Product recall insurance: a swift response to defective products
Withdrawal costs cover is an option included in the Professional Liability insurance contract. It covers the costs necessary for the withdrawal of a product that is likely to cause a danger or that has already caused harm to a consumer. Whatever the cause of the recall, consumer products can present…
Withdrawal costs cover is an option included in the Professional Liability insurance contract. It covers the costs necessary for the withdrawal of a product that is likely to cause a danger or that has already caused harm to a consumer. Whatever the cause of the recall, consumer products can present serious risks to consumers. Sometimes serial, the risk implies the rapid intervention of a specialist loss adjuster, at the crossroads of several interlocutors, in France and internationally.
Scope of product recall insurance
When a serial claim casts doubt on the safety of one or more product batches, sellers can incur a lot of expenses to recall the product. These can include:
- Warning the public about the risks of bodily harm or property damage that the product can cause.
- Looking for and identifying defective products.
- Taking urgent provisional measures to help isolate defective products: extraction, transportation, etc.
- Product storage and related costs: labour, equipment purchase or rental, etc.
- Destroying the recalled products, if necessary.
Product recall insurance allows insurers to cover these expenses quickly. It is optional, sometimes offered as a rider to the professional indemnity insurance taken out by the company.
A dedicated Product Liability offer
As soon as the assignment is received, our managers pre-qualify the assignment in order to direct it to a loss adjuster specialised in the field of activity concerned. Our teams put together a dedicated offer, structured around 3 areas:
- Non-food: mass market consumer products (household appliances, toys, etc.), motor vehicles, professional and industrial products, etc.
- Medical: drugs, prosthetics, etc.
- Agrifood.
With seasoned loss adjusters in product recalls and other recall campaigns, Stelliant Loss Adjusting is able to support companies while accommodating the unique features of their industries. The loss adjustment, done on site or remotely, helps them identify the cause of the product defect and determine whether it poses a threat to consumers. Stelliant’s loss adjusters are also able to take stock of the inventory to rapidly identify which product batches should be recalled.
The withdrawal of a product is a special situation for a company or a professional, threatening both its sales figures and its image with consumers. This is why our loss adjusters provide clear, precise and consistent conclusions on the sequence of events, so as not to leave any grey areas regarding the consequences of the incident.
Comprehensive support in product recall insurance
When necessary and at the request of our client, they call on the internal laboratories of our subsidiary INQUEST to carry out a battery of fatigue tests on the incriminated product and thus determine the exact cause of the malfunction with state-of-the-art equipment: 3D scanner, dynamometer, test cage with pneumatic cylinders, durometer, etc.
In the event of a fire, these results may be subject to a 3D model or even a reconstruction in real conditions carried out by our consultants in Fire Cause and Circumstances Research (FCCR).
On the intangible side, the assistance of a financial loss adjuster will help to determine the cost of operating losses caused by the possible suspension of activity. All these complementary skills come together in a coordinated and efficient project mode, enabling us to provide a comprehensive response to several aspects of the same claim.
Present throughout the risk chain, the Stelliant group also offers delegated management services for cases covered by the withdrawal costs guarantee. In other words, a comprehensive and modular offer, from advice and prevention upstream to the implementation of remedial solutions downstream of a claim.
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