Positive feelings

It’s a new dawn and a new day and I’m feeling good!

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Bet you just sung that with a southern twang?

What gets you going on a Monday morning?

For me its knowing that I can make a real difference to people who care about getting the right advice at the right time. If they are prepared to engage with me and let me find out all about their business then I can understand what they do, assess the exposures and give them the correct advice.

Now we all hope we don’t ever need to use our insurances, but in truth that’s not the real world and with no-win no-fee legal cases on the rise, sooner or later someone disgruntled individual will probably have a go at you, justified or not.

If you have valuable assets, buildings, stock, equipment and machinery, then they must be protected correctly. If they get destroyed, damaged or stolen and your insurance isn’t correct, your claim could be void and you are left holding a very expensive piece of paper.

Getting the correct advice and guidance is essential, suitability is everything and the devil is always in the detail of the wording, which to be honest most policyholders never read.

We do, so you don’t have to.

Want some good advice, free at the point of discussion. Just call 029 20 470375 or message me here.

Have a great week 😊

Employee Injury

Accidents can happen!

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The absolutely worst claims I have ever had to deal with in 40 years are always those that involve serious injury to employees.

They are serious for the employee who might face serious life changing injuries and a significant period where they can’t work, or may even die, with the awful consequences for the family and dependents.

Its terrible for the business that now has to deal with the implications. Did they do everything they could do, was their health and safety system robust, were all the correct risk assessments in place and communicated to employees, will the H&S Executive or local authority carry out an in depth investigation and so on…..

Sometimes, the accident is the result of a simple accident that no one could have foreseen or more often a careless or thoughtless action by the employee or others working with them, either way whatever happens, compensation of some sought will be due to the employee or their family and that is where employers liability insurance comes into force.

Whilst the implications in disruption, time and resources re considerable for the employer, failure to have the correct liability cover in force can result in fines of up to £2,500 per day and in serious situations, up to 6 months in jail for the directors or principals in the business.

So when does the law make Employers Liability Insurance a legal requirement?

Under the regulations of the “1969 Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance Act” and subsequent statutory regulations Employers Liability cover must be in force where:

A business has any employees and they are employed for as little as 1 minute of 1 day in any year! This includes unpaid volunteers, interns and the like, effectively anyone working in and for a business. This also includes directors or trustees in a limited company or charity. The only exclusions for businesses are:

Single Director Limited Companies with no other employees

Unincorporated businesses where there are principals / partners and no other employees

If you are unsure whether or not you need this cover then seek professional advice or contact us for a completely free assessment of your position, we can set your mind at rest and provide the correct cover for your situation should you need it.

Just call 02920 470375 or email info@severnbay.com

After all no one goes to work to be injured or killed and no business owner wants to end up in jail.

 

 

 

 

BIBA 2023

BIBA 2023 Manchester Central

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As a proud member of The British Insurance Brokers Association for over 40 years, and now as a board member, I can say without any hesitation that the BIBA conference in May each year, bringing brokers and insurers together in one place for three days, is one of the best and most productive weeks of the year.

This year the theme is “Rising to the Challenge” The BIBA Conference 2023 | The British Insurance Brokers’ Association

If you have annual arrangements you wish to arrange or renew, doing it at the BIBA conference each year is probably the most effective way. The range of providers present and more importantly decision makers, all in one place make for an excellent conference.

Add to that the line up of keynote speakers and sessions each year, bring everyone up to date with what’s new and emerging as well as all the legal and regulatory matters that will affect our businesses going forward over the next 3 – 5 years. If you are an insurance professional #biba2023 is the place to be.

It’s also nice to be in the middle of something which has been in planning for the last 12 months, leading directly from the manifesto which is published in January each year. In 2023 we are #managingrisk & #deliveryingstability.

Looking forward to meeting friends old and new and securing services that will directly benefit our clients going forward.

Have a great week, I know I will.

 

 

 

Architects

Do you know what Professional Indemnity policies cover?

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Ok here is the short and simple explanation, they cover:

* Financial Losses
* Suffered by your clients
* Where they allege that
* Those losses are the result of
* Your Negligence, Errors or Omissions

Things where you didnt exercise a reasonable professional skill, things you did wrong or things you didn’t do.

Normally required where advice or a professional service is provided #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

Can extend to include things like, slander, libel, loss of documents & remediation.

