Nigel A Adams

Its serious, when it goes legal!

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If a writ arrives on your doorstep, you can’t just bury your head in the sand.

When you own property, the major concerns are dealt with by the cover for physical damage, loss of rental income and liability for injury or damage. We’ve ticked those boxes, so what next?

There are of course other events which can cause concern as a landlord.  They can result in substantial cost, because taking legal action or defending it, is never cheap. It could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

These also need consideration and insurance cover.

A landlords legal expenses policy can cover the cost associated with most of them, whilst also removing the anxiety about unknown events, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

Here are a few of them:

  • Breach of tenancy agreements
  • Pursuit of rent arrears
  • Eviction of tenants
  • Legal defences
  • Rent guarantees
  • Boundary issues
  • Legal advice

You can call the helpline 24 hours a day and discuss any matter that might be affecting you or your tenants. You will have peace of mind that a specialist team of lawyers will deal with these matters Immediately on your behalf.

You are never on your own.

 

Booted & Suited

It’s a building, so what’s the problem

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It can’t get up and hurt someone, or can it?

When you take out property owners insurance, in addition to the cover for the building, you get cover for your liabilities, for injury to people or damage to other people’s property.

Public liability covers members of the general public, including tenants, visitors and the like and employer’s liability takes care of people you employ, such as, gardeners, handymen and cleaners.

If someone were to trip up on a loose paving stone, or a stair carpet, then they may have a case against you for the injury sustained, private treatment and any loss of earnings. The total could run into tens of thousands of pounds.

The same applies to employees who are injured whilst doing work at your direction and would extend to and the provision of a safe working environment, PPE, scaffolding, cleaning and garden equipment.

Cover also includes damage done to property, for instance if tiles fell of a roof which had not been maintained properly and crashed down on a parked car, god forbid landing on a person.

Public liability cover is included, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time, whereas employer’s liability is optional, so check carefully.

Have a great week 😎

Various Buildings

Property Owners and Landlords take note!

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One of the simplest package policies on the market is for property owners, sometimes called landlords insurance. Everything you need in one policy. So, what is included and what is left out?

To start with you want to protect the physical structure of the building and this is done by providing cover for a specific range of “perils” such as:

  • Fire
  • Lightning
  • Aircraft
  • Explosion
  • Earthquake
  • Storm or Flood
  • Theft or attempted Theft
  • Impact
  • Escape of Water
  • Riots
  • Malicious Damage

Even with these covers there are exclusions, so it is vital you read the wording in detail #becauseaccidentshappen, to nice people all the time.

Cover is also available for “other” accidental damage, as well as subsidence, ground heave and landslip, but these are usually options, so check the detail.

Standard exclusions include: War, Radioactive contamination, Sonic Bangs, Changes in Water Table, Electronic Risks, Wear and Tear, deterioration, and any gradually operating cause.

Cover can be restricted for unoccupied property, or in the course of renovation, sale or repair.

Land for development can be covered, but for liability only.

More on property owners liabilities, business interruption and legal expenses this week.

Nigel

Is it covered?

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I once remember getting a call from a landlord who wanted to know if he was covered!

He was asking if he could claim for a new boiler because his wasn’t working any more. I asked why it wasn’t working and it transpired that it was simply old and had worn out.

I then had to explain that all insurance policies were designed to respond to defined “perils” such as Fire, Lightning, Explosion, Storm, Theft, Malicious Damage and that these events had to happen on an identifiable date.

What they are not designed to do is replace routine maintenance, or simply pay for things which have reached the end of their natural life.

Its why all policies covering damage to property always have a condition excluding damage resulting from any gradual cause, including deterioration, wear and tear.

This includes mildew, fungus, climatic or atmospheric conditions, frost, wet or dry rot.

An exclusion also exists for vermin, insects, chewing, scratching or tearing, or fouling by pets.

There are other exclusions routinely applied and in the contents section of your policy, look for “Exclusions that apply to the whole of your policy” or a similar wording.

Most of these are common sense applied to things which ae never meant to be covered, or in some circumstances where compensation would come under law, or from the government, such as sonic booms, war, or nuclear explosions.

If you’d like to know more about the detail of your policy wording, and what is and is not covered, in any particular circumstance, I’d relish the challenge!

I don’t think there is a question I can’t answer, so have a go!

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 😊

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.

 

 

 

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.

Always by your side

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Always by your side.

I’m sure there’s a song in there somewhere, maybe Barbara Streisand, now I’m really showing my age. The oldies are the goodies anyway.

And some things never change, insurers still want to carry out physical surveys of premises, ask questions and generally have a poke around, to see exactly what the are covering and how “RISKY” it is.

Fire hazards are the main concerns when dealing with large scale commercial warehouses and the like and that’s before we start talking about many millions of pounds worth of stock and equipment, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.

When we talk about fire hazard, we are generally talking about two things, sources of ignition and combustible materials, wood, cardboard packaging and the like. Keeping these two things apart is fire safety 101. Keep them apart and you are 50% of the way there.

After that we look at measure to reduce the problem if a fire occurs. These can include extinguishers, sprinkler systems and alarms, connected to key holders, monitoring stations, the fire services, police and other emergency responders.

Always there, well what I meant by that cryptic comment, is that we will never leave you alone to meet with insurers, surveyors, or professional risk managers. We will always be there to provide advice and guidance, turn up in advance and brief you about the likely course of those meetings and be there as they happen in real time.

Today I travelled 141 miles 2 ½ Hours) to be with an important client, whilst a fire survey took place. I cemented the relationship with the client and built a new one, with another industry professional and I’d have it no other way. It’s #openhonesttransparent Its what we do, day in and day out.

Have a great week.

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40 Years in the making!

Well, it had to change at least once.

All my professional life I’ve said one thing has never changed and that is the rates charged for standard construction buildings insurance and they were, per £1,000 rebuild sum insured:

£1.50 for Residential property

£2.00 for residential let property

£2.50 for purpose-built blocks of flats

£3.00 for shops with residential flats above

£3.00+ for high fire hazards, restaurants, takeaways, chip shops, furniture stores etc….

 

These rates have held firm for the last 40 years, but now that is all changing. Some rates ae going up by as much as 100% dependent on area and construction. So, what’s causing all this:

  • Worldwide property rates woefully low and claims costs are increasing year on year.
  • 5 Major storms since December 2019
  • Insurers Solvency Margins – having to reserve more capital, so claims pot is reduced
  • Cost of International Re-Insurance used to spread risk, rising rapidly
  • Lowest investment rates in history means nothing to offset claims costs
  • Personal Injury claims increasing with ever higher awards, so insurers reserves depleted
  • Covid 19 was the icing on the cake, already estimated at £5 Billion in UK alone

Since then, Brexit has increased labour and material costs, especially in the construction industry, with the cost of steel, concrete and timber the worst, so rebuild costs are also increasing at the same time. The war in Ukraine can only lead to further instability about the supply of raw materials.

So, what can you do about property insurances you hold:

  1. Make sure you get a new rebuild costing, if you’re underinsured any claim will be reduced by this percentage, the responsibility lies with you, not the insurer. Do it now don’t wait until renewal of your insurance.
  2. Don’t wait to the last minute to review your insurances and make sure you get your renewal quote early. In most cases there is no reason why you shouldn’t get it at least 2 weeks before.
  3. Approach alternate broker for terms and ask for formal quotes. This is the best way to get maximum market coverage as brokers may have 20 different insurers to compare.

If you’d like to know more please just get in touch for an #openhonesttransparent review

Call 029 20 470 375 or email info@severnbay.com #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.