Castlemead is here to help, business continues as normal with the whole team working from home and can be contacted in the normal way. We may have spoken to you individually over the last week or two but the Covid-19 pandemic continues to present new challenges for us all on a daily basis.
We understand these challenges will also be impacting the way you and your customers are working, so we’ve been working very closely with your Insurers to provide the best support and advice that we can for you in these most challenging of times.
Whilst every business is unique, there are a number of key themes that we feel are worth highlighting here, to provide some initial advice:
UNOCCUPIED PREMISES
The recent Government announcement means more businesses will close and many will be working from home. Therefore, many more properties will be unoccupied for the next few weeks, and potentially beyond. Most standard policies provide full cover for any Commercial premises temporarily unoccupied for a period of up to 30 consecutive days. Many Insurers are now starting to increase this period so we will further update you in due course.
- Aviva 90 Days
- Royal Sun Alliance 90 Days
- NIG 90 Days
Any building left unoccupied naturally poses a greater insurance risk and insurers are looking for businesses to take the following additional measures where that is possible whilst following Government restrictions:
- Premises are secured, by putting all protective, locking devices and any alarm protection, in place
- Where practical, turn off the gas, water and electricity supplies at the mains (except electricity needed to maintain any fire or intruder alarm systems, or water and heating systems for sprinklered Premises).
- Where possible, a member of your staff or an accredited keyholder should visit every 7 days to physically check the premises and carry out immediately any work necessary to maintain the security of the premises.
- Remove all trade refuse and waste materials from the interior of the Premises, making sure that no accumulation of refuse or waste builds up in the adjoining yards or spaces owned or occupied by you.
All other Conditions requiring you to take action or respond to intruder alarm activations, faults or other maintenance-related matters will continue to apply unless otherwise agreed to be impractical due to Government directed actions limiting or restricting the movement of people.
HOME WORKING
Many of you and your employees may now be working from home – most insurers are extending cover automatically to provide the same level of protection at home as in the workplace, but if you require any specific advice on levels of cover away from the premises, transit cover to and from or just confirmation as to what cover you have, please contact your Account Executive.
Rest assured that you are covered under your Employers and Public Liability policies for normal office working from Home.