Bodily injury can be included where the service relates to the provision of medical or human services, normally termed as Medical Negligence.

Want to know more?

Just call us on 029 20 470 375 or message me here.

Have a great week

PI or not PI, that is the question for today?

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Getting quite a lot of leads through the BIBA website for Professional Indemnity risks at the moment, as businesses struggle to find the solutions they need.

Professional Indemnity is about 35% of our business, including the most difficult to place categories, which include:

* The Legal Sector
* IFA’s
* Mortgage Brokers, including Bridging Loans and Foreign Residents
* Design & Construction
* The Renewable Energy Sector

All in a days work at Severn Bay where we have fantastic direct insurer relationships and highly developed London Market operations.

Doesn’t matter where you are in the UK, we can place your business, quickly, efficiently, with great advice and support throughout which is #openhonesttransparent

Just get in touch to see what we can do on 029 20 470 375 or message me here.

Don’t sweat it, let us do it for you.

Loss of Profit

Pardon the Interruption.

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Let’s Talk about Insurance basics 101 – Part 3

One of the most misunderstood parts of insurance cover is business interruption or Loss of Profits insurance, so may be a short explanation is in order?

For most business the cover will be based on “Gross Profit” and in insurance terms that is turnover, less the cost of sales and crucially with nothing else deducted, especially wages as you will need to pay staff as the business recovers.

For service businesses its “Gross Revenue”, which equals turnover and for landlords it can be loss of gross rental income. The key thing is when designing a solution to make sure that the correct measure of income is identified.

The next thing to understand is that in 99.9999% of cases you cannot have a claim for business interruption, unless and until physical damage has occurred. This has to be for one of the identified perils, such as Fire, Flood, or Storm. Crucially and much in the news, disease is not a peril, so could never have triggered a business interruption claim in this respect.

There are however a number of non-damage extensions, but these vary greatly between policies, in respect of what is covered and how much cover is given for each. In some cases the cover is as little as £25,000, but can be as great as £500,000.

These extensions always include the following:

  • Failure of public utilities
    • Gas, electric and the like.
  • Denial of Access
    • Damage at neighbouring premises or on access roads
  • Damage at supplier’s premises
    • Can’t supply you with what you need
  • Damage at customer’s premises
    • Stops buying from you
  • Murder, death or suicide
    • Premises closed whilst police investigate

In some cases, there are other extensions but these are not always present and the cover and amounts are generally very small and limited to events happening at the insured premises.

So, if you really want to know what business interruption cover you have, talk to a professional and take the time to understand the cover, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

Feel free to message me, or call the office on 029 20 470 375 for free, no obligation consultation.

It could be the most valuable phone call you ever make.

Contract

Let’s Talk about Insurance basics 101 – Part 3

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One of the main reasons that businesses buy insurance, and in some cases the only reason, is to cover their LIABILITIES. These claims can run into £100’s of thousands of pounds, sometimes millions!

These are the things for which they are legally responsible, which if they mess up have financial impacts on other people, whether that is their employees, members of the public, other businesses or their customers. There are 5 main areas, which are:

EMPLOYERS – Covers damage or injury to employees of your business in the course of their employment. This is required by law. Fines can be up ton£2,500 per day or up to 6 months in jail for principals or directors who fail to arrange the correct cover for their employees. It’s the BIG ONE!

PUBLIC – Covers damage or injury to members of the public, essentially anyone outside your business.

PRODUCTS – Covers damage or injury caused to customers by the product you manufacture, sell or supply.

PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY – Covers the financial losses of your customers, where they allege that the financial loss was the result of your professional negligence, errors or omissions, whether or not it caused bodily injury.

DIRECTORS & OFFICERS – Covers the legal costs of defending actions against directors and officers in their personal capacity, for actions against them in relation to their work for the business in which they are employed.

These are the 5 main liabilities businesses look to cover.

There are others which relate to corporate legal liability, employment practice, data protection, tax investigations, property, contract and tenancy disputes, as well as the requirement for debt recovery and statutory licence protection.

In these cases, legal expenses cover is available to cover the cost of defending an action or taking action against someone else.

If you’d like to know more about your specific liabilities, and the duty of care and how liabilities arise, then just get in touch for an informal chat. You might be liable for things of which you weren’t even aware.

Have a great day, don’t worry about these matters, let us do it for you 😊

Building Fire

At your peril!

