Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited

Earthquake Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:38:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:58:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:50:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:02:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:47:00 +0000

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.

What is Land Insurance?

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 08:57:00 +0000

Land Insurance is something that more and more people are looking for these days, especially in the times of personal accident claims and liability claims being made against people. Land Insurance is something that is not very common and there are only a few insurers that can actually offer a quotation on this but it is something that you may feel is necessary or even something that you could insure as a precaution.

Land Insurance is where you can get insurance to protect yourself for anything that may happen on your land through which you could be held liable and sued. This could be if someone is walking across the land and they were to trip over and hold you responsible as the land owner and then try to get you to pay them compensation for their injuries, however again as with other types of insurance they would have to prove that you are liable for their injuries.

Most types of people can get land insurance from a single person who just wants to ensure a tiny bit of land outside their house to a residents association or road owners. Land Insurance is usually for normal pieces of land that have nothing but grass and trees on them but quotations can also be obtained for more varied pieces of land such as car parks, lakes and private road. The amount of cover that you can get is between 1 Million and 5 Million and is there to protect you should any third party injure themselves on the land.

The other main question that people ask when they are looking at getting some land insurance is how much does it cost? And this is generally more than people think that it would cost. Minimum premiums are about £200 but each quotation is looked at individually and all quotations depend on the size, location and use of the land or road and whether or not there is any security around the land to prevent people from crossing it, which would obviously lessen the risk of people getting injured on the land.

Now that you know what it is and why more people are looking at getting it than ever before it is something that you can think about if you have a piece of land that people regularly walk across and which could cause injury in any way, shape or form.

Knowing Your Sum Insured for Building Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:22:00 +0000

The most important question you will answer when getting your building insurance is the one about your building sum insured (BSI). This figure is also referred to as the reinstatement value of the property and should be representative of the full rebuilding cost of the home. A common mistake made when getting this type of insurance is to provide the value of the building.

There are many calculators available for people to generate the BSI of their house, but these all provide different figures and cannot be relied on as correct. The only accurate way to obtain this figure is from an up to date building survey from a professional surveyor of buildings.

Sum insureds that are wrongly provided can lead to problems in claims. If you under insure your property by 20%, for example, then the insurer may reduce the payout on a claim by this same percentage or they may even refuse to pay out altogether. The same doesn't happen in reverse but it is certainly better to over insure than the former.

Many people do not know their sum insured, mainly because they do not have a current building survey. Although we understand this is costly, it is even more costly when your house burns down and you don't have the adequate cover. Some insurers can help with this by providing a policy with either an unlimited sum insured or one of a very high limit (say £500,000). These policies are very much a new thing but are becoming more the norm with many of our property insurers.

Check your building insurance policy now before it is too late. Remember you can change your details at any time so don't wait until renewal. Act now!

Landlord and Buy to Let Insurance 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:18:00 +0000

2009 was a year where we couldn’t seem to escape from words like recession and unemployment but it was not all bad news throughout the year and especially for people in the Landlord and Buy to Let Insurance industry the good news is that it is still going strong. The Buy to Let Market last year is said to have grown quite substantially which shows that the Buy to Let area is one that more people are looking at, especially in the case of if they cannot sell their house then they may decide to rent it out for a period first.

Buy to Let Insurance is another thing that appears to be on the rise as where more and more people are renting properties out they obviously need to make sure that they have insurance on the properties just in case the worst should happen and they find that they need to repair or replace things that may have been caused by an insured peril happening at the property.

Many experts in the industry have said that the future is looking very good for Buy to Let Insurance and Mortgages because of the fact that with funding for social under pressure the private rented sector has to be there and should only go from strength to strength over the next few years.

This is a good sign for Landlord and Buy to Let Insurance providers and without a doubt it shows that whilst we may be in the midst of some bad times that there are still aspects that are continually growing and getting back to normal levels again.

For more information on Landlord Insurance you can visit this website http://www.landlordinsurance.org.uk/ to make sure that you get the cover that you may need for your rented out property.

