Land Insurance Quote

We are pleased to announce our brand new online land insurance quote website which allows our customers to obtain instant quotations for various types of land.

Here is a list of the types of land insurance quotes we offer:

• Private Road Insurance (including Resident's Land)
• Brownfield Insurance
• Development Site Insurance
• Moorland Insurance
• Rough Country Insurance
• Undeveloped Pasture Insurance (such as a Field)
• Woodland Insurance
• Lake Insurance (including Rivers, Streams and Ponds)

The cover available is standard public liability insurance but can be extended to include straying of livestock, employers liability and much more. Prices start at just £105 for annual cover.

Please visit our land insurance page for more information.

Earthquake Insurance

Recent events across the globe has made most of us more aware of the devastation that an earthquake can cause. Here in the UK we have not really experienced earthquakes of the magnitude that other parts of the world get but that does not mean we do not have them. In the last 30 days alone, there have been 6 recorded earthquakes in the UK.

Most of these may not be felt due to their relatively small power but every now and then they do hit us hard and we need to be the best prepared we can. Obviously we never know when they will come so be financially protected is pretty much all we can do.

The main and most obvious asset to protect is our homes. You should always ensure that you have buildings insurance that covers your property in the event of an earthquake. Even the most minor of quakes can cause cracks in your building that could end up dangerous if left untreated.

For more information on UK earthquakes you can visit the British Geological Survey at www.earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk.

Insurance For The Isle of Man

From the 1st of April 2010, a 62 year old health agreement between the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom is coming to an end. The agreement currently allows residents of the Isle of Man to receive the same health care on UK mainland. It also allows visitors from the UK the same on the Isle of Man.

The ending of this agreement could cause a massive change in the insurance industry. Many insurances run the same in the UK mainland and the Isle of Man, mainly because of this health agreement. The most obvious that is affected is travel insurance.

If you have a UK only travel policy, it will be cheaper than a European or Worldwide travel policy mainly because of the fact that health cover has to be included if travelling abroad. It is now quite possible that if you are travelling as a UK mainland resident to the Isle of Man (or vice versa), you will need to treat it as if you were travelling abroad to get the appropriate health cover.

You will also find that the wording of some policies for motor insurance, liability insurance, health insurance, etc. will be the same for mainland residents as it is for the Manx. All these policies, and many others, cover health care in some fashion meaning that we could find a massive change in the industry. We could find that the policies are adapted to cater for this divide with the possibility of one being more expensive than the other.

If you live in or travel to and from the Isle of Man, please check all of your insurance policies as from the 1st April 2010 you could find that you may have a gap in your cover.

Landlord Insurance for DSS Tenants

A DSS tenant is a term used for a tenant in receipt of benefits such as unemployment benefit, incapacity benefit, etc. DSS actually stands for the Department of Social Security which was the former name of the Department for Work and Pensions. In theory, these tenants should really be called DWP tenants but the term DSS tenants seems to have stuck and is recognised by both landlords and insurers.

Some landlords have trouble when looking for landlord insurance for DSS tenants. Some insurance companies quite simply do not cover any tenants other than working tenants. Here at Ashburnham Insurance, we ensure that all of our companies have the option to house DSS tenants. We even have the ability to cover multiple tenants of this sort, also known as a HMO (House in Multiple Occupation).

In the past, DSS tenants have had a bad name, but it is now common knowledge that a DSS tenant doesn't mean they are a bad tenant. Some classed as a DSS tenant could be someone like a single mother or a hard working tenant that has recently been made redundant.

All landlords have their own preference as to what types of tenants they will allow to live at their property which is fine. Many will still not allow DSS tenants for whatever reason but I think that DSS tenants are becoming more and more popular with landlords mainly as the rental income is paid from the council meaning it is as good as guaranteed whereas other types of tenants have an element of risk with the rent not being paid.

What is Escape of Water?

You may have seen the term Escape of Water on your property insurance policy. It is one of the most common types of claim made on such a policy but do you know exactly what escape of water is?

The biggest misconception with this section of cover is that is protects you against all water damage in the home. Well this is certainly not the case. If a flood occurs (for example, a river over flowing its banks) then this would not be classed as escape of water damage but instead as flood damage. Another example would be adverse weather conditions causing damage to the home and then rain gets in a damages the property. This example would be classed as storm damage. Maybe you are carrying a bucket of water through the house and trip and spill it on the floor, this would be classed as accidental damage.

There are many water claims that are nothing to do with the escape of water section of your policy. The true definition of escape of water is when water that has entered your property by the mains water supply has, at some point on its journey within your house, escaped from the pipe or tank that it was in and caused damage to your property. Usually this will mean from a burst pipe.

