Guidance on Preventing Water Damage
As climate change becomes more noticeable, premises will increasingly be affected by severe weather events. Although we cannot change the weather there are steps you can take that may reduce the risk of your business being affected.
What aspects do I need to consider?
The three main areas to consider are:
- The risk of leaks from burst water pipes or tanks
- The damage caused by a violent storm (rain, snow or hail) including wind damage, overflowing drains and the weight of snow on roofs
- Flood waters from a river or the sea
- Where your buildings are located
- The local topography
- What materials the buildings are made of, their condition and how they are fixed
- Whether the building is sheltered or exposed
- The style of roof
- Effectiveness of roof and yard drainage
- Proximity of the sea, rivers or other water courses
- Age and type of plumbing (including any pipe or tank insulation)
- Heating systems
- Type of stock and how/where it is stored
- Collate information about your premises and its environs that is relevant to the risk of water damage. Assume that with the passage of time our climate will change and that the severity of weather events will increase
- Identify areas where it is possible and practical to make an improvement that will reduce the risk. Prioritise those that will most effectively reduce the risks to your business and property. For flood protection and flood recovery advice, the Environment Agency website includes a wealth of information
- Ensure that there is an adequate planned preventative maintenance programme in place for your buildings. If they are allowed to deteriorate, the risk of them being damaged will increase
The recent rioting and disturbances are of great concern to us all and we would like to reassure our customers that we are monitoring the situation closely and have people ready to help you through this difficult time.
Need to make a claim
If you have been affected by the rioting and wish to make a claim please contact us on 0161 438 0000. It is a policy condition that claims arising from riots are notified to us within 7 days. This swift action will enable us and your insurance company to assist you as efficiently as possible.
Preventative measures
Given the nature of the recent incidents, it is difficult to provide prescriptive guidance on actions businesses can take to minimise risks, but here are some general considerations that may be helpful:
- The safety of your employees and customers must be your priority. Make sure that you have suitable emergency plans and that these cover periods when riots and civil disorder are possible so that you can avoid such persons being on the premises or travelling from them during periods of danger. Have a robust emergency contact procedure including home and mobile phone numbers for staff. Make sure that you have this information available at all times – it is no good just keeping it at the premises! Keep this information secure and remember your Data Protection obligations
- Keep up-to-date with developments – consider using the internet, text, news alerts and police information, responding to advice from the authorities as appropriate
- If you do decide to temporarily close for business, try to give affected employees as much notice as possible so that they do not make unnecessary journeys putting themselves at risk. If you are sending staff home during a period of disorder, discuss with them what arrangements can be made to try to get them home safely
- If your buildings are already fitted with security grilles or shutters, make sure that they are in working order and put into place when closing and leaving the premises. If you do not have shutters to protect vulnerable glazing then consider temporary boarding. Don’t forget that this will need to be very firmly secured
- Remove valuable items from inside shop-front displays or which are close to ground floor windows. Put small high value items in your safe if you have one. Consider what larger items may be safely removed during periods of unrest
- Make sure that you have up-to-date copies of your computer data stored in a secure location away from your premises
- Review your business continuity plan (disaster recovery plan)
- Avoid leaving combustible or flammable items outside your premises
You Could Not Make It Up But Some Did…
Insurers are detecting more fraudulent claims than ever before. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), bogus claims in the UK rose by 10% in 2010 from 2009 to an average of £18m every week.
Over the last 5 years, both the number and value of such frauds detected has risen by over 100%.
Of 133,000 bogus claims which were uncovered, 60,000 related to household insurance and 40,000 related to motor insurance. Motor insurance frauds were the most costly totaling £466 million.
Examples of fraudulent claims uncovered include:
- A claim for back injuries apparently sustained from a fall while working in a nightclub was rejected when Facebook images showed the claimant performing gymnastics and training for a charity run
- A man claimed for a “lost” engagement ring. His ex partner said that she was never given a ring as they had never been engaged. On the same day, the man said he had suddenly found the ring
- A claim by a woman for the loss of a £2,000 watch after a night out was rejected when the photograph she provided of her allegedly wearing the watch turned out to be that of a friend
- A woman’s claim for facial injuries she said resulted from a falling toilet roll holder in a fast food outlet was rejected when it was shown that the holder would have had to have fallen upwards to cause the injury claimed
Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director General of General Insurance and Health said “Insurers are working harder than ever to protect honest customers against fraud. The savings made by weeding out fraudulent claims would otherwise end up being paid by honest policyholders through higher premiums”.
