Well, we have reached the end of the "noughties" meaning this will be our last post of the current decade. Thanks to all our readers for following us over the last year and beyond. There's plenty more to come in the future both here on the blog and with new and exciting developments at Ashburnham Insurance as well - watch this space!
It seems like only the other day when we were all preparing for the millennium with massive celebrations going on all round the world along with a few people biting their nails over the possibility of a millennium bug! 10 years on, and the end of a decade has been reached and there doesn't seem to be anything more than the usual end of year build up. Personally I think the last decade has been an amazing one and certainly worth an extra celebration. Even if you disagree with me then why not use the end of the year as an excuse to start afresh.
I hope that you are all enjoying the holiday season and we would like to wish our customers, readers and everyone else associated with Ashburnham Insurance all the best 2010.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Monday, 21 December 2009
Marine Insurance Act 1906
The Marine Insurance Act 1906 may be over 100 years old, but a very important part of this act is still used today in almost every insurance policy sold in the UK. This part is to do with the duty of disclosure on insurance policies.
Insurance is sold as "uberrimæ fidei" which means it is based on the utmost good faith of both parties. On an insurance policy, the insured is expected to provide any material facts which is information that may be deemed relevant to the risk that is being insured. If you do not disclose all material facts then the insurer is within their rights to reject your claim even if they did not ask you the specific question in the insurance proposal. It is this act that probably gives the insurance industry their bad image of "getting out of anything" when it comes to claims.
A recent movement has been made to abolish this act which would mean that you would only need to tell the insurer what they ask you. This means that every insurance claim would have to be paid out as long as it is part of what is covered in the insurance policy and you have told the truth in the questions asked at the time of proposal. With the "get out clause" not existing, it may give the insurance industry a better name along with policyholders having a more secure policy.
The only downside is that with the insurer having to pay out more claims, they will inevitably have to pass these costs on to the consumers which means an increase in insurance premiums for us all. The change is currently only at the draft stage but it is likely it will go to parliament early next year and if passed it will effect almost every insurance policy sold here in the UK.
Insurance is sold as "uberrimæ fidei" which means it is based on the utmost good faith of both parties. On an insurance policy, the insured is expected to provide any material facts which is information that may be deemed relevant to the risk that is being insured. If you do not disclose all material facts then the insurer is within their rights to reject your claim even if they did not ask you the specific question in the insurance proposal. It is this act that probably gives the insurance industry their bad image of "getting out of anything" when it comes to claims.
A recent movement has been made to abolish this act which would mean that you would only need to tell the insurer what they ask you. This means that every insurance claim would have to be paid out as long as it is part of what is covered in the insurance policy and you have told the truth in the questions asked at the time of proposal. With the "get out clause" not existing, it may give the insurance industry a better name along with policyholders having a more secure policy.
The only downside is that with the insurer having to pay out more claims, they will inevitably have to pass these costs on to the consumers which means an increase in insurance premiums for us all. The change is currently only at the draft stage but it is likely it will go to parliament early next year and if passed it will effect almost every insurance policy sold here in the UK.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Buy to Let Insurance vs. Landlords Insurance
Someone asked me the other day what the difference is between buy to let insurance and landlords insurance. I may have seemed a little confused by the question mainly because the simple answer is that there is no difference.
I then thought about this some more and realised that there may be other people out there asking the same question and struggling to find an answer. Being in the industry you can easily forget that people outside of our insurance world don't know everything! Something that probably applies to all trades and not just ours I would guess.
Buy to let is a term that people use to describe the scenario where a property is purchased with the intention of letting it to tenants. It is usually these people that will ask for buy-to-let insurance. Someone who owns a property already that they maybe move out of to live elsewhere may keep their old property and rent it out. These people normally ask for landlords insurance.
Predominately you are insuring a property that is rented out to tenants with the only difference being how you came to be in this situation. There is therefore no difference in the policy whatsoever. In the insurance industry we more recognise it as landlords insurance but no matter how many times you say "buy to let insurance" to us, we will never correct you!
I then thought about this some more and realised that there may be other people out there asking the same question and struggling to find an answer. Being in the industry you can easily forget that people outside of our insurance world don't know everything! Something that probably applies to all trades and not just ours I would guess.
Buy to let is a term that people use to describe the scenario where a property is purchased with the intention of letting it to tenants. It is usually these people that will ask for buy-to-let insurance. Someone who owns a property already that they maybe move out of to live elsewhere may keep their old property and rent it out. These people normally ask for landlords insurance.
Predominately you are insuring a property that is rented out to tenants with the only difference being how you came to be in this situation. There is therefore no difference in the policy whatsoever. In the insurance industry we more recognise it as landlords insurance but no matter how many times you say "buy to let insurance" to us, we will never correct you!
Monday, 7 December 2009
Excess Layer Cover for Public Liability Insurance up to £10million
If you require a high level of indemnity for public liability insurance then you will need what is called Excess Layer cover. This will provide you with public liability cover up to £10million. You will find with most liability insurers that the indemnity they provide is either £1million, £2million or £5million. In certain trades, the risks you are exposed to may exceed the £5million mark such as builders of large commercial properties. It is also common for smaller tradesman to require higher levels of liability while working for local authorities.
An excess layer policy provides cover above and beyond your normal liability policy. The normal liability policy (referred to as the primary layer) does not have to be with the same company as the excess layer policy as they are treated as completely separate policies. The way it works is that any claim up to £5million is handled by the primary layer insurer. If your claim is, for example, £6million then the primary layer insurer will pay out the first £5million and then the excess layer insurer will pay out the remaining £1million.
Excess layer policies are normally for £5million indemnity and run concurrently with a primary layer policy of £5million giving the insured total cover of £10million indemnity. What some people get confused with is thinking that they are two normal liability policies at £5million each but hopefully this article helps to explain that this is not the case. If you were to take out two £5million policies then you would still only have £5million cover but would be paying for two policies. In the event of a claim in this scenario it would be likely that the insurers would share the costs but only up to a total of £5million between them. In reality you should not be running dual insurance on the same risk whether it be liability or any other type of insurance.
For more information on getting excess layer cover (whether you have your primary layer with us or not) then please contact us.
An excess layer policy provides cover above and beyond your normal liability policy. The normal liability policy (referred to as the primary layer) does not have to be with the same company as the excess layer policy as they are treated as completely separate policies. The way it works is that any claim up to £5million is handled by the primary layer insurer. If your claim is, for example, £6million then the primary layer insurer will pay out the first £5million and then the excess layer insurer will pay out the remaining £1million.
Excess layer policies are normally for £5million indemnity and run concurrently with a primary layer policy of £5million giving the insured total cover of £10million indemnity. What some people get confused with is thinking that they are two normal liability policies at £5million each but hopefully this article helps to explain that this is not the case. If you were to take out two £5million policies then you would still only have £5million cover but would be paying for two policies. In the event of a claim in this scenario it would be likely that the insurers would share the costs but only up to a total of £5million between them. In reality you should not be running dual insurance on the same risk whether it be liability or any other type of insurance.
For more information on getting excess layer cover (whether you have your primary layer with us or not) then please contact us.
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