Don't Forget Your Liability Insurance Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:31:00 +0000

The holiday period is drawing to a close and it seems that this is the most common time of year that people forget to take out new insurance policies. Maybe it's the cold weather, maybe people aren't back in the swing of things yet or maybe it was just too much Christmas spirit?! Whatever the reason, make sure you don't forget yours.

The most popular "forgotten insurance" is liability insurance - both public and employers liability. Maybe it is because some tradesman stop working over the holiday period due to less work being on, kids being on holiday, cold weather, and so on. It gets to the second week in January and all these things change and life is back to normal. During this period you let your insurance run out as you didn't need it due to not working for the last few weeks but have consequently forgotten to then take out a new policy now that you are going back to work.

This is more a theory based on what we tend to hear from our customers around this time of the year and is by no means our view of tradesmen and their habits over this festive period - we are sure you are all hard working! If you are going back to work in the next week or so, just take a second to have a quick check of your liability cover to make sure it hasn't run out.

With liability insurance policies starting at just £42.50 for the year for £1,000,000 cover, you would be mad to forget it. Visit www.publicliabilityinsurance.org.uk for more information.

Last Post of the Decade

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:25:00 +0000

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.

Marine Insurance Act 1906

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:32:00 +0000

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.

Buy to Let Insurance vs. Landlords Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:11:00 +0000

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!

Excess Layer Cover for Public Liability Insurance up to £10million

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:35:00 +0000

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.

Making an Insurance Claim for Flood Damage

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:09:00 +0000

Whether you are insured with us or not, making an insurance claim for flood damage is usually the same process. If you are one of the unfortunate people to have suffered flood in the recent adverse weather conditions in the UK then you can follow these simple steps. Even if you have not suffered a flood at your property then it may be worth reading on so that you are prepared if the event happens.

First and foremost, protect yourself and your family. This is the most important advice that can be given. Your possessions can be replaced but lives cannot. Ensure you and your family are out of the property and to a safe area. It is usually best to go to a friend or family members house where possible but it is also quite common for local halls or schools that are just outside of the flood areas to be used as a base for flood victims.

Once you are safe, phone your insurance company to report the incident. They will advise what you should do next. This may involve going back to the property if it is safe to do so to perform necessary steps to reduce the amount of damage such as moving items upstairs. Your insurance company will endeavour to provide quick help but if anything needs doing to prevent further damage and your insurer cannot immediately help then have the work done and keep the receipt to claim back from the insurer as part of the claim you are making.

With flood damage you will need to be patient. For a start you will need to wait for water to subside before anything else. You will then need to see what items have been damaged beyond repair and make a list for the insurer. If anything can be dried out, this process must be done slowly and carefully. The insurer will arrange for the necessary equipment to do this if required.

Some claims can take more than a year to finalise due to the difficulty involved in flood claims. It is not a nice thing to go through but if you are well organised and have the appropriate cover in place then you should be able to sort most things out with minimal loss to yourself. If you live in an area that is susceptible to flooding then a good preparation is essential.

Public Liability Insurance for Market Traders

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:30:00 +0000

It recently came to light that we were being approached by a rising number of market traders who required public liability insurance and products liability insurance for their occupation.

Some of you were having trouble getting exactly the right cover for your requirements. Some of you wanted an all in one policy to cover all your liability worries. Some of you just wanted a policy as you couldn't find one anywhere else. We soon realised that you needed someone to help so we thought we would add some information here to help answer some of your common questions.

Can You Help Us?
Yes we can provide public liability insurance for market traders. The only area we cannot cover is the selling of second hand goods.

What Cover Do You Provide?
The standard public liability insurance policy come with products liability insurance for free. Most other policies will only provide the public liability side of things which covers you for any injury or damage you cause whereas the additional products liability will also cover any injury or damage your products cause - a vital addition to a market trader's insurance policy. If you have employees we can also provide employers liability insurance.

How Much Does It Cost?
Generally the cost of 1 person for £1million public and products liability cover is around £112.35 for the year but this can change depending on personal circumstances. Cover can also be provided for £2million and £5million for a small additional cost.

How Do I Get A Quote?
You can either ring us on our freephone quote number of 0800 1696137 or visit our liability quote form and complete your details.

