Released On 30th Dec 2022
New Years Resolutions
It is tradition to start the new year with resolutions and plans for where to take yourself personally or as a business.
As part of these resolutions, it is also important to review the success and challenges of the previous year. When you have reflected on the changes that you have made to your business, consider if this might have an impact on the sums that you are insured for.
You may have bought new vehicles, increased staffing levels or made changes to the interior of your premises that would cost more to rebuild.
If your turnover has increased, business interruption cover will need to increase to cover the increase in potential loss.
Check that you have updated your insurance with regards to covid changes. Were you working from home and now have staff back in the office or working face to face with clients? Are you still insuring outside pods that you are not using?
Inflation has increased property rebuild costs and increased the replacement costs of stock and contents. Check with your broker that you still have the correct value on your schedule.
Has Brexit added restrictions on the ease of exporting products and importing resources, is this reflected in the cover that you need?
Another good review to consider, is whether your maintenance is up to date. Have you met the PAT tests on electrical items? Are your smoke detectors in date? Are your paths slip free, gutters clean and pipes lagged? Have you spotted any leaks or suggestions of dampness. Insurance will rarely cover negligence and so it is key to keep up with this.
Insurance company response time to claims and enquiries is slower than we would expect they and are reducing the number of risks that they hold. Please start the review of your insurances earlier rather than later as we can’t guarantee a fast turnaround on a quote. You may also find that your current insurer will not continue to offer you the cover that you previously had at renewal time. Flood risk is particularly difficult to source at a price acceptable or manageable by many businesses. Our response time is as fast as ever but sadly we don’t have control over the time it takes for insurance companies to process their claims and underwrite their policy schedules – even when we nag! Try to be even more efficient so that you don’t get caught without insurance and remember to triple check your offer. We work hard to spot unagreed changes and processing errors to your schedule but the final onus is on you to read and check that it is fully correct. Similarly, we can’t anticipate all the changes that you have made to your business and need you to advise us. We are happy to enter conversation with you to help prompt you and help you to consider how your insurance needs may have changed. We offer this as standard with larger and more complex premiums as changes are likely to have taken place but we would expect a smaller business to ask for a more thorough review if they feel they would like more help.
Lots to think about but most definitely the best way to reduce your stress and potential of loss when costs and strain on business is at an all time high.