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Compare business insurance the easy way

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Everyone loves a bargain, but to get a bargain you need to look around and search the market place. For the last 10 years in the UK, we have gone through a rapid process of being able to compare prices for everything. The supermarkets are spending a fortune paying independent third parties to set up websites to review competitor prices. This flows through to most types of financial services, you are able to compare prices for everything from credit cards, to loans, to insurance and mortgages.

The important part of this statement is that you are able to compare prices. If you have ever entered into one of these websites, it can be difficult to accurately compare the product and the service you will receive, alongside the price. Most of these sites have a little click box that allows you to compare the main parts of the cover. For home, travel and car this is just about acceptable, depending on how many aspects of the cover are compared. The one thing that is missing is customer reviews of the insurer offering the product, maybe, just maybe this will come one day.

When you look to compare business insurance, this can be more difficult. There are a few websites that do offer this service, but it can really only relate to the lower end of the market. This usually only works for small public liability insurance policies. If you are getting into the realms of commercial combined insurance, these website are not suitable and will only offer you a limited service. Usually along the lines of, we do not offer this product. This is where you need to speak to a human being. You do not need to have a face to face conversation, dealing with a broker, such as Businessinsure, over the phone is just as workable. With modern technology and the ability to email documents within seconds, this can sometimes be a better way of getting this service.

If you are looking to compare your business insurance renewal, or new business quote, why not give businessinsure a call to see what we can do for you today, you have nothing to lose.

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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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Multi location business insurance – policy or policies?

Monday, October 10th, 2011

Where a business has more than one location, they have a choice of either taking out a single policy, to cover all the locations together, or separate policies. The question is, is there any benefit to taking out the single policy or not?

It really depends on whether you want to have one single policy, with one single renewal date and, the worst of it all, is one single premium payment. You can of course pay the premium in instalments of course.

The multi location policy would normally be more suited to a portfolio commercial property insurance policy. If an individual or a business owns more than three or four properties, it can be a bit time consuming to work out all of the individual renewal dates and go through the detailed review process at many different times throughout the year. Having worked at a large insurer that concentrated on the leisure industry, we used to deal with the large public house estates. These numbered in the hundreds and thousands.

Whereas for the smaller businesses, it can be better to have individual policies. You do not always tend to get a bigger saving by combining all of your locations into one policy. If you are careful and speak to a decent broker, they can get you good deals for all types of location. The one point you need to be aware of is claims.

The more properties you own, of course the more likelihood there is of a loss. You need to declare to your insurers every single loss, or claim, whether insured or not. Therefore, if you own three buildings and have three separate policies, at each renewal you need to declare to each insurer of each risk, the claims that you have suffered on each property.

If you have a portfolio policy, you do not need to think about this as there is one insurer for all the properties. But, one claim may adversely affect the pricing for the whole policy. Whereas, with three separate policies if you have a claim on one, and declare this to the other insurers then they may not take this into account as it happened at another location.

As we always say, and always will say, the best way to decide the way forward is to speak to an independent business insurance broker. They will let you know the options available. If you try a website that “offers” to compare business insurance, you will never know the different options available.

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Alternative business insurance quotes – like for like cover?

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Every single UK business insurance broker is under an obligation to treat their customers fairly. We simply cannot recommend product A when we have product B and C available which are more suited. This stands to reason and to many is quite obvious.

It is easy though when the distinction between products is easy. For example, if I offered an office insurance quote with company A at £500, with a £1,000 excess for damage to contents, but also had a quote from company B for £525 with a £250 excess then company B is the one we quote. It is easy for us to see what the differences are. We also know which companies have better reputations for paying claims as well. We cannot say to a customer that company A is notorious for paying claims because we will face a libel or slander claim. It is up to us to decide who we offer.

