April « 2010 « BusinessInsure Blog

Archive for April, 2010

Shop insurance – be aware of the security condition

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

It is now, thankfully, easier than ever for you to get a shop insurance quote. You do not have to physically visit a broker or get them to come and see you, all you need is an internet connection and a telephone. A quick search an you will come up with a whole host of companies looking to sell you a policy.

This is, of course, good because it saves you time and trouble. But, you really need to be cautious of the small print. We know that in the past everyone knows someone that is unhappy with an insurer becuase their claims was turned down or they only received half of what they were due.

We are not trying to preach, but many of these scenarios occur because business owners do not read through the policy wording. Yes, it is a laborious process and yes it takes time, but it is worth it. One of the major reasons for commercial insurance theft claims to be turned down is because of inadequate security.

You tend to find that the cheaper the quote, the higher the security. If you have a break in you are almost guaranteed to receive a visit from a loss adjuster. Even if you have the correct alarm, if you do not have the correct locks on your doors or accessible windows, you will find that the insurer is quote entitled to repudiate your claim.

To prevent yourself getting into this position, you must, without fail, read through the security condition on your policy. If it says you need a 5 lever mortice deadlock on your door, make sure you have one. If it says you need key operated window locks on accessible windows, check that you have them in place. If not, and you cannot install them (ie the landlord will not allow it or your windows are not suitable) then speak to your broker and get it agreed, in writing, that your security is acceptable.

If you do not, then you are likely, at some point, to suffer a multi-thousand pound loss that is simply not covered, which is of course, not good at all.

Posted in commercial insurance, shop insurance, shop insurance quote | No Comments »

Commercial building insurance – loss of rental income cover

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

If you are looking for a commercial building insurance quote, you are in luck because this is one of the easiest insurance products to purchase.

You do not need a surveyor to visit your building prior to getting a quote, you just need to look on the net for a business insurance broker and check that they are independent. The broker being independent means that they have the ability to get prices from a number of different insurers, rather than a restricted market of one or two. The basic information you need is a rebuild cost, the location of building, the type of tenants, basic construction details and your claims history.

When speaking to a broker, they will usually offer you the option of including loss of rental income insurance. Nowadays, many insurers include this free, up to 20% of the overall building sum insured. This does not mean that you will get a straight 20%, this is just the limit they will pay, you need to provide the rental income for, say, the last six months. One common error is to believe that this covers you if the tenants defaults, for whatever reason, this cover is not available in the open, commercial market.

Loss of rent covers you if there is an insured event, ie a fire, flood, break in and as a result the tenant has to move out of the property and you no longer receive rent.

It may be that you don’t want to pay the small extra premium for this cover but, you have to consider with all insurances the pro’s and con’s. The downside is that you have to pay extra for it, and that is about it. The good points are that you have that financial cushion that your mortgage can continue to be paid whilst your property is being repaired or rebuilt.

On balance, the cover is worth having. If you do not currently have it in place, you can usually add mid-term to your existing policy.

Posted in commercial building insurance | No Comments »

Online business insurance – one of your smartest moves

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Getting your business insurance online is, thankfully, much easier in 2010 than it has ever been. You do have to consider though what “online” actually means.

You have two options when going to the internet for your insurance. Firstly, you can choose a website where there is no interaction whatsoever with human beings. These are sites that have great big banners that say they can compare business insurance and save you pounds.

The second option you have is to use the net to find a broker that you can speak to over the phone and actually have a good, decent conversation about your needs and wants as far as your coverage is concerned.

So, you can guess from the above that we prefer the second option. Whilst going to the internet is your smartest move, you need to make sure that you speak to someone rather than rely on inputting data which comes up with an answer in the form of a quote.

Why do you need the interation? Simply put, every single business in the UK, whether a shop, pub, restaurant, wholesaler or manufacturer is different. Car insurance is slightly different in that as there are millions and millions of vehicles, insurers can categorise and compartmentalise to their hearts content. Businesses however, need to be treated differently.

You may have two sweet shops in neighbouring towns with the same stock levels and claims experience. But, one of them may be in a building of slightly different construction or have differing security. These are the small differences that can mean a cheaper premium or better cover. A machine is never going to ask you all of the questions you need. A human being can chop and change the information they seek as they go through the quote process.