Most property insurance policies like home insurance and landlord insurance will cover flood, storm and escape of water damage as standard but it is important to know the differences especially when buying the policy. There may be different excesses or terms that apply to each section and certain policies may not be appropriate for what you require. Some policies may not include one of these types of cover which would obviously cause concern on the basis that the protection is not as comprehensive as other policies.

Public Liability Insurance - Policy Extras

Many people are aware of Public Liability Insurance, which is insurance to protect you against any third party damage or injury that you may cause during the course of your work, and in many cases the people that you undertake work for will require that you have the insurance even though it is not a legally compulsory insurance, unlike things like car insurance that you have to have by law. Apart from the Public Liability Insurance there are also a number of extras you can get on the policy that can increase the amount of cover that you receive and insure against other aspects of the work that you undertake.

Employers Liability Insurance: -

Employers Liability Insurance is something that most insurers will generally only allow you to get if you have Public Liability Insurance already. However, unlike Public Liability Insurance which is not legally required, if you have employees or are directly employing them as a labour only sub contractor, then by law you have to have Employers Liability Insurance. The main reason for this insurance is to protect the employer from being sued or held liable should any of their employees suffer any injury, illness or in the worst case death whilst they are working under their direction.

Tools Cover: -

The first of these and generally the one that most people seem concerned about is the option of covering their tools. Many people are concerned that if their tools are either lost or damaged then they wouldn’t be able to carry on their work without them so they insure against that happening. For example if they were stolen from the back of a locked van or something like that then you could claim against the loss.

Goods in Transit: -

Secondly we have Goods in Transit cover which basically means that you can cover against any loss or damage of goods that are relevant to the business, whilst they are either on, in, being loaded onto or unloaded from any motor vehicle. The amount of cover that you can get here is generally up to £2,000 per any occurrence and may be useful if you would like to protect your business goods in this instance.

Contract Works: -

Contract Works Insurance is where you can protect yourself against any physical loss or damage to any property that you may be building under contract if the property is still in your possession. For example if you were under contract to build a new build house and someone said that once you had finished they would pay you £200,000 for it but the day before you handed it over it was to burn down you would be left with the bill, and this insurance can be used to help you recoup the losses in Materials and Labour that you have suffered.

Own Plant Cover: -

This cover will insure you against any loss or damage to the larger tools and stock that belong to you for use in connection with the business that you undertake, either on the site of any contract undertaken. This cover will insure things such as constructional plant tools, equipment, site huts or caravans (basically the larger things that you may use, as things like hand tools and portable power tools are covered under Tools Cover).

Hired in Plant Cover: -

This cover is almost the same as the Own Plant Cover except that it is designed to protect any things such as constructional plant tools, equipment, site huts or caravans that you have hired in to use whereas the above is designed if you actually own the items that are being insured.

These are all things that can be added on to a Public Liability Insurance Policy and things that you may at some time need.

Property Owners Liability

One of the main things that people ask about when they are getting a Landlords Insurance quotation is whether or not it includes Property Owners Liability Insurance and if so, how much is the limit on it. There may also be some of you out there that are unfamiliar with what exactly this is but in this article I will try to explain anything that you may want to know about it and explain what it can be used for, after all it is something that is standard and included in nearly all Landlords Insurance Policies.

Generally the limit set on claims of this type is £2,000,000 however with most insurers there is an option to increase this cover amount to £5,000,000. The normal limit is generally enough for most people though as it is very unlikely that you would have a claim that would cost over 2 million pounds but the option to increase is usually there and if that is something that you would be interested in then all you have to do is ask your insurance company if that is something they can provide.

The circumstances that you can claim under this policy are varied and almost anything that you can be held liable for as the property owner is something that you can use this insurance for. However as with any liability claim the person that was looking for compensation would have to prove that you were liable and that it was because of you that they were injured and therefore that you should pay them compensation or their injuries.

For example if the postman or the milkman was walking up the driveway and they were to trip over because of a stone that wasn’t laid properly and injure themselves then they would be looking for compensation for their injuries and as the stone wasn’t laid properly they could hold you responsible as the property owner. If something like this was to happen then they could be forced out of work for a while if they were to break their leg or something like that then they would be after compensation for their loss of earnings etc and that is what the Property Owners Liability part of the policy could be used for.

So if this is something that is of interest to you then you should speak to your insurance providers and check that your Landlord Insurance Policy does in fact have this covered, and should you need to whether or not you can increase the amount that you are insured of in respect to claims of this type.