Archive for the ‘compare business insurance quotes’ Category

Where can I get a business insurance quote, over the phone?

Friday, December 30th, 2011

The world wide web and the internet, I have just found out, are two different things. I won’t go into the complexities of the differences for one reason, I do not really understand them. The reason I found out, is because I was having a little look around to see how long the internet or www has been around. I use the terms interchangeably, as they mean to me the ability for one computer user to access, view and communicate other computers around the world. Later blogs may go into more depth because it is quite an interesting subject, but that is for the future when I eventually have some free time.

Anyway, back in 1979/1980 is when Tim Berners-Lee was actively setting up the network, which would become the world wide web, for allowing computer users to connect. The reason I was looking up this was to see how far we had come in the last 30+ years. Even ten years ago when businessinsure started, whilst the internet was there, accessing it was not quite so easy. The average person could only access via a dial up modem on an analogue phone line. This was the biggest problem of the tech boom in the late 1990’s. There were huge amounts of money thrown at companies that sold things via a means that most people did not have. I remember working at a large business insurance company at the time. We have 1,200 people in the building and there was one PC in the corner of one floor that accessed the internet. To get on it you had to put your name in a hard copy diary and usually book your visit at least a week in advance.

How times have changed. Last night I remembered that I wanted to buy a t shirt for one of my kids. At 11.30 at night, I could access the net on my Android phone and bought the item I wanted. This morning there is an email saying that it has been posted already.

But, there is a small downside as far as business insurance is concerned. As we can access systems and databases very easily, there has been a growth in websites that offer, we use this term in it’s loosest possible sense, to compare business insurance. If you go onto Google, and put in one of the many search terms to get quotes, you get a long list. Businessinsure appear in position 7 for the term business insurance quote. We are an independent business insurance broker. We have agencies with a number of insurers meaning that if you ask us for a quote, we go to more than one insurer. And, as the heading of this post says, we can do this over the phone. The first 6 that appear are a combination of three comparison sites where you put in the information and three direct commercial insurers, where you get a choice of one.

We cannot guarantee to beat everyone, but what we do offer is a first class, competitive, quick, friendly service from a human being on the end of a phone line.

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Comparing business insurance quotes (the easy way)

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Many years ago, our European neighbours used to laugh at us because, as a nation, bartering and haggling did not come naturally to us. The only time we used to do his was on our annual foreign holidays. We used to go to the markets and shops and try and haggle the prices down. We used to feel quite good about the fact that we had knocked a few pesetas or drachmas off something that we really didn’t need.

Fast forward to 2011 and the aftermath of the recession in the UK. In 2006 everything seemed rosy, unlimited credit was available to one and all, you only had to pick up the junk mail through your letter box to get your hands on a few thousand pounds. In the back of everyone’s mind, we knew that it could not go on. The doom mongers, who are so smug nowadays, said the obvious, this is not going to go on forever. Then it stopped. You actually had to prove you had a good business model or could actually pay a mortgage before someone gave you a loan. Even Gordon Brown, remember him?, must have realised that our growth was based on accessing credit more than anything else. 2008 turned into 2009 and nothing changed, we hit recession and UK plc went through some real pain and you know, it is still there. We have a terrible headache, sore limbs, aching back and the prognosis is that we are going to have to wait at least three to five years before the pain eases.

What does this introduction have to do with business insurance quotes, I hear you ask? A sensible question of course and the answer is, that we are actually having to spend a lot more time looking around for alternatives. Haggling and bartering has been replaced by the word comparison. The beauty of it all is, that you do not actually have to do the comparisons yourself. You have two choices. You can go online and use a software comparison tool. This is fine for physical products, one pair of trainers is the same as the identical pair in the other shop, just cheaper.

But when it comes to looking to compare business insurance, do you want to sit there and do all of the work yourself? Or do you want to speak to an independent professional, whose job is to look around on your behalf? Online comparison software does work, but for an important financial service, such as insurance, you cannot always buy on price, price, price. A broker will, more than likely, save you money and probably get a better price than a comparison site. The good thing is though, that you will also be safe in the knowledge that they have sold you the right product as well. If, and it is rare, they have not, you have the full force of Financial Services Authority legislation behind you.

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Compare business insurance

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

Given the huge increases in premiums for car insurance in the past few years, the websites that compare insurance costs have grown and grown. As usual, many of the personal and business insurance companies missed a trick and didn’t realise, with an Internet savvy population, how quickly they would gain market share.

