We like to follow what is happening in the commercial insurance world in different countries.

We have just had news in the UK that the FSA continues to ban brokers for withholding premiums that are due to insurers. This seems to happen more with a business insurance broker that household, and this is where the bigger risks are.

News from Macon.com in the US reaches us of Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. deciding to sue a father and son insurance agent for premium they collected from a customer but did not forward to the insurer.

Goodwill Industries, paid over $135,000 in premium that was not passed on. Now in the UK, you would need to bring a civil case to recoup the money, but what amazes me is how the broker actually slept at night.

We are under such strict rules and regulations in the UK that you start to sweat if you think you are going to submit a non-onerous return (of which there are many) one day late. How you can collect premiums that insure businesses, their assets and more importantly their employees, and not worry every second of every day that there is not a policy in force, is beyond me.

Thankfully, when you look around for cover in the UK you can rest assured that any agent or underwriter that you get your cover from is watched very, very closely. The returns we mentioned are only half the story, there are a myriad of rules in place, all designed to help protect you, the consumer.

The BBC are starting to panic (what will a Conservative government do to them?), they are finally looking into many of their contracts and if possible renegotiating or re-tendering.

We have spent years and years lo0oking at how much the beeb have managed to collect from licence fee payers, and their commercial ventures, and wondering whether it was being run as a business. Or, just a bit of a cosy left wing old boys club.

As well as the BBC, the old favourite, The Met Office have had a torrid time of it. They have admitted that they have got their predictions wrong in nine of the last ten years. There are also links with the data they use and the manner in which they predict and the East Anglia University professors who have been discredited through manipulating facts.

To top it all, their super “leader” John Hirst (Salary £20ok plus bonus of £40k) has gone all defensive because everyone can now see through him.

Why are we blogging about this? As an independent business insurance broker, we are involved in controlling a significant amount of commercial building insurance. We arrange cover for properties throughout the UK and we need to plan for our business.

One way of short term planning, for claims personnel, is to look at a range of weather forecasts and predictions. For example, if we are advised of significant (expected) rainfall we tend to alter answer phone messages over weekends in case people call in for help and advice.

We have long given up on the Met Office and their short and long term predictions. It is almost as if you get to the stage now where, if they say it is going to be a very wet season, you go for the opposite.

It is also quite serious, people have lost their lives because of the weather. We can’t blame the councils for not gritting roads when they planned for a mild winter. I am not saying that the Met Office are only to blame.

It has now been reported widely that the BBC, after 90 years, may be moving their weather contract to another company. This is funny really as a cosy monopoly has existed for far too long. Some in the Met Office would not even be aware that the BBC could renegotiate who does their weather.

We won’t bring global warming into it as the Met Office have got egg on their faces there as well. Let’s hope this makes for a more responsible forecast, where the company that provides it knows full well what will happen if they continue to get it wrong.

Go to any fast food takeaway in the UK and, while you are waiting for your meal, have a look at the restaurant. If it is a large branded business the restaurant will look exactly the same as any other outlet throughout the land.

If you go to a small, sole premises outlet you will also notice (in the vast majority of cases) that they share, with the large brands, pride in their outlet. The tables will be clean and the shop front will be spotless.

Don’t believe what you see on these “city grime” programmes on the TV either, most fast food places are exceptionally clean in the preparation area as well.

However, it does not matter how much time you spend on cleaning the cooking area, there will always be some kind of liquid that will be spilled, or on, the floor. In the fast food restaurants, the moisture from the food that is fried and the fat permeates the air. Although most of this is exhausted through the extraction units, some of it will end up on the floors.

Just look at the serving staff behind the counter on a busy day as they slide and skate around. You cannot eliminate this moisture entirely and this means that accidents will occur.

Employers liability insurance protects anyone that works for a business from injury, illness (including mental)  or  disease that they may suffer at work.

Most food preparation businesses suffer from EL claims. The problem is, that a claim is almost guaranteed to be 5, sometimes 6, figures. There are solicitors out there who slaver over getting these types of claims. It is a no-brainer for them. EL is, quite rightly, not subject to many clauses. If an employee is injured (even if they are partially responsible) they have an odds-on chance of winning a settlement.

Slips, trips and falls can cause immense injury to someone. Slipped discs, sore backs and other problems can prevent some people from working for years.

Although we have seen the UK enter, and stay in, the worst recession in living memory, the average cost of EL claims continues to rise. This has a severe affect on the premiums that we get when looking for a commercial insurance quote. Insurers are trying to recoup their losses and are looking to increased premiums to help them on their way. We will have to see the scale of this issue as 2010 progresses, but the hardening (increased premiums) market may not be far away.