Glenn Marr, Director of the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) said “We would urge anyone with information on any type of insurance fraud to support industry efforts to root out the fraudsters by calling the IFB free and confidential Cheatline on 0800 3282550″.
Follow @hineinsuranceAxa Commercial To Reward Chartered Brokers
Having recently achieved Chartered Insurer status, Axa Commercial has become the first insurer to reward Chartered Insurance Brokers with a range of unique benefits.
A series of discussion groups will be held across the country over the next month to help define what form these benefits will take.
Alasdair Stewart, commercial director at Axa Commercial (and previously director of corporate development at the Chartered Insurance Institute) commented:
“As a Chartered Insurer, we believe that the huge effort that these brokers have made to achieve Chartered status and help transform our industry into a profession deserves special recognition.
We believe that higher levels of qualifications and technical competence will improve customer outcomes and so we want to deliver both trading and service advantages to this select group.”
Steve Jenkins, director of financial services and insurance markets at the Chartered Insurance Institute commented:
“Both customers and peers recognise Chartered status as a tangible commitment to the highest standards of professionalism. The CII applauds new initiatives like this that seek not only to promote, but also recognise, professionalism within our sector.”
As one of the first firms of Chartered Insurance Brokers in the country, we welcome Axa Commercial’s initiative and hope that other Chartered Insurers will follow their lead. Chartered Insurance Brokers placing insurance with Chartered Insurers provides clients with the ultimate peace of mind that their requirements have been dealt with in a professional and competent manner.
Bribery Act 2010 – Are You Prepared?
The Bribery Act 2010 comes into effect on 1 July 2011 and repeals all previous statutory and common law provisions in relation to bribery, instead replacing them with the crimes of bribery, being bribed, the bribery of foreign public officials, and the failure of a commercial organisation to prevent bribery on its behalf.
Under the new Act, a criminal offence will occur where:
- A person associated with your company bribes another person intending to obtain or retain a business advantage; and
- Your company cannot demonstrate that adequate procedures are in place to prevent bribes being paid out
The penalties for committing a crime under the Act are a maximum of 10 years imprisonment, along with an unlimited fine, and the potential for the confiscation of property under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Company directors can also be disqualified under the Directors Disqualification Act 1986. For a successful defence you must be able to prove that the company had adequate procedures in place to create a bribery and corruption free culture within the organisation.
The changes in the law affect every UK incorporated entity and any overseas entity carrying on business (or part of a business) in the UK so it is essential that a comprehensive anti-bribery programme is planned.
Training for employees is essential so that knowledge is gained about what exactly constitutes a bribe and how to avoid bribery and corruption, as well as ensuring everyone is aware that the company has a strict zero tolerance policy.
The extent of cover provided under management liability and directors & officers liability policies is, at this stage, unclear and will depend upon the specific circumstances including:
- Whether or not there is a successful prosecution against the director (or the director admits the wrongdoing)
- Whether an investigation is triggered following a self-report by the company
Clamp Down On Uninsured Drivers
20 June 2011 sees the introduction of Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) – the biggest single change to third party motor insurance since the advent of the Road Traffic Act.
There are currently an estimated 1.4 million uninsured vehicles on the road responsible for 23,000 injuries and 160 fatalities each year.
CIE makes it an offence to be a keeper of an uninsured vehicle – previously offenders had to be caught in the act of driving without insurance to be prosecuted. Drivers will need to declare their car as being off the road if they want to avoid buying insurance.
From today, registered keepers identified as having an uninsured vehicle will be sent a warning letter. If they don’t then take out insurance or declare the vehicle as being off the road, they will receive a £100 fine and could have their vehicle clamped, seized and destroyed. They may also face a court prosecution with a fine of up to £1,000.
Motorists can check for free that they have valid insurance by visiting www.askmid.com.
Follow @hineinsuranceSupporting Age Concern Manchester
We are pleased to announce that we are now the official insurance broker for Age Concern Manchester’s supporters in respect of their home and motor insurance needs.
We have been the insurance brokers to Age Concern Manchester for many years and were delighted to be approached by them in March with a view to providing exclusive home and motor insurance schemes.
Age Concern Manchester were authorised with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to arrange insurance products for their supporters but ceased to provide this service following the Board’s decision to stay independent from the newly formed charity Age UK.
