Don’t Let Business Bite – Get Advice and Get it Right!

It’s no secret a Google search for business insurance can leave you feeling confused with all the many options and packages of insurance all the different companies provide.

And then there’s the question of whether you really need business insurance; does it do much and should you spend time and money getting insured in the first place.

To answer at least one question we’ll help you by mentioning that some types of business insurance are mandatory.

Furthermore, having business insurance is a safety net to fall back on when unexpected costs arBusinessBrolliesise, which can be the case in a number of different scenarios, such as:

  • You own a café or restaurant and one of your employees, a waitress, falls and breaks her leg on a slippery floor, where you may have forgotten to put a clear ‘Wet Floor’ sign
  • You are a hair dresser and accidentally give a client a chemical burn, when colouring their hair and the client decides to sue
  • The chances of a flood, a fire breaking out or theft taking place at your business premises when you are’nt there, may seem low, but can cause a huge disruption to your business activities. Ranging from having to take time out of your daily routine to deal with the situation, to no longer having your tools or equipment needed to run your business.

We’ll break it down further by explaining the main types of business insurance:

  • Business Insurance  – protects the company from risks and  losses that can easily occur during the daily operations of running a business. This is usually a package you build up to reflect your business needs, with policies that include some of the following: Product Liability Insurance (protection if a faulty product causes an injury or death), Property damage insurance and Employee risk related insurance.
  • Public Liability Insurance – this covers claims made by members of the public, or your customers, for incidents that occur in connection with your business activities, such as if they injure themselves on your business premises or you organise an event offsite, which members of the public attend and happen to get injured or hurt themselves.
  • Employers Liability Insurance – you are required by law to take out this insurance to protect your employees in case they fall ill or are injured in the work place.  You can be fined of up to £2,500 per day if your business doesn’t have the required amount of cover of this insurance.
  • Professional Indemnity – is the type of cover that protects a freelance consultant, small agency or larger organisation from claims made by clients for loss or damage due to negligent advice or services. This includes providing an inadequate service, or making a major mistake and not providing the type of service you committed to providing.
  • Commercial Motor Insurance – if you use vehicles for business you are legally obligated to have this insurance for each employee that uses a vehicle to carry out the work, or if your employees use their own vehicles for work you should ensure they have at least the minimum cover required. Specialist motor insurance policies are available from Regency Insurance if using vehicles is a core part of the business, such as running a taxi service

Depending on the type of business you run, you will need to research and identify the key policies out of the vast insurance pool to put together into a package that brings your business the best and most effective cover. There are also different levels of cover, from basic to full packages based on how much risk you would like to avoid, here’s where we lend a helping hand:

“A good broker will always take the time to sit down with you, understand your business activities and research your options on your behalf before making recommendations. It is important that you understand the choices to be made so you can make informed decisions from the solutions we come up with”

“It certainly isn’t all about price, but we can help make sure that you have all the policies you need and pay the best rates for any additional cover you decide to take out. You might even get a cup of tea thrown in for free as well!”

Andrew Dartford MD Regency Insurance Services

The type of insurance cover you will need and your monthly insurance bill will depend on:

  • the nature of your business
  • your annual turnover
  • the number of people you employ
  • your insurance claims history
  • Your trading status i.e. Ltd company or sole trader

Regency Insurance can help to tailor your individual business insurance package and specialises in Business, Professional IndemnityProduct Liability, Public Liability and Taxi Insurance.

We’d be happy to discuss your needs, just call us on 020 8690 8667 

 

 

 

6 Reasons why you should use an Insurance Broker

We’ve always been told from a young age that if we invest in something expensive or valuable we had better look after it. But sometimes things are taken out of our hands and that’s when we’re told ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’ and that’s what insurance is all about.

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Whether you are insuring a property, a vehicle or a business (or maybe a pet), the choices are seemingly endless with everyone claiming to be the cheapest, when it’s probably not the cheapest you want. That’s where speaking to a broker can save you time and money as well as giving you peace of mind that you have the cover you need.

Below are 6 ways an insurance broker can make life easier for you.

1. “Insurance brokers have deeper knowledge of the ‘Product’’, they can better advise you on getting the best deal for you

Insurance brokers are experts in their field, who can offer advice in areas easy to forget when thinking about insuring something. Last year Cloud Direct, a cloud services broker (CSB) found that 54% of small to medium sized business owners were unaware that there are insurance benefits in having a business continuity plan. This is despite 68% of people saying they already having a business continuity plan in place. Something an insurance broker can definitely help with. Brokers have the experience of building up relationships with insurance companies, which are translated into preferential rates that can be offered to you as a client. “We save you time and money because most people who source quotes on the internet still have to call insurers to confirm the quote is accurate” (Andrew Dartford, CEO of Regency Insurance Services)

2. Advice from an insurance broker is free, you don’t pay them and the premium is no higher

Despite the popular misconception of the insurance broker being a middleman, who should be cut out in order to make the insurance cheaper the broker receives a commission from the insurance company as an alternative to the cost of advertising their services elsewhere. This actually often translates into a better deal for you.

3. Insurance solutions will be tailored to your individual circumstances

Direct insurance companies cannot always provide the exact type of insurance cover you need as they tend to show standard rates and do not allow for the flexibility of taking each customer’s requirements into account. A broker asks questions and spends time getting to know you and your situation, especially if you have very specific requirements. They can then compare the detail of the products available, negotiate on your behalf and explain to you your options, so that you can rest assured that everything you need is taken care of and covered.

4. Brokers save you a lot of time

Insurance brokers take care of collecting and short-listing the initial quotes for you, so that you can spend that time on other important things in your life. According to research by the British Insurance Broker’s Association (BIBA), in June this year, UK SME’s spend 600,000 hours on company administration such as finding insurance. This is why going through an insurance broker is especially useful when you want to insure something that doesn’t fit a standard cover and have more complicated questions and queries. Going through the question and answer session once with a broker is much more efficient than repeating the process with a range of insurers, or risking missing something important by using comparison sites which only deal with basic, standard cover.

smallprint

5. They translate all the insurance talk jargon, so you don’t have to

Trying to understand all the differences in the policies and offers can be a demanding task, requiring a lot of focus and concentration, specifically if you are insuring something for the first time. Research by BIBA has shown that 29% of British small and medium sized enterprises do not always read their insurance documents entirely. In 2011 Aviva found that over a third of home owners (33%) who never fully read their home insurance. Could the complex jargon be why? “Most brokers have an understanding of all the small print, the terms and conditions, what they refer to and they can explain insurance covers and conditions of policy in straight forward language”, explains Andrew.

6. Insurance Brokers have an obligation to look after your interests, as they’re monitored by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)

This means that the FCA monitors the activities of insurance brokers and the brokers have an obligation to behave ethically and offer you a fair deal as a customer. They are responsible for looking after your personal details, which is reassuring to customers if you have concerns using an automated online system.

Andrew Dartford“For me, the best part about being an Insurance Broker is working with people. Speaking to clients to understand what they really need and building relationships with insurers that mean I can always put together the best solution” Andrew Dartford

Why not tell us about your experiences working with insurance brokers, or let us hear any questions you might have by leaving a comment below – or you can just give us a call!…