Every business needs a great strap-line. Not necessarily for advertising purposes, but something that epitomises what the business is all about and where they are going.

Here at Businessinsure, we operate in a traditional call centre manner. It is funny describing a call centre as traditional, they have only been around for 25 years now. But, because we are an internet company, we source all of our business insurance quote requests direct from customers. We do not do any cold calling or use these wonderful email contact lists that we get spammed with every day.

Our strapline, over the net is that we should talk. Why is this so important to us? There is the famous phrase that says a picture paints a thousand words. We also work on the doctrine that in a five minute phone call you can glean more information than if the customer spent two hours filling in forms.

Us talking to customers helps to build rapport and enables us to learn everything we can to go away and compare business insurance for you. Many websites “offer” this service, but we say you should avoid them like the plague.

You do not get any professional advice, pointers or help whatsoever. The best thing you can ever do is speak to an independent broker. We have long advocated this (because it is what we do) and we know it works for you.

So, if you are in business, in the process of setting up or just have a twinkle in your eye about the potential of a new venture, give us a call. We only have local rate numbers so it does not matter where you are in the UK it is the same cost.

Every business needs a great strap-line. Not necessarily for advertising purposes, but something that epitomises what the business is all about and where they are going.

Here at Businessinsure, we operate in a traditional call centre manner. It is funny describing a call centre as traditional, they have only been around for 25 years now. But, because we are an internet company, we source all of our business insurance quote requests direct from customers. We do not do any cold calling or use these wonderful email contact lists that we get spammed with every day.

Our strapline, over the net is that we should talk. Why is this so important to us? There is the famous phrase that says a picture paints a thousand words. We also work on the doctrine that in a five minute phone call you can glean more information than if the customer spent two hours filling in forms.

Us talking to customers helps to build rapport and enables us to learn everything we can to go away and compare business insurance for you. Many websites “offer” this service, but we say you should avoid them like the plague.

You do not get any professional advice, pointers or help whatsoever. The best thing you can ever do is speak to an independent broker. We have long advocated this (because it is what we do) and we know it works for you.

So, if you are in business, in the process of setting up or just have a twinkle in your eye about the potential of a new venture, give us a call. We only have local rate numbers so it does not matter where you are in the UK it is the same cost.

The internet is a wonderful thing, it has transformed business and will continue to break new ground. But, there is a frustrating element to it.

It is along the lines of one mans meat is another mans poison. If I know what I am looking for, what search terms do I used to find a company that can offer me the service I want. in my country? This is not easy. If you take commercial building insurance for example, this incorporates many different categories and types of cover.

In England and Wales, most blocks of flats, including converted properties, are insured. The problem is, some are insured individually and others through a residents or management association.

I have provided, this week alone, over a dozen quotes for blocks of flats. I thought I would aks the enquirers how easy they found the site and what terms did they use, given we are now working with our new site.

I was in for a shock as nearly everyone said that they found it difficult to find a website that seemed to offer what they wanted. Although we have the name Businessinsure, we do have particular property and buildings sections. So, you do not have to be a fully trading commercial venture to get a premium and terms from us.

So, to help future searchers, the main search phrase we would suggest using, if you need block of flats insurance, is residents association insurance. You can, if you want stick the word buildings in there or even change residents to management.

The internet as we say is wonderful, without it we would not have the speed of delivery for many products and services. But, you do need to think out of the box a bit to get to that needle in a haystack. Perseverance is the key, you will get there in the end.

We are hearing in the news today that Kraft, the American food firm have upped their offer to 850 per share for Cadbury. It was surprising that Cadbury has 45,000 employees, of which just over 40,000 are outside of the UK. That is some size of company with a multinational spread. Their main market is of course here in the UK but they do receive significant income from outside the UK and even outside of the EU.

We will have to wait and see what Kraft actually does with Cadbury, some good things and some things that will make the staff less than happy.

Whilst we cannot be certain, out there, right now, the next Cadbury could be in the making. It started life in a very small, home based “factory” in Bournville and has grown to the company we see today. Whilst it has been around for over 180 years, what a different picture it would be today starting out.

There are numerous, if not countless, things to worry about if you start today, one of the issues they would have to face in their acorn stage, is what type of insurance they require. Typically, a home based venture whether full or part time, would look around for a small business insurance policy or a business from home insurance package. Both of these would provide the range of perils and protection from claims that a small, new venture will require.

Of course, the Cadbury family did not even think about insurance as it was unheard of and the chances of raising a claim were nil. Nowadays though, if you sell a food product you need to extra careful of any claims against you.