Hine Chartered Insurance Brokers (HCIB) approached a number of insurers with a specific remit to be able to provide competitively priced insurance products to Age Concern Manchester’s supporters with a reputable insurer. After numerous meetings with various insurers to explore the best options available HCIB, in agreement with Age Concern Manchester, agreed a deal with Aviva. The agreement allows us to compete on home and motor insurance products at the same level of premium offered by direct insurance providers thus enabling a competitive offering for Age Concern Manchester supporters.
With the right level of support, this arrangement could provide Age Concern Manchester with a valuable income stream to help fund their charitable causes. It also further strengthens the ties between Age Concern Manchester and Hine Chartered Insurance Brokers.
As a Manchester based business, to be able to align ourselves with such a prestigious charity whilst assisting Manchester’s older people in this way feels very rewarding indeed.
Follow @hineinsurance305 Price Promise
We believe that businesses which are well run deserve to be rewarded which is why we will quote 5% off the current insurer’s premium (renewal or expiring) for SMEs that meet insurer’s underwriting criteria, have been in business for 3 or more years and have had no claims in the last 3 years.
The 305 Price Promise is currently available on the following Towergate Commercial Underwriting (TCU) products:
- Shops
- Offices
- Commercial combined
- Guest houses
In addition TCU’s specialist cover automatically includes the following added value services:
- Online safety training – including office safety
- Online Health & Safety Management – allowing businesses to create compliant H&S documentation
- Business Law – a vast library of documents to help every business comply with Employment Law and H&S legislation
- Legal Expenses – up to £500k limit including contract and tenancy disputes
- Free legal advice and employee stress counselling hotlines
For further details, please contact our New Business team on 0161 438 0000.
NB: This offer is only available to businesses in the United Kingdom and may be withdrawn without notice.
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With the volcanic ash cloud from the eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland threatening to cause travel disruption for air travellers the ABI is advising travellers who could be affected to take the following steps:
- Contact your airline, travel agent or airport you are due to fly from for the latest information about travel arrangements. If your flight is cancelled airlines should offer you either a full refund of your unused ticket or an alternative flight. EU based airlines are required to offer you accommodation and meals if you are delayed in getting home to the UK
- If your flight is cancelled and you do not travel, insurers will refund your premium if you took out single trip travel insurance. If you arrange an alternative flight at a later date, your travel insurer should be able to change your policy to cover this
- Following the ash could disruption in April 2010, it has been possible to buy travel insurance that specifically covers cancellation, delay and curtailment due to ash cloud disruption. Check your policy for the terms and conditions
- Check your travel insurance policy for any cover that may be available. While volcanic ash is not a specific risk in most policies, some may cover delay and any subsequent abandoment. Your travel insurer can advise
- Payment for any delay, whether outward or return, is usually a fixed sum for a specified period up to a maxium amount. Some policies may pay a lump sum if the delay is over a certain time (typically 24 hours), and you are forced to abandon your trip
- Where your travel policy covers ash disruption then you will be covered for this latest eruption, provided that you took the policy out before this latest eruption could have been reasonably foreseen. Check with your insurer on this and any initial periods when cover may be limited
- ABI member travel insurers will provide information for customers on their websites wherever possible
Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said:
“Travel insurance is designed to work alongside, and not duplicate, any compensation you are entitled to from your airline or tour operator. Following the unprecedented disruption to air travel last year from volcanic ash, insurers paid out £70 million to policyholders, in many cases as a goodwill gesture. In response to public concern, some insurers now offer specific insurance against cancellation, delay and abandonment due to volcanic ash disruption. This can be taken out as an add-on to some travel insurance policies or as stand-alone cover.”
Follow @hineinsuranceThe Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO)
ELTO is a proactive move by the insurance industry to meet its obligations to help those who have suffered injury or disease in the workplace identify the relevant insurer quickly and efficiently. At the heart of the process is the Employers’ Liability Database (ELD).
From 1 April 2012, ELTO members (employers’ liability insurers) will be required to supply the following information for new and renewed policies:
- The Employer Reference Number (ERN) for the policyholder and each employer covered on the policy
- Details of each employer covered by a policy, which will include a full listing of all subsidiary companies
In preparation for these requirements, policyholders will start to be asked for their Employer Reference Number (ERN) when incepting or renewing policies this year.
Each organisation operating a PAYE scheme is allocated an ERN. This is the reference number for their employees’ income tax and national insurance contributions; also commonly referred to as “Employer PAYE Reference”.
Please be prepared to provide this information and note that we may be unable to incept or renew employers’ liability policies without the ERN number.
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