Archive for September, 2009

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Public house insurance quote

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

All businesses, whatever trade and size, would be recommended to arrange insurance and in the UK, the vast majority do have policies in place.

When starting a new business, insurance is one of the things that is usually left to the last minute. There are so many things to think about and so many costs, that insurance is something that is not considered until the move in date is confirmed. This is understandable as there is not requirement for business insurance until you are actually in the property.

The problem with this is that, as it is arranged in a rush, you may not have looked around for the most competitive commercial insurance quote at the beginning. It stands to reason that if this is the case, then you should consider looking around at your first renewal to see what is available.

This will apply to all types of businesses looking for cover, it particularly applies to those business owners looking for a public house insurance quote.

Commercial insurers can be split into three categories as far as providing a pub insurance quote. Firstly, those that do not want the business and do not have any products. Secondly, those that do underwrite it but it not a priority business so their rates and premiums are quite high. Lastly, we have those insurers that actually understand licensed trade insurance and want to insure these types of business and have rates at a competitive level.

If you were in a bit of a mad panic when the business was set up, and you have not looked around for insurance very often, then you may still be insured with a second category company. Whilst it may appear to be a bind, you do not need to spend much time getting an alternative quote. As soon as you receive your renewal offer from your existing broker, get on the phone to an internet commercial insurance quote provider and see what they can do.

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Minimum and deposit premiums – check you don't have one of these

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Business, commercial and industrial insurance is usually sold on an annual basis.

You will go through the usual process of approaching brokers to obtain competitive quotes and this ends up with you choosing the most competitive commercial insurance quote.

For UK based risks you do not pay V.A.T., insurance is subject to a 5% (at present) levy called insurance premium tax or I.P.T.

So, lest say you are looking for combined liability, your brokers quotes you £1,000.00 per annum, plus the IPT, which gives a total annual premium of £1,050.00. But, if midway through the year you need to cancel the insurance, say you have merged with another company and you fall under their umbrella cover, you want to make sure you get back some of the premium paid.

The vast majority of package policies (shop insurance, office insurance etc) will give a pro-rata return, give or take £20 or £30 for an administration fee.

When we get to combined liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance, we need to be more cautious. A lot of insurers still offer this cover on a minimum and deposit basis. What this means is that, for example, if you accept the liability insurance quote, and it states M&D; or minimum and deposit, you are liable for the whole premium, even if you cancel after a few weeks.

It is understandable if businesses simply cancel their insurance midway through the year because they have a cheaper quote and an insurer charges a higher cancellation premium. But, if a hotel genuinely has to cancel their hotel insurance policy, why should they have to pay for cover they don’t need?

The Financial Services Authority has raised concerns about these types of policies and whether they really are in the interests of the customer. One of the main areas of the FSA’s work is “treating customers fairly”. Minimum and deposit premiums are not really in the spirit of TCF.

Be careful when looking for a business insurance quote that this is not on a minimum and deposit basis.

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Minimum and deposit premiums – check you don’t have one of these

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Business, commercial and industrial insurance is usually sold on an annual basis.

You will go through the usual process of approaching brokers to obtain competitive quotes and this ends up with you choosing the most competitive commercial insurance quote.

For UK based risks you do not pay V.A.T., insurance is subject to a 5% (at present) levy called insurance premium tax or I.P.T.

So, lest say you are looking for combined liability, your brokers quotes you £1,000.00 per annum, plus the IPT, which gives a total annual premium of £1,050.00. But, if midway through the year you need to cancel the insurance, say you have merged with another company and you fall under their umbrella cover, you want to make sure you get back some of the premium paid.

The vast majority of package policies (shop insurance, office insurance etc) will give a pro-rata return, give or take £20 or £30 for an administration fee.

When we get to combined liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance, we need to be more cautious. A lot of insurers still offer this cover on a minimum and deposit basis. What this means is that, for example, if you accept the liability insurance quote, and it states M&D; or minimum and deposit, you are liable for the whole premium, even if you cancel after a few weeks.

It is understandable if businesses simply cancel their insurance midway through the year because they have a cheaper quote and an insurer charges a higher cancellation premium. But, if a hotel genuinely has to cancel their hotel insurance policy, why should they have to pay for cover they don’t need?

The Financial Services Authority has raised concerns about these types of policies and whether they really are in the interests of the customer. One of the main areas of the FSA’s work is “treating customers fairly”. Minimum and deposit premiums are not really in the spirit of TCF.

Be careful when looking for a business insurance quote that this is not on a minimum and deposit basis.

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Loss adjusters – their role in commercial insurance claims

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

If you have a commercial insurance policy in force, you will only see how good it is when you have a claim.

