Archive for the ‘shop insurance’ Category

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Shop insurance – who covers your roller shutters?

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Roller shutters are everywhere. It used to be that you only needed roller shutters if you were a city centre business. Nowadays though, it does not matter which city or town you go to, a good proportion of high street properties will have this form of protection.

They are not usually a requirement of any business insurance quote or policy you take out. If we declare to an insurer that a business has roller shutters it is considered as a good underwriting feature, instead of a factor whihc can allow a discount.

Apart from the actual type of business and the location, the other two factors that affect the theft element of any cover, are the intruder alarm and locks. This is where an insurer may choose to insist on a certain security level, prior to providing, for example, theft cover.

But, you may install the roller shutter yourself and a good quality electric shutter for a even a 1,000 square foot shop can set you back a few thousand pounds. So, should this be on your shop insurance policy? Or the policy for the landlord or owner of the building?

Technically, you need to insure it under your policy. You as the shop owner have the financial interest, as you own and have paid for the shutter. Speak to your business insurance broker about getting this added to your policy. It is not a “content” or “fixture or fitting”, it must be insured as a tenants improvement.

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Shop insurance – watch the instalment charge

Monday, September 6th, 2010

A couple of years ago, pre 2007, you could buy almost any product or service at low or 0% instalments. As the number of these deals reduce daily, you can still find business insurance at 0%, but you need to look a bit more carefully than before.

Most insurance companies (that offered business related policies), around 2006/2007 decided it would be a good selling point to offer either interest free instalments, or at the very least, instalments at a 1 or 2% charge.

Once one company had started to do this, as with most of these distribution and sales changes, it did not take long for many other companies to decide that they had to offer the same. So, we went from only a handful out of say 60 or 70 different companies offering 0%, to a couple of dozen offering this. This only took about six months. Which as any one in the industry knows, is lightning speed.

But, as we move through 2010 and approach 2011, most commercial insurance companies are starting to seriously consider each and every one of their costs. If they offer you interest free instalments, this costs them, depending on their size, anything between 3 and 6%. Instantly, their margins have been struck by what is a relatively high percentage.

You may find though that if you did have instalments free of interest or very low, single digit charges, that  these are slowly starting to creep up. A half per cent here or there may not seem like much, but when this is coupled with a potential increase in your premium, it can add up to 10 or 15% more than you were paying last year.

This only appears to be happening on certain products though. Shop insurance is one of those that appears to be hit. When you are paying an average premium of only £600 per year, a £20 or £30 increase may not seem like a huge amount. But to the insurers, across the piece, this is nearly 5% on their margins. If you are paying your insurance on instalments, and you have a renewal letter arriving soon, make sure you check the monthly charge.

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One stop shop insurance

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

In 2010 everyone wants this quicker, better and cheaper and for retailers, this includes their shop insurance. You may have seen in the press over the past few years talk of premiums increasing as insurers struggle to cope with the recession.

The problem with this is that most of them continue to operate a dual pricing process. They are looking to gain single digit percentage increases on most renewals, but for new business they are prepared to pull out all the stops.

If you currently have any form of business insurance, when your renewal offer comes through from your existing broker or insurer (if you deal direct), you will find, in the majority of cases, that there are increases being applied. Times have been tough, and continue to be, for nearly every single type of business. With the planned central and local government cuts, which we have all been expecting, things are not likely to get any easier as UK plc tries to pay down it’s debt mountain.

So, what do you do if you are a retailer who has had no claims and you suddenly find your £600 policy is now up at £700 or £800? The answer is simple, get yourself a different quote. You need to speak to an independent business insurance broker who offers a one stop service. You don’t need to go to a comparison site, which then passes you through to an intermediary which then provides you with a quote. Go to one company that can offer everything, in particular a personal, quick and efficient service in the event of a loss.

Brokers are there to serve you, their relationship is with you the customer and they are legally bound to offer you the best product at the best price, that they have available. Therefore, unless you speak to an independent who can trawl the market for you, you are only going to get one quote. Brokers have a number of providers for most types of products, so they can try two, three or four insurers to offer you the best deal.

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Shop insurance – excess levels

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Every shop insurance policy will have certain levels of excess against the different types of cover provided. An excess is an amount that you must pay towards any claim.

You either have to pay the excess directly to the insurers, or they deduct the amount of the excess from a claim. If you have every had insurance for your car, you will be well aware of the fact that excesses apply. Usually when you start to drive or a re a young driver learning, you will have a higher excess. The reason being that insurers feel that you are more likely to have a claim.

The same can be said of different types of insurance cover. You are more likely to have a claim on your business insurance shop policy for a smashed window that you are for, say, legal expenses. Most insurers therefore apply a much higher excess for this level of cover.

The thing is, you need to shop around not just for a cheaper policy, but also one that offers better cover. Anyone with a modicum of computer skills and a telephone can get a cheap quote. But, if it is at the expense of cover and with higher excesses, then it really is not worth it.

Shops and retailers are having an awfully tough time, there is one way though that you can save money. Speak to an independent (this is very important as they will work with many different insurers) business insurance broker and they will get you two things. Good cover at the cheapest premium they can.

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Getting a small business insurance quote

Friday, June 11th, 2010

If you are starting out in the world of business on your own, the list of things you must/should/could do are endless.

Somewhere on the list, hopefully nearer the top than the bottom, is the need for small business insurance. This does not mean that your new venture is small, just that you tend to start out requiring this type of policy which will then evolve into something much, much bigger as time goes by.