This will, in nearly every case, lead to you, the business owner, receiving a better service, better price and better cover.

Tags: business insurance quote
Posted in compare business insurance | No Comments »

Pub insurance – invaluable protection for your business

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Most public houses in the UK are actually owned by a brewery or a pub group. When we say owned, we mean the physical building, grounds and land. When you become a publican, you tend to receive a separate legal lease agreement.

As part of this lease agreement, the brewery arrange the commercial building insurance cover for the bricks and mortar and this is paid either annually or added to your monthly lease agreement payment.

You, as the landlord or landlady, are responsible for arranging your own pub insurance policy. The reason for this is that you are responsible for the fixtures and fittings, liabilities, cash and stock. If any of these are lost or damaged, say in a fire or flood, then the brewery will not pay out.

You will, usually, be provided with the option of going with the breweries own insurance scheme. These are usually arranged by a large insurance broker with one insurer. You must remember though that, whilst you may have no choice in who arranges the building insurance, you are under no obligation to go with the brewery scheme insurers.

What does this mean? In a word, choice. You are able to search around for the best price rather than accepting the policy from the breweries insurance company which are not always the cheapest.

A policy is vital for you as it protects you against the unexpected events that do, unfortunately, befall businesses from time to time. If you are careful and speak to the right broker, you can arrange for your premium to be paid in interest free instalments.

Posted in pub insurance | No Comments »

Restaurant insurance – how much can I expect to pay?

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

As we move into the second financial quarter of 2010, we can at last say with some confidence that the worst of the recession in the UK is over.

That is not to say that we are out of the woods yet, but things are looking up. There is a firm belief that if/when Gordon Brown is removed from Number 10 Downing Street, we should see a further boost to the economy as Labour has not shown in 13 years that they are that supportive of the entrepreneurial spirit.

The reason we can say that things are looking up is because we are seeing new enquiries for covers such as restaurant insurance. This means that, at last, some people are realising that there is more cash in the economy and it is worthwhile investing in a new start up business in the leisure industry.

But, if you are considering this, you will need to sit down and do some very basic sums to see whether this is a business venture that will succeed or fail. One aspect of your costings, will be your commercial insurance. Like it or loathe it, you will need the cover. Certain aspects are legally required, others are sensible.

We get asked, before a business plan has even been written if we can give an idea of the expected annual premiums that will be due. As a rough idea, based on a city centre restaurant, with a total contents of £50,000, with stock of £5,000 you will be looking at a premium of between £750 and £1,250 per annum. Of course, there are numerous differences that can alter the premium significantly, but it will not get much lower than the £750 unless the contents sum insured is reduced.

To give you a better idea of price, we will need to know the type of restaurant, a trading postcode, your claims history and details of sums insured. Based on this we can give you a quote.

Posted in commercial insurance, restaurant insurance | No Comments »

Compare business insurance – how do I know I am getting a good deal?

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

After the serious financial events of the past few years, now more than ever, everyone is shopping around for every single business expense.

A significant cost for any company, is the annual premium paid for business insurance. The difficulty is, that you are not physically buying a product, so you cannot experience whether it is any good until you get to the stage, after a claim, when you really need it.

This causes problems if you are looking around for alternatives and through your web surfing, come across a site that offers to compare business insurance. You may think that this is where you want to go and happily punch in all the details and numbers for your business, to end up with a range of quotes.

These sites typically take around 15 minutes for you to input the relevant information and then when you press the final button they come up with a list of prices. You will notice, that the price is the biggest thing that is promoted. It may be flashing, red or orange or anything that is designed to drag your eyes to the price, and the price alone.

The problem, as noted above, is how do you know you are getting a good deal? You are being pushed and pushed to buy on price, but it is up to you, and you alone, to read through the small print of the wording. At this point, you need to realise that a business insurance broker will do this job for you, and in addition, they will decide which is the better option for you.

You will be getting a good deal, because in the unlikely event of any difficulties with a claim, the broker has to prove (to the Financial Ombudsman if necessary) that they were offering you the best product at the best price.

