Business Insurance has a hidden weakness – does your policy protect you properly?
Insurance claim departments are taking a hard nosed approach – make sure you’re covered
I recently heard about three businesses who have been robbed of £250,000 assets and their company insurance is not paying out. Today, I heard about another case of a business getting caught out and insurers used terrible judgement to decline the insurance claim. I am trying to use the information superhighway to show you how to ensure this doesn’t happen to you or people you know that run businesses.
The scene of the crime
Criminals have been climbing into manholes and cutting telephone lines at targeted premises. This triggers the alarm and Police and a member of staff attend the premises. There’s absolutely no evidence of a break-in so the Police and staff withdraw. After everyone has left the premises are then broken into yet the alarm doesn’t sound because the lines have already been Read the rest of this entry
Want to secure cashflow despite bad luck?
Fire risk assessments are not exactly high on the list of priorities for everyone. Some small businesses might think fire evacuation procedures are not important. So spare a thought for the business owner in Scotland who didn’t think a fire would ever affect his organisation.
The business was unlucky enough to suffer a fire and they didn’t have an evacuation procedure, they probably couldn’t find the time to do it – especially as there 101 other things to do every week to keep the business afloat.
The fire brigade arrived yet the absence of an evacuation procedure (which should be tried and tested) meant that no-one at the premises could tell the brigade if anyone was left in the building. Read the rest of this entry
Health & Safety Inspections – coming soon?
On the spot fines following these inspections have been increased to £20,000. Find out if your business is at risk and review our 7 free top tips on Health & Safety.
There are three reasons why you may hear from the health & safety “police”. All of them are beyond your control. Read the rest of this entry
Customer Service – Where did it all go wrong?
I recently read an article in a newsletter from marketing expert Dave Croydon, Hilltop Consultancy. David was voicing his concern that automated telephone systems were of little benefit to customers, going as far as to call them a “customer disservice”.
The article mentioned that we wouldn’t accept it from the emergency services yet we’re already having to. My Mum broke her ankle last year and called me. Being made of stronger stuff than some of the celebrity icons of today, Mum didn’t want to bother the Ambulance service until she was sure it was broken. It was and I dialled the famous three digits, something we all dread.
How annoying to be put on hold by an automated system that informed me I was in a queue, at 9am on a Thursday morning. I was very, very Read the rest of this entry
Landlords gas safety certificates – how to choose the right contractor
A plumbing and heating engineer has recently been jailed for carrying out gas work whilst not being registered. He had used another engineer’s registration after he was served with a prohibition notice. His work left innocent households with heating systems without hot water. Subsequent inspections determined the work was not up to “current standards”
Gas registration rules have changed and the body now approved is the Gas Safe Register. Approved engineers will supply a Landlords Gas Safety Certificate after checking your systems.
People are still killed in the UK because of faulty gas appliances. Landlords are responsible for the safety of their tenants and the HSE recommends checking contractors Gas Safe Register identity card.
It makes sense to use a local contractor. To find one, you can search the http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/ For further information call the HSE Gas Safety Advice Line 0800 300 363.
Click here for our 7 top tips for property owners.
What happens if your neighbour has a fire that affects your business or your home?
Is your business or home close enough to be affected by problems next door? Have you assumed that you will be covered by your neighbours insurance? If you do, you may get a nasty shock, as insurance works best when you cover yourself. Especially if your neighbour assumed nothing would happen to them and decided not to cover themselves. Businesses in central London had to evacuate their premises recently for exactly that reason.
Click here for a recent story showing what happened.
You can arrange for your insurance to pay for income you lose or alternative premises yet only if you have asked for that type of cover before the problem begins. Don’t rely on the features of the policy that was sold to you. There are lots of terms, conditions and exclusions that can trip you up if you’re not aware of them.
In order to arrange this cover your adviser would have helped you calculate how much cover you need to hire alternative premises and equipment, worked out how long you want you might need temporary premises and totalled the cost of relocating everything essential to the new address. This is also true if you work from home, speaking of which – here’s an unrelated yet handy risk assessment for those that do.
So what can you do today to ensure you’re covered? Call your adviser and ask “how much cover have I got if my premises are out of action, when does the cover kick in and how long does it last?” If the answers seem wishy washy, request a reply by email.
Top Tip: You probably don’t have the time to develop a business continuity document – even though it could be as small as one A4 page. So keep a list of equipment that is critical to your business off site so you don’t have to rely on your memory. Remember what happened on “snow day” and focus on what didn’t work in your business that day. They’re probably your weak points.