Many of these sites have expanded into an ever wider range of products, we are not sure if this is simply because they are trying to gain market share, or the profitability of their existing range of products is reducing, or being eroded as insurers reduce commission share payments. Some of them are offering to compare business insurance now and the question, for many small businesses, is – should I use one of these sites or not? The answer, as far as Businessinsure is concerned is no.

You can get better prices, better cover, good quality advice and a speedy service from many of the online brokers, like ourselves, that operate to service the business population that want quick quotes, now.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that your cheap quote gives you all the cover you need. The reason a lot of the quotes are cheap is because the cover is absolutely bare bones and does not really cover you for what you need. You also have nothing to compare it to.

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Online business insurance quotes – where is the service?

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

We were competing this week for a fairly large commercial property owners insurance quote. For this one customer we arrange a few different policies but this was the one risk we hadn’t picked up. They arranged it through one of the online comparison sites.

It was due on the 20th August and as at 3 pm on the day before they had still not had terms for their renewal. We had already quoted, but based on last years non-index linked sums insured. As we wanted to quote on a like for like basis we advised them to demand a 7 day extension, at nil cost, due to the delays in getting renewal terms. They told me that the same thing had happened last year. They got their renewal terms mid afternoon of the day before renewal and just renewed it.

We waited for their existing provider to come back with terms, quoted on a like for like basis and picked up the risk. We were quoting blind and went in at a better premium than they paid last year. Their existing provider did the usual and offered to beat our quote but thankfully the customer realised that the service difference was too great to enter an auction process to get the premium lower and lower.

Now, we have blogged before about the inability to get advice from the sites that allege to compare business insurance. They are not, all they are doing is comparing prices. They don’t rank their quotes according to breadth or depth of cover nor do they rate them according to service standards.

So, customers are simply roped in to buying the cheapest policy possible. Then they realise a year later when they don’t get renewal terms or worse, their policy cover is not quite as good as they thought, that they should perhaps have gone elsewhere in the first place.

I am sure if they were given the opportunity to respond they would say it was a one off and overall their customers are satisfied, but as a business insurance broker we see these too often I’m afraid. As an industry, the independents like us survive by offering exceptional customer service, but we tend to get tarred with the same brush and it is not right.

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Business insurance quotes over the weekend?

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

We have previously posted about the number of Bank Holidays we are going through at the moment. Just like buses, we have got five in as many weeks.

Most people now know not to try and phone many different businesses during the Bank Holiday period, because they are likely to be shut. But what happens at normal weekends if you are looking for a business insurance quote? At Businessinsure, we have been running for over ten years, we have tried, at different times, different methods to try and deal with the customers who need a quote outside of normal hours.

We have also commented before that we find the websites that offer to compare business insurance, a bit confusing. yes they may be “open” 24 hours a day, but the problem is that if you do fit into their distinct categories, you are less likely to get yourself a quote. Then, what do you do? What you really should do is to speak to someone first of all. Very, very rarely, if you are on the ball, do you need to get yourself a quote at the weekend. If you try and plan what you need, and when you need it, you should be able to get everything you need during business hours.

If you do need to get a quote and simply cannot phone to discuss in business hours, drop us an email to quotes@businessinsure.co.uk, give us as much information as you can and we will then use that to decide what type of quote is required. We will then drop you an email and ask you some further questions (if necessary). Then we can turn it round for you and get you a business insurance quote. We email every single quote and can post or fax to anywhere in the world. The beauty of the modern world is that you can be sitting on a beach in Australia, playing on a smart phone, sorting out your shop insurance requirements.

We have grwon up with internet and email, we understand that the phone is not always the preferred method. Whichever way you want to communicate, try us and see what we can do for you.

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Do compare business insurance websites really work?

Friday, February 25th, 2011

A friend of mine asked me about their car insurance. They had a renewal from company A and had used a few of the comparison sites and managed to get alternatives that saved up to £128. As a business insurance broker, they of course think I am well versed in every aspect of insurance. I explained that private car was not my thing, but I would happily review the documents.