Posted in compare business insurance | No Comments »

Warehouse insurance – what value should I cover my stock for?

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Business insurance policies follow the same basic principle as any other type of policy. In the event of an insured event (ie storm, fire, flood, theft etc) the policy should put you in the same position you were in before the loss.

If you have a fire and your stock is destroyed, then if it is a valid claim, the policy should pay out a sufficient amount of money to put the stock levels to the same as they were prior to the loss.

For warehouse insurance, things are no different when putting a value on your stock to go in your policy. You will receive a schedule of insurance and a wording. The schedule will have the amount that you are insured for. The question is, does this include the mark up or profit margin that you would ordinarily make on the stock? The answer is no.

Your sum insured should represent the amount that it would cost for you, through your usual business contacts, to replace the stock. This excludes any profit you would make and, if you are VAT registered, excluding this as your insurance claim would be made to you net of VAT.

If you have a good stock control system or management accounts, you should refer to the previous twelve months and review the purchase cost of your stock levels. You of course need to take into account the potential for your business to grow during the period of insurance (usually twelve months) and if necessary, increase the figures accordingly.

Your broker should help you work out these figures and let you know what they think is a suitable amount of cover for your business.

Posted in warehouse insurance | No Comments »

Goldilocks business insurance – let us find you the "just right" option

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Goldilocks and the three bears, takes you back a bit I know. Of course, in 2010 you wouldn’t let your daughter wander through the woods doing a bit of illegal entry to Mr and Mrs Bear’s house and damaging their property. However, that aside what did she do. She tried the three types of porridge before she found the one that was, just right.

Believe it or not, you will find the same problems when looking for a small business insurance quote. You can look around for a quote and, with the internet available easily, you can find hundreds of companies that can get you a premium and terms in double quick time.

But, you are running a business, you have got a never ending list of things to do, the last thing you want is to sit there and read, word for word, through a dozen different quotes to decide which is best for you.

Now, Goldilocks did not have an intermediary to hand to go and taste the porridge for her. You do though, there are thousands of us throughout the UK and our job is to look around the insurance market for you to see what is best.

Who are we? Independent commercial insurance brokers, we have to be authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, we are legally obliged to offer you, the purchaser, the widest cover at the best premium, from our range of insurers.

You don’t have to waste your time reading, researching and learning about insurance products. That is our job and, given the past history in the industry, you are always better speaking to a broker.

So, if you don’t have time (which you won’t) to get yourself a better deal, just speak to a broker and let them do the work for you. We cannot guarantee to get you the best price in every single case, but 90% of our new enquirers do find that we can offer then a better deal once they have seen the light.

Posted in small business insurance | No Comments »

Goldilocks business insurance – let us find you the “just right” option

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Posted in small business insurance | No Comments »

Getting a cheap business insurance quote – quicker than an Easter egg hunt

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

OK, so in the interest of trying to be seasonal I could have picked a better opening line. But, looking back over some videos from past Easter weekends, I estimate it takes a good ten or fifteen minutes for a normal hunt. When I say normal, this is when you do tend to give the kids a few clues for the slightly harder to find ones.

So, fifteen minutes tops, can you get a small business insurance quote in that time? The answer, in 2010, is yes. But, you need to be selective about where you go, who you speak to and importantly, what information you have to hand. The best way to get yourself a decent, quick quote is to speak to an online business insurance broker. Make sure that they are independent (check their website) and that they have the ability to do a “whole of market” search.

For example, if you are looking for a shop insurance quote, if you spend more than 15 minutes on the phone discussing this for a quote then there really is something wrong. Most commercial and business insurance companies have standard packages for most types of business (pubs, hotels, shops, office’s etc). For this reason, they only need about 10 or 15 questions answered and this will give you the quote you need.

As a service standard, we aim to provide a full written quote, via email, within two hours of your call in 90% of cases.

So, we are not saying that you should look for a quote when you should be hiding and finding your Easter eggs, but when you are back at work, fully refreshed after the Bank Holidays, give us a call and see what we can do for you.

Posted in small business insurance quote | No Comments »