You may be the owner of the next acorn that will develop into an oak tree, but, to help protect your business from many insurable eventualities, you need to speak to an independent broker about suitable cover.

We get a lot of enquiries for all sorts of trades and businesses, providing a hairdressing salon insurance quote is one of most competitive areas. Significant savings can be made, just by making two or three, five minute phone calls.

There are a lot of parts to running a business which you constantly put on the back burner and say, one day I will get around to looking into that in more detail. Top, or very near, of the list is business insurance. You know you need it, you know it is not really that interesting and you also know that it needs to be right.

When you do get around to going through your policy and cover, make sure you check your sums insured. You must make sure that you are covered for the correct amount. If not, you may have a claim reduced.

Salons are wonderful places to visit, they are designed to look good, feel comfortable and most of make you want to go back again and again. So, when you set up your business you tend to spend a fortune on fixtures, fittings, stock, computers, mirrors, sinks and a whole host of other items.

Basic as it may seem, you need to sit down with a sheet of A4 paper for each room in the business. Then, list down everything that you own or are responsible for (ie you may lease, and therefore not be worried about, the building). Next to each of these items, put down your rough idea of how much you think it would cost you to replace if it were damaged beyond repair or stolen. Then, add up all of the amounts you have for business contents, stock and tenants improvements (these are things you would not take if you moved – ie laminate flooring). When you have the three amounts, add 10% in case your estimation is wrong and then refer to your policy.

If your amounts are the same, well done, if lower (than your policy) - speak to your broker to see if it is worth reducing your sums insured. If they are higher, you also need ot make a phone call and get an estimate of how much it would be to rack up your cover, if it is affordable, go ahead.

We have all read in the past few weeks about how the last decade was really signified by debt. Consumer spending, fuelled by easy credit, resulted in a booming economy. But, like the proverbial house of cards, the weight got too much and it all came crashing to the ground.

In the long run this is, whether you believe it or not, going to be a good thing. Yes, we will have similar situations where a market, country or economy is buoyed by something, that in the cold light of day, is too good to be true.

Rising house and commercial property prices where one of the biggest causes of the debt boom. There were not many assets you could buy, use day in day out, that would appreciate in value by up to 20% per annum, year on year.

We are trying to rectify this and consumers in the UK do have wiser heads on their shoulders now. Let us see if the next decade is more of a caring, sharing one – rather than a show off one.

So, how does this affect my business insurance? Not in a nice way I’m afraid. Financial services companies, in particular insurers, have spent years investing the premiums you pay throughout the year. They are invested in some very complex vehicles, in the hope of course that they get better returns than the 2 or 3% they could have got by stashing it in a bank.

Let’s say that your cafe insurance is £1,000 per year. You pay this to the underwriter on day one of your annual policy. The insurers then invest this and hope that they will get returns nearer to double digits, than low singles. So, over the year your £1,000 becomes £1,100. Their expenses are approximately 50%, including the commission paid to any placing broker. This means that even if you have a claim, which costs 50% of your premium, they have still made a 10% return. Your premium has gone in commission, costs and claims, but the insurers can still say that they have made money.

As the economy has come crashing down, so have the returns available to insurers. This means that your £1,000 premium, which may have remained unchanged for a couple of years is going to start to creeping up.

Of course, now is the time to look round for an alternative as there are still companies out there that want your business. Basically, if you have been claims free for at least two years, do not accept an increase at renewal.

We have recently had a claim, under a retail insurance policy, where the motor on the roller shutter failed, this closed and the staff could not get out, nor the customers in.

In the past 10 or 15 years, shopping has become a leisure activity, to help satisfy this demand, every town or city has got either one or many shopping centres. Most of these are designed solely to get you, the consumer, in the doors and in a relaxed atmosphere. Part of this process is that the shops do not have front doors. The shopping centres do, but the individual shops just have a simple, lockable, roller shutter door.

As with anything mechanical, there is always the possibility that these doors, where they are mechanically controlled, will fail to operate. As the shopping centres begin to age, so do the doors and the likelihood of a motor burn out or some other problem, increases.

Roller shutters are also used more and more for simple high street shops. The risk of damage to these is also increase from malicious damage to attempted theft.

If you have a shop insurance policy, you really do need to check two things (if you have roller shutter doors).

Firstly, that the roller shutter door is separately noted as an insured item, and secondly that you have breakdown cover. Most policies will cover perils, such as theft, fire, flood etc. If your roller shutter door motor breaks down, this is not a usual “insured peril”. It needs to be covered on an engineering extension. If you don’t have this cover, you can kiss goodbye to any repairs or business interruption losses.

Speak to your broker, check your cover, if it is not right, get it sorted.