Free The Fire Man by Iain Adams

“civilians” commonly refer to absolutely anyone who deals with insurance claims as an “assessor”, in reality the business is neatly divided between loss adjusters, who act almost invariably for the insurers, and assessors, whose client is always the claimant. The division is as acute as the one between prosecuting and defence lawyers, cops and robbers, or cowboys and Indians. Each side understands the other well, but, quite apart from earning a damn sight more money and wearing better suits, assessors tend to enjoy a number of distinct negotiating advantages.
    Firstly, they usually enjoy the full candour of their clients and consequently tend to know the true value of the loss. Crucially, they usually know exactly what the client will be prepared to accept in settlement. Adjusters, on the other hand, are often perceived as the insurers’ detectives and are therefore frequently “betting blind” when it comes to negotiations.
    Assessors, as a gross generalisation, avoid getting their hands (or, indeed, loafers) dirty, hence Danny’s distinctly natty appearance. In essence, assessors tend to talk money rather than insurance. Adjusters, on the other hand, understand the insurance. They are the masters of wordings, conditions, exclusions and law, but are sometimes nowhere near as cute where the money is concerned.
    In short, adjusters heartily distrust assessors, who in turn despise adjusters. In spite of this, however, McRae and Danny genuinely liked each other.
    Wagner had found he could cut to the chase with McRae, which was often not the case with other adjusters he knew, whereas McRae knew Wagner well enough, he hoped, to determine when he was being conned. It was not to say that Danny wouldn’t try, and McRae knew for a fact he had been outwitted on several occasions, but, overall, he liked to think he enjoyed the other man’s respect.
    â€˜Good to see you too, Danny,’ he said as they shook hands. ‘Someone just leaving?’ He gestured in the direction of the departing Fiat.
    â€˜Just one of my colleagues,’ said Kanelos as he too extended his hand. ‘Glad to see you already know Mr Wagner.’
    â€˜Yes, we’ve handled quite a few cases between us,’ replied McRae. ‘It always helps.’
    Once the small talk was over, the group moved in the direction of the Portakabin to rejoin Gallo and Grim. Here, they discovered the pair enjoying a rather convivial smoke outside the entrance. Not for the first time, McRae reflected how the shared vice of smoking tended to unite very different people.
    * * *
    Nearly two hours and couple of cigarette breaks later, McRae and Grim believed they had as much information as they needed to be getting on with and the meeting was brought to a close.
    They had obtained information on the company’s formation and background; they had extracted details of all recent staff departures and disgruntled former employees. They had been told anecdotes about other incidents of arson and malicious damage on the Foundry Estate, none of which was in any way remarkable. This was Walsall, after all. What else was there for the local youth to do? They had obtained as much information as they needed about the trading position and had even been able to obtain copies of the most recent management accounts and stock returns.
    Adelstein and Brooks’ were in the process of scoping out a draft buildings repair specification and preparing a detailed schedule of the damaged machinery, which they promised could be available to Fairclough by as early as the following week. All that was necessary now was for the adjusters to complete their background enquiries, and that wasn’t something to discuss with Hellenic or Wagner.
    As they sauntered back to their car, having assured the now terminally depressed Kevin that the cavalry was on its way, McRae mulled over the whole case in his mind. The straightforward nature of the Hellenic