Insurance is unique in that you are buying a product which you do not want to buy and do not want to use. But, if you do use it, you want it to work.

Insurance companies “shop windows” are their claims departments. If you have a claim dealt with badly, you are more inclined to move your policy elsewhere at your renewal time.

If you have a policy through an insurance broker you are already one step ahead. In the event of a commercial claim you will simply phone up your broker and ask them to deal with it. You may need to fill out a claim form but the broker should do most of the work for you.

If you have a claim that is above a certain financial limit or it is a technically complex claim, your insurers may appoint a loss adjuster to investigate the claim on their behalf.

The fact that an insurer has appointed a loss adjuster does not mean that they think there is anything wrong with the claim. It is simply a normal process to check on a number of things and also, to make the whole process much easier for you.

The loss adjuster will be a professional who will check on the level of quantum, the circumstances surrounding the loss, whether any recovery can be made against a third party and whether the correct information was declared at inception of the policy. For claims under professional indemnity & directors and officers insurance you will always have a loss adjuster appointed or the insurers will assign a technical expert in their claims department.

If you have any concerns about the role the loss adjuster is taking you should speak to your insurance broker and hopefully gain some reassurance that whilst the loss adjuster is working for the insurer, your broker is working for you and you alone.

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New business insurance

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Whats the difference between new and existing business insurance? Quite a bit if you are prepared to look around for the best quote.

Business and commercial insurance traditionally is a type of business that makes money for insurers, otherwise they wouldn’t be underwriting it, right? We’ll not really. Insurers make money from all the types of insurance they do, but it is very, very cyclical. Insurance cycles can last from around 5-7 years to 10 years plus.

When the economy is doing well and there are very few natural losses (ie storms and floods) then insurers fight for business. This is because they want to be the company that receives your hard earned premiums because they know, statistically, that they will make money.

But, when things are bad and the economy is in free fall (more crime) and there are more natural losses (winter floods etc) then insurers are not so keen to fight for business. They are still happy to do this but at increased premiums.

We are not quote at the second stage yet. So, this means good things for those looking for a new business insurance quote. Insurers are still keen to fight for business and whatever they say, the financial services industry always uses more enticements for new customers than they do old ones.

So, when you are looking for a quote, whether this is commercial property insurance, commercial combined insurance or any other type of business insurance, you need to know that the more quotes you get the better the deal you will get.

Use your time wisely and only approach a good established broker. Even if you are searching for one on the net, ask how long they have been going for. If it is only a year or two you need to question whether they have the stability to look after you long term.

If they have been around for a number of years and are independent, then you should get what you want from them. In this technical age the other good thing is that you do not need to speak to a local broker, sometimes this can work against you, you are better looking for a company that will cover the whole of the UK.

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Shop insurance – check your cash cover

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

If you have a break in, cash is the most obvious thing for thieves to steal. There is not need to re-sell and is instantly usable. This is of course obvious, but the point is that you should do all you can to reduce the temptation for the speculative thief who is determined to break in somewhere.

If you have a shop you cannot move or lock away your stock (unless you are a jeweller). Most shops want to display their stock when they are closed as it is free advertising.

So, your shop insurance policy covers you for stock, but what about cash? Most commercial insurance companies that offer retail insurance, will have a package policy with some money cover included.

When you are looking around for a shop insurance quote, you need to check what conditions apply to the cash cover overnight.

Most policies will have some sort of restriction in cover for theft of cash left in tills. This is where the opening point comes from. If you have a locked till, whether empty or not, it is temptation. If however you have a till with the drawer open (and empty) of course then you have almost removed the temptation entirely.

The would be thief will then think that the easy steal is not there because you have probably put the cash away somewhere safe.

This is another point to check on your policy, you may have cash on the premises overnight, but the cover may only apply if you have this locked away. It may just need to be in a locked drawer (not in your till) – you will need to check you individual policy to see what terms apply. Better still, phone up your broker and ask them to summarise the cover for you, get them to send you an email so you know exactly what you are covered for.

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Commercial building insurance – fixed glass and sanitary ware

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Commercial building insurance policies typically contain three sections. Buildings, property owners liability and loss of rent (either receivable or payable).

Most buildings contain fixed glass and sanitary ware (sinks, toilets, basins). You would be surprised though to know that some commercial property insurance policies either do not include this cover (because you have to buy it back in) or that have very low limits.

Think of a small industrial unit, around a thousand square feet. It may have a few windows and will have a toilet and a sink. Even using the most under-cautious valuation you would be looking at a replacement cost of a few thousand pounds and up.

