Out of the ashes of the 2017 Liverpool Echo Arena car park fire, rises this fantastic story which celebrates the power of our strong supplier partnerships.
Over 1,000 vehicles were destroyed in the fire that broke out on New Year’s Eve 2017. Among those affected were 69 AXA customers, including Louise, whose car was undamaged but deemed a total loss as it could not be recovered from the structurally unsound building.
While in discussions with AXA regarding her personal possessions, Louise confirmed that the most sentimental item in the car was her son’s toy giraffe named Jerry, which he was hugely attached to.
Liverpool County Council recently started demolishing the Echo Arena car park, but not before removing any undamaged vehicles. AXA instructed Copart, as we were appointed as their sole partner for salvage services in 2017, to liaise with the local recovery company appointed by Liverpool County Council to collect the undamaged vehicles as they were removed.
When AXA received confirmation that Louise’s car had been removed from the car park, they immediately contacted Copart and we swiftly located Jerry the Giraffe and contacted Louise to let her know he would be coming home!
To make the story even more special, our National Account Manager, David Simmonite, personally collected Jerry from our Chester facility and drove to Stockport to hand deliver him.
Kirsty Heaton, Supply Chain Manager at AXA Insurance said: “While the story of Jerry the Giraffe is certainly heart-warming, it highlights the importance of insurers having a close relationship with their supply chain partners. Copart was instrumental in helping find Jerry and this happy ending may not have been possible if they hadn’t been AXA’s sole partner for salvage services in motor. We are so grateful for all the hard work Copart put into this special case.”
David Simmonite, National Account Manager at Copart added: “We recognise that any claim can be stressful for a policyholder and our culture is to ensure that we continuously go above and beyond to ensure their journey through the process is as seamless as possible. One of our values is to act with integrity and this story really highlights how important it is to show empathy towards our customers and appreciate the significance of what might appear to be a minor detail. By having the correct partnerships in place, we were able to play a valuable part in giving this traumatic story a happy ending.”
Many thanks to AXA for allowing us to share this great story!