Dear Members,
Insurance has been in the News. Will Insurers pay out on Covid 19 related claims? If so will they all go bust?
This is currently in Court. We expect a ruling soon. The key issue for members being – If you re open your business and someone dies as a consequence, where is the duty of care line? Will you be liable? Will you be covered?
No doubt there will be a complicated judgement, that does not solve the problem, but from which many experts will sprout.
We need to know –
- What are the risks?
- What will the cover cost?
- Where is the value?
- Will it pay out?
We have appointed David Walton Director at Bromwall Insurance as our Chamber Ambassador for this area of Risk Management. I have know David for a number of years, and I have watched him,
- Assess and understand the risks in a business
- Find the best value cover (Not always the cheapest)
- Then, when necessary, fight hard to get his clients paid.
He reports that the FCA made the following announcement on 18th May 2020 summarised below.
From the 18th May until the 18th August 2020 the FCA have introduced a change to the regulations governing insurance. This is intended to be in reaction to the current situation.
The main thing is in relation to payments – if you or anyone you know are struggling to make insurance payments, you should approach your broker or insurer. Deferment periods are being offered as well as the opportunity to change your policy to better suit your current requirements (this can be in the form of revised clauses like unoccupancy to even altering the premium if you are unable to utilise your policy due to being in lockdown, although this very much depends on the type of policy). This is more beneficial than cancelling your insurance altogether as this can lead to other issues and you can even end up “locking” your self out of a particular policy that best suits your business. When things return to a more normal footing you could end up being unable to access your old policy and end up incurring more costs. If your policy is on a “claims made basis” (professional indemnity or some liability policies) you could be severely risking your business as a policy needs to be in force at all times for cover to be in place.
When negotiating your insurance, its worth reminding your broker or insurer that these changes have taken place. If there are any elements of your policy that cannot be fully utilised during this lockdown period, ask if the insurer has made an allowance within the premium. Its worth a try.
Please contact me if anyone has any queries or questions and I will try and help.
David Walton
Bromwall Ltd Tel 01707 894402 (direct number)
Turpin Court, 124 Great North Road, Hatfield, Herts. AL9 5JN
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