To cut a long story short, the only thing that they had managed to do was reduce the premium. When you looked into the cover and excesses there were such vast differences, they were, frankly uncomparable. I explained to my friend that, if all they wanted to do was to meet the absolute minimum legal requirement for drigin on the road, then they should take the cheapest quote. Even then I had my doubts about the speed with which the provider in question would actually pay out on the claim. If however, they wanted a policy that would actually pay out on the types of things they would normally expect, for example a windscreen claim without a massive excess, then they should stick where they were.

Over Christmas, when we had our two quiet business days of the year, I had a renewal that was due for a shop. I had a look at some of the sites that offered to compare, and it was the same old story, all they do is offer cheaper prices. Now, don’t get me wrong, we always try and save customers money, but, not at the expense of their cover.

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Getting a business insurance quote, option 1 or option 2?

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

To get a business insurance quote, here in the UK, you have two main options. Look at the following, and then decide which one you really should go for.

Option 1

You can choose to look for a quote yourself. When we say this, we mean you do all of the work. You can either go direct to an insurer. There are a few commercial insurance companies that still choose to deal direct with members of the business community. Others have tried and decided that it is not cost effective to do this. You cannot go and visit the insurers yourself, so you have to do this via their website. Remember though, you are not getting any choice. Go to insurer A and you get a quote from insurer A only. You need to repeat the whole process with all the different insurers.

If you want to get some choice, but no advice, go to one of the websites that offers to compare business insurance. Note though, that you do not get real time advice. These sites, of which there are a few, are designed with one thing in mind. Getting you to choose based on price. You do not get any human intervention or help from anyone trying to advise you as to what product you really need. In the event of a loss, that is not covered, you have very little comeback because you have chosen the product. They have many disclaimers dotted around their sites that mean if you are not happy with the product, then it is tough because you read through the summary of cover and were happy with it.

Option 2

Go to a business insurance broker, either online or in person. Online brokers are really telesales, so you can speak to a human being and discuss exactly what it required. Give your information to the broker, once, and they will then scour the market for you, for free, to get the best price for the best cover.

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Where do I go to compare business insurance?

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

If you hit the net and enter the search term compare business insurance, you will be hit with not one, not two but over 15,000,000 results. Now, no-one in their right mind is going to sit there and visit every single site, there is not an infinite number of insurance companies in the UK. This means that even if you look at half a dozen sites, you are going to start to see results from the same companies.

But why is there a difference in the cost? If you are happy to spend time filling in the ever lengthy online forms, you will soon realise that they tend to ask you the same questions. So, if they ask they same information, and you are consistent in your declarations, then why are there such big price differences?

There are two reasons. Firstly, it depends on how much the owners of the site are taking as commission or as an “introductory fee” as this is built into the price. Secondly, and much more importantly for you as the business insurance purchasing cusotmer, is the difference in cover, terms, excess, warranties and conditions.

It can be mind-boggling when you get two quotes, from the same insurer, from different sources to be able to compare apples with apples. In answer to the question, as to where do you go, you need to speak to a human being. Whilst these sites are all well and good for getting car and home cover, when you are talking businesses, there are so many small differences that you need a broker to understand exactly what you require and to find you exactly the cover you need.

Forget the sites with no human interaction, speak to human being, there are thousands of brokers out there just waiting for your call.

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Compare business insurance quotes

Friday, April 30th, 2010

We all know, in 2010, that if you look around long and hard enough you will be able to find a good deal on everything that costs your business money, with one exception. That exception is, unfortunately, tax. You don’t have a choice in how much you pay and you cannot get away without paying as there is only one place your taxes go, UK plc.

To make up for this burden on businesses, you shoudl spend a bit of time seeing if you can save some money on the other areas of business where savings are to be had.

For example, if you are looking for a small business insurance quote be careful about who you go to for different prices. There are numerous websites popping up all over the web that offer different services aimed at reducing your premiums. Welcome to the websites that promise to compare business insurance quotes, but what do they really do?

Technically, to offer a comparison service you only need to have two insurers. You then obtain a price from the both and compare this. The sites are based solely on pushing you to pick the cheapest. But you have to consider more than just the price. We understand that this is the major factor, but you also have to think about any onerous terms and conditions and also big excesses.

This is why we always recommend that you only speak to a broker to get a proper comparison. They have full and detailed knowledge of every insurance companies offer, products and prices. Let them do the comparing for you and the good thing is that if, later down the line, you feel you have been mis-sold a policy, you have full rights to pursue a formal complaint against the particular broker or insurer. Go to a comparison website and you are on your own.

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