Archive for September, 2010

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Business and commercial insurance – getting an instant quote.

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

If you are looking for business or commercial insurance, one of your first ports of call will more than likely be the Internet. You may have read one of our previous entries, got all of the required information together and set aside 15 minutes to phone a few companies to get quotes.

The problem you will face is trying to find a company where you can speak directly to a human being. Believe it or not, this is not as easy as it seems.

Whatever your search term of phrase that you put in, you will get a list of literally thousands of websites. How do you know which one to choose? You will have a choice between putting information into boxes and then either waiting for hours for someone to call you back, or to receive an email.

We do our usual monthly test of the competition and now, you have a new breed of website. This is one where you put the information into a site, usually three or four pages worth, and then, they pass your details on to a whole range of other sites.

All you want is a business insurance quote, you do not want to spend hours and hours filling in forms and waiting for responses. There is one way that you can get what you want, when you want – speak to Businessinsure. 90% of people look for their quotes, from us, during business hours. Therefore, if you want a quote between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday, all you have to do is call. If we can do an instant quote, you will have this emailed, posted or faxed within minutes. Anything more complex and it may take a few hours for us to do this. But, whilst we do not offer guarantees, we are fairly certain that bu phoning us and speaking to a human being you will not only get a better, more personable, service you’ll also get a competitive quote.

Posted in business insurance, business insurance UK, business insurance broker, business insurance cost, business insurance quote, business insurance quotes, commercial insurance | No Comments »

Restaurant insurance – what are the different types?

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

All restaurant policies are based on a skeleton commercial insurance policy. What we mean is that they include different types of insurance cover, all under one umbrella.

As far as the question goes regarding the different types, there are only two. But, you need to read on to understand more about each type.

The first, and most popular type, is a “package policy”. Most of the UK insurers have these types of policies, usually with some form of restaurant or licensed trade title. These are policies which include, as standard, most of the covers that a restaurant, takeaway or food serving establishment will need. You have the option of including a few additional covers, such as commercial building insurance. These policies are very good, freely available and in the main competitive. But, as ever, watch out for the one that appears to be too cheap. This may be because the excesses are too high or the conditions too onerous.

The other type of policy, whilst not strictly a restaurant insurance policy, is designed for the larger, or slightly out of the norm business. Instead of using the package policy, the insurer will quote based on the generic commercial combined insurance policy. These are policies where you can pick and choose the covers you need and they can usually protect much larger establishments, typically with total buildings, contents, stock and business interruption sums insured in excess of £5,000,000.

Whatever type of business you have, you need to speak to a broker. The broker will help you decide what type of policy you need, what are your cover requirements and of course, to get this as cheap as possible.

Posted in business insurance, commercial insurance, restaurant insurance | Comments Off

Wholesalers insurance – waste removal warranty

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Every single business insurance policy contains a different range of clauses, warranties, excesses and conditions. If you have a policy, you will have been advised by your insurer, or your broker, to read through the policy and if there are any parts which you do not understand or cannot comply with, to discuss this immediately.

In reality though, this may be one of the jobs that you decide to leave until you have more time and you never really get round to reading the policy until you have a claim.

It is vital though that you take the time to review any policy you have. The policy should have a clear index and this should tell you where the conditions/warranties etc are. Different trades though have bespoke warranties.

If you have a wholesalers insurance policy, the conditions and warranties are going to refer in the main to protection for the stock and the products liability. As far as the stock protection is concerned, you will more than likely have a waste removal warranty. Whilst these may seem innocuous enough, you need to consider the content of the warranty carefully. If you do not comply and there is a loss, certain insurers may try to repudiate any claim you make.

A waste removal warranty will cover two points. Firstly, the frequency with which you must remove rubbish and waste from the premises and secondly, where this must be stored.

Some warranties say that all waste must be removed “from the premises” daily and others weekly. We have had a recent request to have a warranty changed, because although the company were storing the waste in an aluminium wheeled bin, they kept this on the premises overnight, to stop it being stolen.

The insurers changed the warranty to reflect this, but if they hadn’t and there was a fire in the waste bin, whilst inside the building overnight, this could have caused some issues.

As far as frequency is concerned, a week is normal, daily is a bit too much, unless you are a printer, woodworker or involved in some form of chemical/plastics industry.

Posted in business insurance, warehouse insurance, wholesalers insurance, wholesalers insurance quote | Comments Off

Retail insurance – not from a shop premises

Monday, September 27th, 2010

Most business insurance companies in the UK, have packaged policies for different types of trade. When we say packaged, this is similar to your car insurance. A car policy has a package that can include the vehicle itself against damage, the contents of the vehicle against theft, the windscreen and third party liability if you hit someone else.