If there is any more information that you need, feel free to ask here or by giving the office a ring and we will be happy to help.

New Secure Online Payments

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:18:00 +0000

We have been implementing some changes to the way we take payments on our website over the last few weeks. Due to ever increasing demands on card security it was becoming difficult to keep up with the requirements of taking payments on our website and we have taken the decision to move the payment part of any online transactions over to HSBC's Secure ePayment website.

All transactions work in the same way except that no card information is collected on our website anymore with this part of the transaction being done on the HSBC website. The item will still appear on your account as "Ashburnham Insurance Services Ltd" and you will still need to provide all the same security details as you did before. After payment is completed, you will be returned to our website which finalises your order.

We feel this new method of payment is not only more secure for you the customers but will free up our time spent managing this system so we can put these towards other things that will make your insurance experience with us even better. HSBC will obviously always be at the forefront of security meaning that your online payment will be as secure as it could possibly be.

If you have any queries or would like to provide some feedback on the new secure online payments system then feel free to contact us.

Employers Liability Insurance is Compulsory

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

I was shocked to find out the other day about a new company that was just starting trading in the UK that was unaware that they needed employers liability insurance. Maybe they had just got their wires crossed or been misinformed, but they were under the impression that they only needed public liability cover and not employers liability.

Employers liability is compulsory by law whereas public liability insurance isn't even though with most companies you need to have public liability to get the employers liability cover. I believe that any company that deals with the public and has employees should have both.

The consequences of not having employers liability insurance in place when you employ people is anything from a fine or a ban on running a company up to something much more drastic like imprisonment.

Putting the whole compulsory thing to one side, why would you not have both these covers in place? If anything ever happened in terms of injury, or worse, then the blame normally ends up back at the business owner. A simple liability policy is likely to provide cover up to a seven figure sum - not bad when it probably only cost you a three figure price.

New Public Liability Occupations and Trades

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Some of you may have noticed a recent update to our public liability quotation system over the last few weeks. We have added many new trades which allows us to provide cover for more of you seeking public liability insurance. There has also been the odd rate tweak which could mean potential savings compared to last month.

Some of the occupations we now have include nail technicians, beauticians, hairdressers, even driving instructors.

Along with the new trades, we continue to cover all the better known businesses such as roofers, bricklayers, carpenters, plumbers, etc.

We even quote for occupations not listed on our website such as liability insurance for metal workers. If you can't find what you are looking for, just call us for a quote as we can accommodate most trades, no matter what it is.

Your Insurance Is Your Responsibility

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:55:00 +0000

Did you know that your insurance cover is your responsibility. It's probably not something you think of too much but perhaps you should. Far too many people don't take enough care over their policies.

Something as minor as a change of occupation could affect your car insurance, home insurance, life insurance, and the list goes on. But how many of you would contact all these different companies to tell them. I can guarantee they asked you your occupation before you took out the policy so it's something you need to tell them when you change. This is only an example but you must keep all your insurances up to date at all times otherwise you run the risk of being uninsured.

The big concern above this is renewing your insurance policies. An assumption that most people make is that your insurer will contact you just before your policies falls due for renewal. This is a bad assumption to make. An insurer, as far as I am aware, is not obligated to contact you before your policy runs out, it is purely a courteous service provided along with the fact that they would like to get your business for another year. I don't know of any insurer or broker that doesn't contact their customers prior to their renewal but you must know that if they don't, your policy will still expire and it will be your responsibility.

It may be something like the insurer somehow missing your letter by mistake and not sending it or the letter getting lost in the post. These things happen and you must be prepared. A note in the diary made when you took the policy out last year is normally all you have to do.

The reason I bring this subject up is due to the current postal strikes. If you don't receive your renewal letter in time and consequently miss your insurance renewal, you cannot blame your insurer or broker, you cannot even blame Royal Mail. The entire responsibility will always be with you.

If you haven't done it yet, dig out all your insurance policies and write their anniversaries on your calender. Quick, simple and could save you a lot of despair if the worst were to happen.

