Archive for the ‘vet surgeries insurance’ Category

Vets surgery insurance package policies.

Saturday, November 27th, 2010

Unlike many doctors surgeries, vets tend to be privately owned and funded. As a result, they will need to arrange their own separate vet surgery insurance cover. Whilst doctors need this, you tend to find that, for example the computer equipment they use is owned, and as a result insured, by the local NHS trust.

Vets need to have their own cover for all the assets that belong to the business. This can include the buildings, all fixtures and fittings and of course office/computer equipment.

When I started out in the business insurance game many years ago, I was trained as a package underwriter. In those days, surgeries were always placed on a, slightly adapted, office insurance policy. While a business that treats cats, dogs and household pets is different to an accountants or a solicitors, as far as the insurers are concerned, they are pretty similar. The big difference is the liability risk, which is usually priced in to the premium calculation. In those early days, the only external cover required, was usually for visiting bags and equipment that a vet may take for a home or farm visit.

Nowadays though, in 2010, there is a difference in the type of equipment that is taken. Nearly everyone will have either a laptop, notebook or smart phone. The replacement costs for these can be in excess of £1,000. You have to consider whether you need this portable electronic equipment cover, usually anywhere in the UK.

Two things to consider are, the true replacement costs and whether accidental damage is included. The true replacement cost means that, for example with a smart phone the replacement cost is likely to be many hundreds of pounds, whereas you may get this free from your telecom company. When you do get a new phone, ask them to provide an estimate of the cost to replace. The other thing you really need to consider, is whether your insurer provides cover for accidental damage. The vast majority of claims are for dropped laptops, coffee spilled on laptops and, we have two for people that have shut car boots on laptops! These are all accidental damage and many insurers do not automatically provide this cover.

Check with your broker and make sure your policy has the correct cover.

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Vets surgery insurance – where can I get a good quote?

Sunday, June 27th, 2010

The question that needs to be asked is, what do we mean by a good quote. If you think about the major changes in the UK high streets over the past few years, there have been two. As a result of the global recession, we have lost a lot of long established brand names. In addition, we have seen a growth in cheap retailers. Cheap clothing, cheap food, cheap electrical items, everything you could want is now available at a lower price if you look.

But, quality costs. We all know if we buy 3 t-shirts for a fiver, they are not going to last very long.

The blog post refers to vet surgery insurance, which is a relatively specialised area, and where can you get a good quote. Good in this case means two things, that it provides you with suitable cover and that the premium is affordable.

The one place to get your good quote, is to speak to a business insurance broker. You could spend hours and hours looking around for different quotes, but how can you tell if they are actually “good”?

This is where the broker steps in. They must go through a detailed, sensible, process to obtain information from you and to use this to obtain a suitable quotation that is tailored, or suited, to your business.

If you do it this way, you have a single point of contact for sales, administration, claims and payments – the broker. Search the net for a cheap policy and you may find the administrative costs and time involved in dealing with a slightly cheaper quote far outweighs the actual benefits to you of saving a few pounds at the outset.

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Vets surgery insurance – work away cover

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Most vet surgery insurance policies are based on a different contract. UK commercial insurance companies have different contracts for different trades and types of business. The essential elements are the same but there are certain small alterations to the contract or cover which are, in the insurers opinion, suited to the particular business.

Believe it or not, in the UK vets, doctors and dentists policies are based on an office insurance policy. There are similarities to the cover, except in the fact that most doctors and vets do undertake work away. Whilst doctors can of course get injured whilst doing a home visit, a vet is more likely to be injured because they are dealing with sick, frightened and very jumpy animals.

You need to ensure that your policy does cover you for work that is undertaken at third party premises, in the main this will be farm properties, but vets can, and do, get called out for home visits more often than you would think. The two parts of cover to think about are the public liability and employers liability.

Both of these need to note specifically that there could be a potential claim whilst at a third party location. A vet being injured will fall under the employers liability section. Some insurers, whilst they do offer surgeries insurance, need to be told specifically to amend the policy to cover work away. With a commercial insurance policy you should never assume that the cover is in place. Deal through an insurance broker and get them to confirm in writing that you have this, vital, cover in place.

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