What does a claims consultant do when a claim is made against me?
A claims consultant tests the claim made against you, builds the evidence and figures for your answer, and supports you through negotiation and adjudication.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
The work starts with your subcontract: what the claim relies on, and which notices it needed. Your records are put into a timeline and an evidence index. Each head of the claim is tested against those records, and the answer is written so a stranger could follow it. Some consultants also do delay analysis, the programme side, and some act as expert witnesses. A claims consultant does not give legal advice on your rights, your remedies or any proceedings. That is for a solicitor, and a good consultant says so when the question turns legal. We cover the money side only, for subcontractors, and work alongside your solicitor or delay analyst where the dispute needs them. We are not lawyers, and we do not do delay analysis. We have assessed applications for the paying side as well as made them. So we know how your main contractor's surveyor builds a claim, and where it is likely to be weakest.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A subcontractor receives a £310,000 counterclaim from its main contractor and brings in a claims consultant to test it before any answer goes back.
What happens
- The consultant tests the basis of each head against the subcontract.
- The chronology the counterclaim relies on is checked against the subcontractor's own site records.
- Each head is recomputed from the main contractor's build-ups and the subcontractor's records.
- What is supported, what is duplicated and what is unproven is identified.
- The answer is written with the reasons for each finding.
The outcome
The answer goes back with each head tested and its reasons stated.
An adjudicator will run the same tests if the dispute is referred, so the answer is built to pass them.
Start with Counterclaim Defence if a claim has already been made against you.