Insurers make contingency plans after Rok collapse

Insurers are putting alternate suppliers on standby after building group Rok was placed into administration on Monday.

In October, Rok was chosen by Ageas and Tesco Underwriting to provide building repair, claims management and validation services to Tesco Underwriting customers.

Ageas and Tesco said: “Ageas is in contact with Rok’s administrators to discuss the completion of jobs already under way.

“No Tesco customers are affected by this, due to the short period of time in which Ageas has managed Tesco Home Insurance claims.”

Zurich, which has a five-year contract with Rok, is working with administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers to establish how its customers will be affected.

A Zurich spokesman said: “Our first priority is to make sure that we sort our customers out. We’ve got contingency plans in place, including alternate suppliers. But with the administration process, we have to be very careful how we do that.”

The statement also said new customers will have their jobs moved to alternate suppliers and that contingency plans are in place.

The maintenance and building services group had its shares suspended at a market cap of $33.1m from a peak of £436m in 2007.

Rok’s first half results for 2010 showed a 16% drop in revenue to £308.1m from £364.5m for the same period last year.