Businesses are the same, you will have a package that covers the assets and stock, including buildings, liabilities, money, legal expenses etc. Some insurers have had these packages in a similar guise for years. One of these is retail insurance, or shop insurance. For the last forty or fifty years the policies have not changed dramatically with the one main point about them is that insurers only want to insure “traditional” shops. But, the retail world has evolved and embraced the Internet more so than many other industries.

A good percentage of retailers do not have a shop, with a glass frontage, and a serving area for customers. Those that operate as internet retailers tend to trade from either home, an office (with a fulfilment house supporting them) or an industrial estate.

Some insurers feel that they represent not only different, but increased, risks of loss. There are only two areas we can really see this having an affect. One is that they may be on an industrial estate which will be empty at night and weekends and the other is that if there are problems with phone/broadband lines, they could have an interruption to their business. Aside from this, the risks are much better. You do not have windows to smash, the security tends to be better, the stock is more secure, you do not have customers coming in and a whole host of other reasons.

If you are finding it difficult to get a competitive policy from the various “quote comparison” sites, call a broker and speak to a human being about your insurance. You will be amazed at what sort of deal they can get for you.

Posted in business insurance, commercial insurance, internet retailers insurance, online shop insurance, retail insurance, shop insurance, shop insurance quote | Comments Off

Salon insurance – where to get a competitive quote

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

2010 is still proving to be a difficult time for most businesses. Yes, we are technically out of recession, but boy is it tough out there. For this reason, you should be looking to cut costs, but not quality, at every step. This includes getting the best price for your salon insurance.

If you have been trading for over three years, since the glory days of 2007 when businesses grew and grew overnight, you will more than likely have seen a trend, upwards, in your annual premium.

Even if you have been claims free for years and years, most commercial insurance companies have been trading unprofitably for a long time and their senior management, and indeed shareholders, are starting to insist on some reality to set in.

What this means is that they are still giving new customers the best deals, but when you renew, your premium will start to go up by 2, 3, 4 or 5%. You may see bigger increases, but they are starting to put prices up by limits which they feel are acceptable. Any more than single digit increases and you may start to look elsewhere.

But, a 3.5% increase year on year over five years, would see a £1,000 premium increase by nearly 20%, whether or not you have had claims. So, what should you do?

If you are claims free then you should really consider getting an alternative quotation. Whilst we cannot guarantee it, we can say with almost certainty that you will get a better quote elsewhere, you just need to take the time to look.

Posted in commercial insurance, salon insurance | Comments Off

UK business insurance

Friday, September 24th, 2010

In 2010, we live in a vastly different world than even 2000, as far as the business community is concerned.

No longer does a small business have to crack it’s local market over a number of years, before venturing overseas. If you are a retailer and have a computer, broadband and a phone, you can trade anywhere in the world from a UK base. The only restriction you face is the different time zones, but a decent web site, with ordering, can easily take care of that.

But what about financial services? Can you sit here in the UK and purchase an investment product from a business based in, say Australia? Not really. International borders, as far as financial products, still exist. If you trade from the mainland, then you will need to get insurance protection from a UK business insurance company.

Even within the EU, were as we know borders do not really exist for people, as far as buying financial products, it is nigh on impossible, and this is not because of the language barriers. Different countries have different laws and here in the UK, if you need to get commercial insurance, you must get this from a company that is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Huge multi-nationals are slightly different, as they may buy different products for different territories. But, in the main even if you trade in the UK, and sell worldwide, you will still need a policy bought here.

This does not mean that you are losing out, UK insurers are, believe it or not, much more efficient than they used to be. This is of course a continuous journey for them, but they do offer competitive prices, when you consider the potential risks that they face.

Posted in UK business insurance, business insurance UK, commercial insurance | Comments Off

Commercial liability insurance – levels of cover

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

There are two main reasons why you would be looking, or have a need, for a commercial liability insurance quote.

Firstly, because you are being a sensible and prudent business person who realises that there is a legal requirement for certain liability covers and others you really should not trade without.

Secondly, you are undertaking a contract for a third party and they have insisted that you complete a contractors declaration form giving information on the cover you have in place.

In reality, it will be a combination of the two for most people, with a heavy emphasis on the first. Most business people understand, for example, that there is a legal requirement to have valid employers liability insurance in force, if you have any employees. If you trade without it not only are you potentially facing a huge claim if an employee is injured, you can get hit with a £2,500 fine per day, that you do not have the cover.

So, you have spoken to a commercial insurance broker and got yourself either a quote or a policy. But how do you know what levels of cover you need?

Liability insurance comes in limits of indemnity. This is the amount of cover that you may possibly face in respect of any one claim. For employers liability, the law says you must have a minimum limit of indemnity of £5,000,000 any one claim. Insurers will normally give you £10m, this is why your certificate will show £5,000,00 and your schedule will show £10,000,000.

As far as public and product liability is concerned, you can get various limits of indemnity, most quotes you will find are for £2,000,000, you can get £1m, or £5m if you ask. Limits in excess of £5m are avaialable, but this is more specialist cover.