Insurance claims for glass vary a great deal depending on the time of the loss. If a window is broken during the day it is a much cheaper process to get repaired.

If however a shop, for example, has their front window smashed during the night, over the weekend, or on a bank holiday, the costs for the emergency call out can be substantial. Most police forces will, if they are called out, arrange for a glazing company to come and board the property up – whether you are aware of this or not.

You, the business or building owner, will be given the bill for the emergency glazing which can easily be £500 plus for a single window. All of this cost needs to be added to you insurance claim.

If your commercial insurance for the property only has a low limit for glass, you could find yourself having to self fund part of the claim. That is not why you buy insurance!

You need to work out, very roughly, how much it would cost to replace every window, every sink and every toilet in your building, add 25% for good measure and then speak to your insurance broker about making sure you have the correct sum insured.

Some good commercial or business buildings insurance policies simply have an unlimited amount for glass cover. These are the types of policies you want to look out for. If you have one that only has a limit of £1-2,000 then it may not be enough.

There is no need to over insure, but you do need to have the correct basic cover.

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Employers liability insurance – is anyone exempt?

Monday, September 14th, 2009

There are very few categories of commercial insurance in the UK that you are legally required to have.

One of these is employers liability insurance. If you employee anyone in the business then you need to have cover.

A lot of businesses, that used to operate as sole traders or partnerships (whether formal or informal) are now moving to become limited companies. This is usually a combination of more tax efficient reasons and also for protecting the individuals financial assets.

Even if there is a limited company with only working directors you still need to have the cover. The reason being that the limited company, is a separate legal entity. The working directors will more than likely own all or most of the shares in the company. But, the limited company is the employer. As a result, there is a requirement for commercial liability insurance, in the form of employers liability.

The exemption, or exception, is where there is a limited company, with one working director (with the company secretary not working) who owns 55% or more of the shares then there is not a requirement for employers liability.

Most policies will include this cover as standard within a package, but if you are getting a business insurance quote, you should always ask if there is a charge for the employers liability or whether it is included. If it’s clerical work, the premium is very low. But, if it is heavy manual work (say welding, metal cutting etc) then the difference in premium can vary substantially.

If you do not need the EL cover then exclude it, but always check if you have the option of buying it back in mid-way through the policy year.

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Online Restaurant Insurance

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Looking for a restaurant insurance quote is, thankfully, a much easier process with the increased use of the internet and the telephone.

In days gone by, a restaurant or takeaway insurance policy would normally be purchased from a local business insurance broker. The business owner would, more than likely, need to go through the process of seeing the broker at their place of business for a fact finding meeting. The broker would then go away and approach various insurance companies for quotations.

This process is now much slicker than it ever was, but nothing is quite as fast as the internet. But, there is a difficulty in the definition of online business insurance.

Let’s take our example of the restaurant owner looking for some cover. Looking online can mean one of two things. Firstly, looking online for a company that specialises in this cover. This does not necessarily mean using an online “quote engine” where you put figure in boxes and get a price. Online, in this case, just means finding someone and then phoning them.

The second option for online is where you fill out the boxes and get a price. The problem with this is that you more than likely just get the one price.

You need to use the internet correctly and find at least two independent insurance brokers that will happily deal over the phone. This is not a problem as you just declare figures and sums insured, the same as you would face to face.

The broker will then go to the insurer that is more likely to give you a better price for your business. Some insurers want restaurant and takeaway insurance, others don’t. It’s not quite a needle in a haystack scenario, but the broker is the person who knows where to go.

Don’t waste your precious time searching the net, there are professional firms just waiting to do the work for you.

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Employer liability insurance – minimum limit of indemnity required

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

In the UK, the Employers Liability Act 1969 (with revisions) requires that any business which employees people must have suitable employers liability insurance in force.

The legislation currently states that there must be a minimum limit of indemnity of £5,000,000 each and every claim. You are unlikely to find an insurer that will provide employers liability cover on its own, it is usually part of a combined liability or commercial combined insurance package.

Most insurers will provide a limit of indemnity of £10,000,000, far in excess of legally required. Whilst your business insurance schedule will state the limit of indemnity, the certificate of employers liability which you receive will state the minimum legal cover.

Whilst we may think of employees as people that are on the payroll, month on month out, the actual definition of employee is deliberately much much wider.

Even if someone is a volunteer and not receiving a salary and only works part time or for a few weeks, then they need to be covered under your policy.

One particular area to watch out for is whether you have cover for work experience people. Schools and colleges will look for you to prove this cover, check your policy wording or better still speak to your insurance broker and get them to provide you with a proof cf cover letter.

Without EL cover, you could face a fine of up to £2,500 PER DAY that you do not have cover.

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