You need to do two things. Firstly, speak to someone that understands that you are looking for a policy that provides the essential protection required for your business, at a competitive price. Anyone can over-insure and if you visit one of the compare business insurance websites, you may not receive a bit of personal advice and guidance and end up buying an unsuitable product.

For this reason, without fail, you should speak to a business insurance broker.

Secondly, you need to get as much information as possible together for your business. The sort of information you need is the type of security, the construction of your building, replacement costs of stock, business assets and computers etc.

The more information that you can bring to the table, the more that your risk can be properly assessed. For example, most companies that provide shop insurance, will provide additional discounts if you have external grills and/or shutters across the frontage.

It is the small things that you may be asked by the broker that build up the bigger picture of your risk. Simply clicking boxes on a screen may give you a price, but how do you know the policy is suitable for you?

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Shop insurance – wedding dresses and alteration cover

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Look around any high street in the country and you will find that there is a wedding dress shop. Gone are the days when you were so restricted and had to travel miles for your dress fitting.

If you are the owner of one of these business then you will have shop insurance in place to cover your stock, contents and liabilities. Many of these shops are basic retail only, with the manufacture and alteration being undertaken by third parties or the dress suppliers.

However, more and more of these business are now realising that not only should you do the dress, clothing and accessory retail but you should also do the alterations on site.

If you do this then it is something that you need to notify to your commercial insurance company because there are increased risks. The two main risks that are increased are public liability and employers liability.

Public liability is increased if for example during the alteration process you manage to injure the potential bride. You may think this is unlikely, but in our increasing litigious country, anything is possible.

The main increased liability risk is to your employees. There is much more chance of an injury to someone using a sewing machine, scissor and other alteration equipment than someone who is undertaking a purely retail role. Again, we are not saying it is a huge risk, but as ever the potential in there.

You need to ensure that your policy specifically notes that you undertake alterations directly, otherwise they could turn around and decline the claim.

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Shop insurance – best of three

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Choice is a wonderful thing. We may not realise it, but in the business world today you can, if you have the time or the inclination, spend as much time as you want looking around for anything you purchase to see if you can get this cheaper.

In 2010, as an independent business insurance broker, we are finding that now, more than ever, people are looking around and trying to reduce their annual insurance expenditure by as much as possible.

There is a warning though, you really do have to be careful though that by driving the cost down more and more, something has got to give. When we are talking protection for your business, in the form of an insurance policy, you need to be fully aware of the small print. This is where, if at all, you will realise that saving that extra £20 has really cost you thousands of pounds.

Retailers are suffering as well as every other type of business. Rightly so, they are looking around to get the best deal on everything. When your annual shop insurance premium is in excess of £6-700 then you can, if you are smart enough save some money.

S0, how do you prove that you are smart enough? By speaking to an insurance broker and asking them to get you alternative quotes. Be as harsh and abrupt with them as possible, demand that they give you three written quotes so you can pick and choose. But, ask them which of the three they would recommend and why.

This way, you have as much information as you are ever going to get. Then, set aside half an hour to read through ALL the correspondence to familiarise yourself with the different policies and decide which to go for.

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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.

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Shop insurance quote – broker or direct?

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

To answer this question, we firstly need to understand what we mean by “direct”. In the UK, you have two choices when you are looking for a shop insurance quote. You can go to an insurer direct and this means speaking to the insurers staff and getting a quote from that one insurer only. This way, you do not have any choice in the product you buy. In the event of a claim you speak direct to the insurer and are at their mercy in the event of a claim, potentially, being turned down.

There are a number of brokers that, whilst they do have access to more than one market, they place 95% of their business with one insurer or underwriter, this, to all intents and purposes, is direct.

Then, the second choice you have, which is the better one, is to speak to an independent (important) business insurance broker. Why is it important that you go to an independent?

The reason is that the broker chooses which insurer offers you the better cover. If insurer a is cheaper, but they maybe outsource their claims and are notorious for turning down claims without any discussion whatsoever, then a good broker will not recommend them. What they will do is speak to other insurers and get them to quote as near to insurer a’s price as possible.

This way, insurer a has given the bottom market price, so they need to get as close to this as possible, but with wider cover, to comply with the authorities requirements that they will, at all times, treat customers fairly. This means not offering a price just because it is cheap, they have to earn their commission by searching the available market for you and offering the most suitable product for you.

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Shop insurance – tenants improvements

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

If you retail from a high street location, you will normally spend some money investing in the property. If you lease the premises you will normally pay the landlord a proportion of the annual commercial building insurance.

As part of the improvements you may make, this could include developments to the structure, which if you moved out, you wouldn’t necessarily take, or be able to take, with you.

For example, fitted laminate flooring, fixed cupboards, improved lighting and wiring and partitions. These are all things which many retailers will spend money on. What you need to think about is, if there was, for example a burst pipe, and your nice laminate floor was ruined, whose insurance will pay for it?

Your commercial lease will, in the vast majority (95%+) of cases specifically exclude cover for improvements you as the tenant have made to the building. You need to ensure that your shop insurance policy covers these items. It is surprising when you sit down and add up the cost, how much it would cost to put all of your tenants improvements back.

A good size (1,000 sq ft) laminate floor, professionally installed, could cost up to £5,000. There is also the potential interruption to your business.

There are two things to do. First, ask your landlord who is responsible for tenants improvements. And secondly, if it is you, speak to your business insurance broker to ensure that you have adequate cover on your policy.

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