Many businesses never reopen after a significant fire. In fact, according to Chubb, as much as 70% of businesses fail after such an event. This has never been the case for any of our clients.

What is Covered?

Appropriate cover  to restore the business to the same financial position enjoyed prior to the loss.

When arranging cover for our clients, due consideration is given to

Basis of cover

Ensuring the specification is correct. Gross profit, gross revenue, net revenue, increase in cost of working and other variations are discussed with you to ensure the business continues after the loss.

Indemnity period 

12 months is the standard provided by most policies and generally inappropriate. We will inform you on how  to choose an appropriate recovery period taking into account factors such as replacement machinery lead times, availability of alternative premises, supplies of raw material etc.

Customers and suppliers

Cover can be purchased for business interruption following damage to a supplier or customer’s premises. We have a number of clients who rely on suppliers based outside the UK for whom cover is purchased.

Terrorism

Although incidents are uncommon, when they do occur, evacuation and investigations can lead to the closure of neighbouring businesses for a prolonged period.

Public utilities

Cover can be arranged for full failure of utilities which is particularly important for manufacturers

Disaster recovery plan

What will you do in the event of a major loss? Have you thought about who you would call? Where are the documents you need to begin to rebuild your business?

The Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 states that anyone who employs people to carry out work for them must have employers liability insurance. The minimum limit is £5,000,000 any one occurrence, with £10,000,000 the market norm.

What is covered?
The legal liability of the company or organisation following injury to an employee.

When arranging cover for our clients, due consideration is given to:

Basis of premium
Premiums are charged based on the estimated wages of a business for the 12 month policy period. It is essential that these aren’t over estimated as return premiums are generally not allowed. High risk activities should be split out to avoid overcharging, these include:

Work away wages
Wages relating to work away from your premises.

Use of heat
Wages relating to work away from your premises involving the application of heat.

Work offshore
Wages relating to work on offshore installations or accommodation and support vessels.

Work at height
Work at height in the open ie. not within a building. A height limit may be applied to a policy if the insurer suspects any work of this nature.

Work at depth
Wages relating to work below normal ground level not within a structure or building.

Premium rates
We will always share the rates being charged with you to enable accurate apportionment between business activities and divisions and assist with tender exercises.

Indemnity limit
The largest single personal injury award in the United Kingdom now exceeds £8,000,000 and a recent incident has prompted an initial estimate of £12,000,000. The limit is inclusive of legal costs and with the time taken for a claim to be settled, our advice is that for all companies, £20,000,000 should be considered the minimum.

Local labour
Care needs to be taken when working abroad and employing local labour. We have the tools required to advise on cover issues and arrange additional insurance to avoid issues with local regulations in other countries.

Public and products liability insurance is generally written alongside the employers liability with the same insurer under the same policy. It is not a legal requirement to carry the cover, however, most companies require it to supply products or services to their customers.

What is Covered?
The legal liability of the company or organisation following property damage or bodily injury to a third party. It does not cover financial loss where there is no evidence of injury or damage.

When arranging cover for our clients, due consideration is given to:

Liability limits
These have increased in recent years as contractual requirements have increased to get on the tender list of major customers or local councils. It is not uncommon for limits in excess of £10,000,000 to be required for all but the smallest of jobs.

Environmental liability
Typically Environment Agency charges are excluded and be bought back at modest cost.

Territorial limits
Standard policy wordings restrict cover to Great Britain unless amended. In many instances, local laws prohibit insurance cover arranged outside their country and care needs to be taken when working abroad. USA and Canada exposures present the most problems to insurers given the high claims awards and punitive damages that are commonplace. We can guide you through the regulations and arrange cover to accommodate trade to most parts of the world, including USA and Canada.

Hazardous locations
Most policy wordings contain a clause excluding work at power stations, nuclear installations or establishments, refineries bulk storage or production premises in the oil gas or chemical industries, offshore structures or work underground or underwater, computers or computer rooms, aircraft hovercraft aerospace systems or watercraft. We can arrange cover for work at these locations and will spend time with your contracts managers to ensure you are not left exposed.

Height and depth
Restrictions to the levels of height and depth at which you can work are commonplace. Again, contract referral procedures need to be implemented or blanket cover arranged to protect the company.

Heat work
Whenever heat is used away from you premises, a working procedure needs to be established and agreed with insurers for the policy to respond in the event of an incident. Through our auditing procedure we have seen not only policy conditions which cannot be complied with, but also differing conditions on the same policies.

Contractual liability
A standard Liability wording provides cover for losses involving property damage and/or bodily injury. Contractual conditions exposing our clients to “financial Losses” are becoming commonplace. We are able to provide cover for this exposure.