Shortly after the fire the damage was calculated to be forty million euros. A large part of this amount has come in, but by no means all of it. 'We will probably not reach that forty million', according to Werger. 'This calculation included, for example, the costs to close down the MESA+ cleanroom to remove soot, but that turned out to be unnecessary.'
The toughest job of the past year was, according to Werger taking stock of the so-called material damage, excluding real estate. The call sent out to all employees in the weekend after the fire to immediately write down what they lost in office inventory, personal possessions and scientific material, resulted in an avalanche of paper.
Werger points to a row of 12 hefty binders: 'Every declared article - from coffee filters to car keys, office chairs and books - we have put in, ordered and valued. The specified insurance claim consists of about ten-thousand lines!'
The item 'books' forms a substantial part of this claim. Reconstructing book prices seemed an impossible job until Werger and his people developed their own method. 'We went to the central library, measured a metre of books and looked up the price. That is how we got to an average price per metre and using that we calculated the claim.' Price of a metre of books: between 1,700 and 1,800 euro.
On the total amount to be paid out for material damages the UT and insurers agreed shortly after the summer holiday. Not yet concluded is the insurance matter concerning real estate. 'We do agree on the amount of the claim for the building', Werger explains, 'but we are still talking to the insurer about a reinvestment plan.' This obligation, to spend the money to be paid out on the rebuild of real estate, is in the UT policy. 'This should be fitted exactly into the masterplan for real estate on campus, and that is a complicated story', according to Werger. As opposed to the costs for temporary housing: the insurance pays the cost during 104 weeks following on the fire.
It has taken a year, but the end of the insurance aftermath is in sight.
Werger: 'All parties would like to include the outcome in their accounts for 2003, which would mean that we can conclude the matter'.
transl. DvA