Although it is easy for us to see the differences, it is not always so easy for the customer. We have spent years advocating the need for quick, easy, competitive quotes, but on a wide cover basis. It is what we do and we do it very, very well. However, over recent years there has been a growth in online business insurance comparison websites. These sites sell on price, price, price. Nothing more and nothing less. When we quote a customer, for example, £3,000 for their annual premium after having undertaken a fair comparison of the market and a fact find for their business, they sometimes get an alternative.

We send a quote and then get an email back saying, I have had a quote for £2,500, what can you do? What we can do is to ask for a copy of the quote. We are not in the market to just undercut everyone else. We know the ballpark and we always quote near the bottom price range, but making sure that cover is sufficient. If the customer sends us the alternative you can get your bottom dollar that there is a reason it is £500 cheaper.

It can be difficult for the customer though to fork out £500 every year for wider cover. These websites tempt them into buying and then, when there is a loss the customer does not have a leg to stand on.

So what are we saying? The old adage applies, if it is too good to be true (the price) then there is a reason for it. Take your time and get an independent business insurance broker to review any quotes you have had.

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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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Visiting a business insurance comparison website?

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

If you are, there are a few hurdles which you may fall at. You need to be aware that “one size” does not fit all in the business insurance world.

If, like us, you have spent the past 10 years closely monitoring the internet and how business customers find an insurance provider, you can’t help to have noticed that the bigger companies have dominated the search market.

It used to be, many years ago, that if you looked on Google for, say, business insurance, you would find on page one or two a list of independent brokers. Independence makes a great difference because it means that a broker can go to whichever provider they see fit, to get you the best price and premium.

Nowadays, the top ten in Google are a combination of websites that offer to compare business insurance and others that are single company insurers. This is frustrating for customers and us, because we want people to be given a range of results, not just those that have managed to expend the biggest SEO spend.

The frustrating part is that they get through to a website, expecting to get a good quality comparison but there are, as we have said, many hurdles to cross.

The problem being, if your business does not “fit” into their categories then you are snookered. The issue being that you only find this out once you have probably entered the site, put in some information and spent 5 or 10 minutes of your busy life to be told, “the computer says no”.

Now, you may think this is good for us, in a way it is because people leave these sites and then search for one that has a human being at the end of a phone line who can discuss your individual requirements. However, once people have been on one or two of these sites, they become a bit tainted and think that this means that every business insurance broker website is “bad” and they cannot find the service they are looking for.

Hopefully, and it is not just Google, as Yahoo and Bing are also partly to blame, the search engine companies will realise that what the user wants is not always delivered on page one. If you find yourself in this position, please take a sneaky peak onto page 2 or 3, you will be surprised at what you can find.

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Why we love compare business insurance websites.

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

If you have read any of our previous posts, we have said in the past that we have not time for websites that, “offer” to compare business insurance. All they do is compare price. You do not get advice, you do not know whether you are getting the cover/excess you need and making changes is a nightmare.

But, and it is just a tongue in cheek one today, this week we have picked up 7 new customers purely because they were through one of the sites that has managed to claw is way to the top three in Google. Of course, we cannot say which one because of our clients confidentiality. The issue was, that the clients either had policies that were woefully inadequate for their needs, even going as far as not having the right cover at all or when they tried to make changes it took ages and ages and ages (repeat to fade).

So, for one week only a business insurance broker is proud to say, that because of the shoddy service provided, we love the comparison sites as we feed off their unsatisfied customers.

Why should it take three weeks (weeks, not days) to make a change, why should an IT contractor find out that their policy excludes work at clients premises and why should the prices for mid-term alterations be way, way in excess of what the market wants?

The simple reason is, that they compartmentalise everything. Their sites force you into a certain product ranhge, which is nice and cheap. Them when you have a claim (that is not covered) or an issue with your policy, you are told that it was you that “positively chose the particular contract”.

You have no real feed back, because, as you were not advised, you cannot claim that you were mis-advised, if you get my drift.

Anyway, whilst we know these sites will be around for a while, we just hope that they will learn to treat the customer in the way a normal broker would. This will stop the whole industry being tarred with the same brush.