If you have been asked to ”prove” this cover, through a contractors form, this will usually state not only the types of cover you need, but also the limit of indemnity required.

If you do not have the cover at this limit, but have a live policy, then speak to your broker about getting the right cover in place.

Posted in commercial insurance, commercial liability insurance | Comments Off

When can I get a business insurance quote?

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

This may seem like a simple enough question but, if you are looking for a business insurance quote, one of the things you will be asked is “when is your insurance due for renewal?”.

There are two reasons that this question is asked. Firstly, the broker wants to know exactly how much time they have got to get you a quote. And secondly, if there is too much time between the day they ask for the quote and the renewal date, the broker will ask why are you looking for a quote?

If your policy is due for renewal in January, we would expect you to start looking around in mid to late December. A business insurance broker will not want to suggest that you “break” your annual policy. An insurance policy is an annual contract and you “commit” to 12 months cover.

That is not to say that you cannot cancel your policy mid-term and take out another one, but we do have to ask the question why? If an insurer has an agency with a broker, they will not want to deal with a broker that is constantly presenting business which is mid way through an insurance year. The insurer will question why the broker is doing this and if they are prepared to do it to insurer A or B, then what is to stop them doing it to them as well?

You can change your insurance mid-term, for example if you ask for additiona cover mid way through an insurance year and your current insurer cannot provide the cover, you are entitled to look elsewhere. Even if your being charged too much for a mid term increase, you shoudl really use this as an opportunity to look around. In fact, any material change in the risk you present is reason enough to change, but only if there is sufficient reason for doing so.

If you speak to a broker and your insurance renewal is months and months away, what they should do is take your details and agree to contact you two to three weeks before renewal. But, times are tough out there and there are some more unscrupulous brokers who are more than happy to target business mid-term.

We even have one of the larger direct commercial insurance companies (something to do with red telephones) constantly taking business off us mid-term. It is not that there is anything illegal about it, but it does cause the customer problems in the future when they appear to have flitted form insurer to insurer at will. If the bigger companies are actively doing this, then it does not bode well for the future.

Posted in business insurance broker, business insurance quote | Comments Off

Commercial building insurance – frost cover

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Any business insurance policy, whatever type of trade it covers, will include certain exclusions, warranties, conditions and excesses. There are reasons for these being included. The more cynical will think this is the insurers trying not to provide cover. The more realistic view is that these need to be included because without them, the insurance companies would simply have to pay out for anything and everything. This would then lead to increased costs in premiums. As the amount of claims increases so would the premiums and this spiral would continue until it became unaffordable to arrange cover.

One of the standard exclusions is for frost damage. Last winter we saw unprecedented levels of storm and burst pipes claims. As far as frost is concerned, the actual damage caused by the frost, ie to brick work, is excluded. Whereas, the consequent damage, ie water seeping in, is covered.

The reason that frost is excluded is because it is a maintenance issue. A normal wind and watertoght building, in good condition, should not allow water to sepp into brick work and then for this to freeze, expand and cause damage.

It (frost damage) really only occurs under commercial building insurance polices. Certain insurers will allow restricted cover, maybe with a limited payment of a few thousand pounds. The reason that frost is excluded, is because your policy is not a maintenance contract. A building should not be allowed to get into such a condition that water can seep into the brick/cement work. If that is the case, then the building should be re-pointed or the bricks replaced or coated with a waterproof membrane (in the summer months!)

Posted in business building insurance, business insurance, commercial property insurance, commercial property insurance quote, commercial property owners insurance | Comments Off

Business insurance – what cover do I really need?

Monday, September 20th, 2010

When starting out in business, you will either have an actual or a mental check-list of things to do, buy or put in place before you start. One of these will be business insurance.

You may know your trade inside out but when it comes to the intricacies and complexities of other things, such as legal and legislative, it is probably time to get some advice. Nowadays, with the ease of access to either numerous companies or sources of information on the Internet, you will find yourself floating between two areas. The first one will be that it is great that you can find so much information so quickly, and the second one, and a slight downside is, how do you know the information is right?

As far as getting yourself commercial insurance, that is suited to your new business and not just a generic all encompassing policy, you would be best to speak to an independent business insurance broker. A broker will be happy to speak to you and discuss your needs, wants and requirements. Obviously, they want to try and get you as a new customer, and this is all part of the build up process. If they give you quality advice and a competitive quote, you are more likely to go with them when you start to trade. The other good thing is that the advice they will initially give you is free.

As with every product and service, you can speak to two or three different brokers. The chances are that many of the same insurers will deal with different brokers, but at least you get some sort of perspective on the different cover options, prices and monthly premium plans. There is no point in taking the cheaper quote if the broker only offers you monthly instalments at 8 or 9%.

Before making your decision, take everything you can into account.

Posted in business insurance, business insurance broker, commercial insurance | Comments Off

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