STEP 1

In this first step, you will read carefully the presentation of this unit (phrasal verbs have been highlighted in yellow). A full glossary below will help you understand it better. To get information in Spanish, just place the arrow of your mouse on any highlighted word without clicking.

Some weeks ago a lorry carrying Harper & Grant's goods was hijacked on the road. Now there is a further development of this which concerns the insurance.
Every firm insures itself against loss or damage to its property. Harper & Grant's insurance brokers had arranged a blanket insurance with a syndicate of Lloyds underwriters. Blanket insurance means insurance which covers everything, a comprehensive policy.
Harper & Grant make a statement at the end of an accounting period (say once a month or once a quarter) of the total value of all goods handled. The premium is then paid as a percentage of the total value of goods. Lloyds, of course, is a huge insurance organisation in London. Within this organisation, underwriters, or insurers, work independently, although they are grouped in syndicates.
When the lorry was found abandoned, with its spoiled load of office furniture, the adjusters came in. The underwriters employ a firm of adjusters whose job is to assess or value the loss or damage. The sum they give will not usually be as much as the full insured value of the goods or property. They will take into account, among other things, the depreciated value: for example, the value of the lorry has gone down because it is two years old. However, in this case the lorry is a write-off, a total wreck and impossible to repair.
But this does not concern Harper & Grant, because the lorry belonged to Andersons, the transport company from whom they hire vehicles. But the load of office furniture does concern them. They have already had to replace the load, which was wanted urgently in Scotland.
When a company, or a person, takes out an insurance policy it is very often an all-risks policy, that is, it insures the goods or property against almost anything that could happen. But most insurance companies put in some exceptions, like outbreak of war or Act of God (something out of the ordinary which cannot be considered a normal risk). When an accident or robbery takes place the injured party puts in a claim to the insurance company. If the insurance company agrees to pay it is said to meet the claim. Notice, first you take out a policy, then you put in a claim, and the insurance company, you hope, agrees to meet the claim.
About two weeks after the following incident Mr. Buckhurst received a telephone call from the police in Carlisle. Thanks to the driver's description of the man who asked him for a lift, the police were able to arrest the entire gang.
They discovered them in Carlisle, where they were busy changing number plates and re-spraying two stolen lorries, so they will not be doing any more hijacking, for the time being, anyway.

GLOSSARY:
lorry (UK) = truck (US): a big vehicle suitable for transportation or hauling (camión);
hijacked: taken by force a vehicle in transit either to rob it or divert it to an alternate destination (secuestrado);
insurance brokers: brokers acting as agents between the client and the insurance company (corredores de seguros);
underwriters: people who take the risks of insurance. If there are no claims they make a profit. If there are a large number of claims they make a loss (aseguradores, compañía de seguros);
syndicates: a group of people working together and pooling their resources; in this case a group of insurance underwriters (sindicatos);
adjusters: an independent firm who assess the damage to property, etc. (ajustadores, reguladores);
to take into account: to consider, to pay attention to (considerar, tener en cuenta);
to go down: to depreciate (depreciarse, disminuir el valor);
write-off (desastre) something which can no longer be considered to have any value. In this case, a lorry or truck which has been so badly damaged that it can be written off (dado de baja);
to take out: to obtain a legal document (asegurarse, contratar un seguro);
all-risks policy: a policy which covers all possible  normal dangers with the exception of war, Act of  God, etc. (póliza contra todo riesgo);
to put in: to establish (colocar, establecer normas, presentar quejas, papeles o pedidos para la aprobación);
outbreak: a sudden violent spontaneous occurrence (estallido, brote);  
to take place: to happen (ocurrir);
to meet the claim: to pay the amount asked for (pagar o cancelar el reclamo);
to ask for: to request (pedir);
for the time being: temporarily, for the moment (por el momento, por ahora).