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From Chinese importers who are supplied with rotten avocados to wind turbines that thunder in the Scheldt, the experts at DPS from Antwerp travel all over the world to analyze the most diverse claims from insurers. Now that corona is giving that business a boost, the company is looking for acquisitions.
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In January, a few weeks before the Chinese New Year, a panicked message suddenly circulated on Chinese social media. To start off the new year well, the Chinese give each other cherries en masse. The red color symbolizes luck. But the Covid-19 virus had been found in a number of shipments of cherries from Chile, it said. Even though the infections were never confirmed, the fear was so deep that Chinese importers were saddled with hundreds of containers of unsold cherries.
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The essence
- The experts of DPS, a company from Zwijndrecht, travel the world to find out the cause and financial impact of the business loss reported by their customers.
- The company works for major insurance companies and brokers, but also for multinationals such as Barry Callebaut or Vestas.
- DPS, good for a turnover of 14 million last year, has been controlled by the investor Down2Earth since 2017.
- Due to corona, DPS is growing rapidly and the claims expert is looking for acquisitions in the Netherlands and the UK.
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A sandwich monkey story that is far from our bed, it seems. At DPS, a Belgian claims expert from Zwijndrecht, they probably think differently. Commissioned by insurers or multinationals, DPS’s experts travel the world to find out the cause and financial impact of the business loss reported by their customers. The Antwerp group is active in almost all sectors – both the windmill giant Vestas and the chocolate giant Barry Callebaut are customers – and the company also advises companies on how to reduce their insurance premiums through damage prevention.
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At the same time, DPS is regarded as the largest specialist in investigating damage during the transport of fruit and perishable goods. Chinese complaints about Chilean cherries can therefore end up on the desk of general manager Timothy Buysse. ‘Even before the corona crisis erupted in Belgium, we already realized the enormous consequences it would have, because the ports in China closed much earlier and importers faced enormous delays.’
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‘If such a container with cherries from Chile or avocados from Peru docks in the port of its destination and part of the cargo turns out to be rotten, we investigate the cause. Is it really because there was a delay or because the cooling was not working properly? We calculate the total damage.’
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Private detectives
Due to corona, DPS, last year good for a net profit of 1.5 million on a turnover of 14 million euros, is busier than ever, says Buysse. The pandemic has caused huge supply problems, increasing the risks of damage and theft and even preventing some companies from producing.
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‘At the same time, companies are becoming more critical than ever, because they want to recover part of the income that they lost due to the crisis through a damage claim,’ says Buysse. ‘The tiniest rust spot on a delivery of steel is now enough to file a claim, while this was not considered in times of economic boom. Some claims that we have to analyze turn out to be three times higher than the actual damage suffered.’
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It seems a bit like DPS is doing detective work. ‘There are indeed four private detectives working here,’ laughs Buysse. ‘Some of the duties of insurance experts fall under that legal status. But we have people here with the most diverse expertise. One of our employees is a former captain on the long circumnavigation. If he receives a claim for damages about a ship that has had engine problems on the Suez Canal, he immediately sees what is right and what is not.’
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DPS has 110 employees and is active in Asia, Africa and the United States in addition to Zwijndrecht – the company is about to open a hub in Houston as well as one in Philadelphia. In 2017, the 18-year-old DPS came under the control of Down2Earth, the venture capital fund centered on former Essers manager Ivo Maréchal and ex-Gimv topper Alain Keppens.
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‘Since then we have grown into one of the larger players in the sector,’ says Buysse. “We are growing by 10 percent every year and are now planning our first acquisitions. We examine the books of two companies in the UK and the Netherlands, major logistics hubs where you boots on the ground Need. Customers need to know that they can be helped immediately, especially in the event of damage caused by food. If someone in a Chinese port notices that he has to call a Belgian number for advice, he drops out. People want to speak to someone locally.’
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If someone in a Chinese port notices that he has to call a Belgian number for advice, he drops out. People want to speak to someone locally.
