to respond rapidly to help policyholders across the UK.

Simple checks on drainage and water supply assets can prevent disaster.

Take a look at the service guides on our resources hub for more tips.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/resources/

Today, more than ever, we value having a trusted source for useful information.

It’s why we’ve upgraded the Catalyst Resources Hub to make it easier to access information about vital belowground services.

Go to the new-look section on our website to find:
🔎 Detailed Q&A service guides
👨‍💻 Handy and informative technical illustrations
💦 A glossary of terms for everything from water jetting to subsidence
🎥 Short technical videos for fault-finding in drainage systems

Our insurance claims clients say our resources hub is useful for fact-checking and training.

We’ll be adding more resources in the coming weeks. Take a look for yourself. If there are resources you’d like to see there, Let us know.

https://catalystservicesuk.com/resources/

As we head towards the winter months, it’s definitely a good time to take stock of critical property risks.

That includes potential problems with water supply pipe systems and drainage networks.

A good way of doing this is to use the Catalyst Home Environment Health Checklist.

We designed to check how sustainable a property is. It’s just as good at helping property owners defining building risks:

💦 Is water being wasted?
☹️ Is there a risk of pipes springing a leak?
🚽 Is the drainage system working properly?
💰 Could I reduce my water bills?
🏚️ Is there a risk my property could be flooded?

Use the traffic light scoring system on the checklist to see if there’s anything to be concerned about.
https://catalystservicesuk.com/Catalyst-Home-Environment-Health-Checklist.pdf