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Let’s Talk about Insurance basics 101 – Part 2

MATERIAL DAMAGE is the main concern of most clients in the first instance, that is damage or destruction of STUFF!

We could be talking about buildings, stock, equipment, machinery, fixtures and fittings, computers among other things, but what are the actual events for which they are covered?

These are called the PERILS!

They include:

  • Fire, Lightning, Explosion & Earthquake
  • Riot & Civil Commotion
  • Malicious damage
  • Aircraft and aerial devices
  • Impact by vehicles, animals
  • Storm or Flood
  • Theft or attempted Theft
  • Subsidence, Ground Heave or Landslip
  • Escape of water or oil from fixed appliances
  • Falling Trees
  • Accidental breakage of fixed glass
  • Breakage or collapse of television radios or aerials
  • Accidental damage to underground pipes and cables
  • Wider accidental damage
  • All Risks cover world wide

Even with the all-risks cover you must understand, that an event must occur. There has to be an identifiable event that causes the damage, destruction or loss. Gradual deterioration over time is never covered, neither is normal wear and tear or fouling by domesticated pets.

There are a few more general exclusions which include War, Nuclear Explosions, Sonic Bangs, Electronic malfunction risks and now communicable diseases. The first three, along with diseases, are all events that would be addressed by governments or existing laws as the costs and implications are too widespread for any insurer to afford.

There are of course other extensions to cover and other more specific exclusions, so always read your policy wording, understand what is or is not covered, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

Better still ask a professional for advice.

Have a great day.

Trust in each other

TRUST is all you need.

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There’s a difference in spending money on what you WANT and what you NEED.

As human beings we tend to trust our own instincts and most of the time we are right, and that works for us, because we know what we want or need.

If it’s something you WANT, you will generally trust a brand and then buy from a reputable dealer.

If it’s something you NEED you will do research, but go back to trusting your own instincts, in the final decision, even if it’s a highly technical product or service and that can lead to understandable human errors.

So why not just talk to people who you already know, like and trust. Family and friends can be great sources of information, especially your more senior relatives, as are other professionals you already trust.

Don’t make an uninformed decision on personal research, ask someone you trust who would they use, its that simple.

I’d like to think anyone wo knows me would say I’m someone you could trust. I will do what I say I will do and stick to it. Technically proficient, qualified and experienced. You don’t have to believe me just ask anyone who knows me and see what they say.

Today I’m sorting solutions for a Mortgage Broker, a Food Manufacturer, a Wholesale Warehouse and a Commercial Photographer, all long standing clients who trust me to do what I say I will do:

The correct solution and the lowest price

Have a great day

Chat=reted Insurance Institute

Looking for a salesman?

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Honestly it never feels like that to me.

In society we generally consider the professional classes to include the following trades:

  • Solicitors & Barristers
  • Accountants
  • Architects
  • Surveyors

For some reason, maybe it’s the commission element, professionals in financial services, that is General Insurance, IFA’s & Mortgage Brokers, are seen as salesmen, hell bent on making the most money by inflating prices.

In 99% of cases nothing could be further from the truth. If you want to GAIN or RETAIN a client, inflating prices doesn’t work. They will go elsewhere.

That is despite holding formal and very rigorous qualifications from one of the oldest Chartered Institutes in the country, which is recognised around the world as the gold standard. Starting in 1873, a formal royal charter was granted in 1912. https://www.cii.co.uk/

The CII’s purpose, as set out in its 1912 royal charter, is to ‘Secure and justify the confidence of the public’ in its members and the insurance sector as a whole. It aims to do this through setting standards of integrity, technical competence and business capability.

To make the distinction more obvious in our case, we work on fixed fees, not commission and they are disclosed up-front before our clients make a decision, so they can see they are reasonable in the context of the work completed.

I would rather walk away from paid work if I do not believe the client understands what I’m trying to achieve for them and just wants a cheap job, solely on their terms. I simply won’t do it.

We make professional recommendations and if customers don’t want to accept that professional advice, they are free to go elsewhere. To act in any other way would show a lack of integrity and could be considered professionally negligent. That is #openhonesttransparent

Looking for a salesman?

You won’t find any of them here, but you will find professional advice you can trust, that will protect you and your business and you will develop a relationship with named individuals who will deliver real value for you over many years.

Be awesome, have a great day

Severn Bay Logo

Business Insurance Specialists