Are your gold medals covered?

Would your valuables be covered to their full value in the event of a theft at your property? When did you last review your household contents sum insured?

At Castlemead Insurance Brokers, we review the sums insured with all of our private clients to ensure the standard policy limits are amended where applicable and claims are paid in full. Common areas of review include: -

Jewellery, watches and valuables whilst away from the home

• Standard overall limit of £3,000
• Individual limit of £1,500
  Items over this limit to be specified and valuations obtained

Paintings, antiques and works of art

• Standard overall limit of £10,000
• Individual limit of £2,000
  Items over this limit to be specified and valuations obtained

Sports Equipment

• Standard overall limit of £1,500
• Replacement set of golf clubs normally exceed this limit

Rebuilding sum insured for your property

• Must be accurate to avoid deductions in the event of a claim
• Castlemead can help you in this valuation

Increasing Motor Fleet Premiums

Motor insurers are attempting to apply rate increases to their motor fleet premiums to combat the rising costs of personal injury claims and fraud. At Castlemead Insurance Brokers in Bristol, we look after clients in the haulage, retail, manufacturing and service industries, many of whom run large vehicle fleets. Keeping premiums to a minimum and reducing claim costs ensures our clients remain competitive in their particular field, this done through: -

• Maintaining a independent broking philosophy using over 15 motor insurers
• Providing an in house claims service ensuring non fault claims are dealt with by the negligent parties insurers
• Analysing claims costs
• Targeting specific drivers and/or divisions
• Calculating optimum excesses
• Implementing risk management measures
• Discounts available for cameras
• Driver licence checking
• Driver training
• Vehicle reversing sensors
• Plant and vehicle security

Castlemead are here to help with your motor fleet insurance needs.

International Insurance

Castlemead Insurance in Bristol recently won a client who had chosen to relocate their business to a country outside the UK. The insurances we placed had to be robust enough to cope with: -

Local Legislation in the country of domicile

• Most countries have their own regulations which dictate the types of insurance which are compulsory to purchase in that region
• Minimum limits must be purchased locally, but top up insurance can be bought in the UK to match the other group companies cover

Different perils available

• Buying insurance locally in the country of domicile can leave gaps compared to wider cover available in the UK market. Care needs to be taken when combining the two portfolios

Cover requirements for the individuals based abroad

• Special arrangements need to be made to cater for the Travel and Healthcare insurance requirements for those wishing to come back to the UK for treatment and/or for extended stays
• Insurance cover for employees residential property in the UK may need to be amended to cope with periods of unoccupancy

Different contractual requirements

• Establishing which division trades with each customer and the contractual terms in force is essential
• The Territorial Limits and Jurisdiction provisions within the policies purchased must reflect the potential liabilities

  Imports / Exports

• Marine cover needs to include all countries between which goods travel at the required limits

We were able to ensure all the above points were included within the insurance arrangements placed within our new clients’ insurance budget.

Getting Fire Claims paid

Castlemead Insurance Brokers recently took a weekend phone call from a client who had the misfortune to be the victim of an arson attack. Once the fire brigade had departed, we calculated an anticipated loss of £150,000, with a requirement for an interim payment to keep the cash flow in order.

The insurer concerned issued the required cheque within the required timescales as at the loss adjuster meeting which we attended we were able to prove: 

Sums insured were adequate and had been recently reviewed

Policy conditions had been complied with including: -

• Waste warranty
• Claim reporting condition
• Perimeter security in line with facts disclosed
• Proposal form declarations were accurate
• Business description matched the clients activities
• Business Interruption declaration supplied within the specified timescales
• Estimated Gross Profit figure therefore up to date

Had the fire occurred at your premises, are you confident you would have achieved the same result with your broker?

Product Recall

We have all heard about the problems suffered by Toyota resulting in the recall of thousands of vehicles and of course a huge cost to the Company. But this does not just affect Toyota and other large manufacturers. The European Union’s General Product Safety Directive enacted in the UK in 2005 increases the need for businesses to be able to identify and, if necessary on safety grounds, recall their products from the market. Many manufacturers may think they are covered for such an eventuality through their traditional products liability insurance but generally this only covers the consequences of injury or damage caused by the products and will not insure against the cost of any necessary product recall.

The rate of recalls is rising. In the EU during 2009 notifications of recalls rose by 53% and therefore anyone involved in manufacturing needs to have plans in place. The most effective method of reducing the negative impact of a product recall is to be well aware of how your business may be affected and be prepared.

At Castlemead Insurance Brokers, we are experts in providing the individual level of cover your business needs and we can also help you prepare for the unexpected.

Warranties are on the increase

At Castlemead Insurance Brokers in Bristol, we like to keep a close eye on what is happening in the insurance industry so that we can be sure our customers are adequately covered for any eventuality.

Sometimes businesses can get caught out when making a claim simply because they have not read or fully understood the terms and conditions or small print attached to their policy.

We have become very aware in recent times that insurers are becoming ever more stringent in applying the various warranties contained therein. These warranties, largely health and safety or security based can invalidate cover even if they have no direct relationship to the claim being made.

For instance, we have learned of a claim being rejected because the insurer had stated that Kite marked 5 lever locks must be fitted to all doors. 5 lever locks had been fitted but they were not Kite marked. The break in to which the claim related was not even through a door!

Had their insurance broker pointed this out when arranging the cover the outcome would have been very different?

Need help with your business insurance? Get in touch with Castlemead.

Managing risk in a downturn

The current economic climate has taken its toll on many businesses, with survival requiring careful examination of all costs in the business: Insurance should not be exempt from this process. Insurance rates are currently static, but there will be pressure for rates to rise over the coming months.

So how does a business control spending with these pressures?

The obvious measures are those that should be considered as part of your regular renewal review.

Ensure figures on which the premium is based reflect your projected level of business activity. Consider 90% estimates if unsure. Many premiums are now ‘minimum and deposit’ – remember to budget for declarations if you do well.

Understand the cover you are paying for. If unsure Castlemead Insurance Brokers in Bristol, can review and check it reflects the needs of your business.

Understand how much each part of your Combined insurance costs by obtaining a premium split per section for :-

• Liability
• Material Damage
• Business Interruption

Castlemead Insurance Brokers will go the extra mile

• We will ‘find a way or make one’ by devising alternative methods of buying cover that can offer savings.
• Consider higher levels of self insurance. We can help calculate how big a loss your business can sustain as a one off and in attritional damage over the year.
• Avoid making small claims as these are always catered for in the premiums charged. Take an excess and enjoy the saving (In Insurance Premium tax alone).
• Ask for a list of insurers that your Broker has approached this year – this should represent a spread of the market including specialist underwriters and London markets, as well as ‘household names’.

If in doubt Castlemead are here to help.