Non Disclosure Can Mean Non Payment

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:21:00 +0000

I stumbled across the BBC programme Inside Out last week and thought I'd discuss it here. It spoke about a woman called Michelle Barber who had encountered the worst of all problems when it came to making an insurance claim.

Her Barnsley home was subject to an arson attack which left the property needing to be completely rebuilt. Her insurer at the time was the home insurance giant Aviva (formally Norwich Union) who initially paid out the whopping £240,000 for her home to be rebuilt.

It later came to light that Ms. Barber had previously received a £100 fine for an over payment of benefits. Something that avoided the police but was a criminal offence none the less. She had not told Aviva of this and when they found out she was told that it voided her insurance policy. As they had already paid out in respect of her claim, they demanded the full £240,000 to be refunded to them.

I'm sure the letter through the door requesting this was not a welcome one and I am sympathetic towards the lady in the fact that it must be a horrible situation to go through. However, she would have been asked at the time of taking out the cover about criminal convictions and the like and obviously answered in the negative. The blame therefore entirely lays with her.

Many will argue that Aviva are being a little unfair as it was only a £100 fine but from there point of view they would not have covered her in the first place had they known so why should they cover her now. They would void the policy whether she has had a claim or not.

I think it is good that this story is spread as much as possible. It is vital that everything is disclosed to your insurer when taking out a policy as non disclosure can lead to being severely out of pocket. If you've gone to the trouble of taking out insurance cover in the first place, you should at least make sure you are telling them everything you know no matter how big or small a deal you think it is.

Tenant's Liability Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:03:00 +0000

Many landlords worry about what will happen when their property is damaged and it is their tenant's responsibility. In an ideal world, your tenant would just go and sort it out themselves with no fuss and simply inform you of what has happened. We all know that ideal world scenarios are pretty rare but here's something that may comfort you.

Some home contents insurance policies now include tenant's liability insurance. It is an extension of the policy which covers damage to the rented property that the tenant is liable for. The most obvious example is damage to windows.

Most lease agreements make windows the tenant's responsibility so if one gets smashed, the tenant has to sort it out. At the same time the landlord is worrying about the security of their property whilst not wanting to pay for damage which should be paid by the tenant. If the tenant has no cover and doesn't earn much money, this could be a difficult situation for both landlord and tenant.

I'm not sure if it's possible as our expertise is for the insurance side of things, but would it not be a good idea to insist that tenant's have a home contents insurance in place that has this cover within it? This would give piece of mind to the landlord and more importantly, your tenant would be financially covered for loss or damage to their contents and their liability toward you and your property.

Insurance Industry is Going Strong

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:37:00 +0000

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) released figures last week that suggest that the UK insurance industry "remains strong". The news release (found here) shows how the industry has increased premium income and provides more jobs than in 2007. These are great figures for UK insurance which shows how they are weathering the recession storm.

In 2008 there were around 313,000 people employed by the sector which translates as a 1.3% increase compared to 2007 when there was around 309,000. Net premium income from general insurance (home, car, etc.) in 2007 was £33 billion, but in 2008 it had increased by £1 billion.

The really interesting figures though are to do with how much is paid out in claims by insurers. On average, each and every day, £239 million is paid out in life and pensions insurance benefits and £57 million in motor, household and other general insurance claims. When you start talking about these sort of figures, it puts into perspective your £300 car insurance policy!

It is good to see steady improvement through these difficult times but it is important that the sector remains focused as insurance protection is an important part of economic growth. Protection needs to be affordable to the public whilst being profitable to the insurance industry. As long as it remains this way then it will be a win/win scenario and the insurance sector will continue its strength through the economic downturn.

Happy Birthday to Ashburnham Insurance

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:02:00 +0000

On the 26th September 1995, Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited was formed following a management takeover of the Southend-on-Sea branch of a well established nationwide insurance brokerage called Robert A Rushtons.

The new owners, who still remain the same today, had the first task of naming the company. After much deliberation (a cup of coffee while staring out the window) the road sign of the road running next to the office, namely Ashburnham Road, gave some much need inspiration and thus the name was decided.

So 14 years may not be a typical landmark in age but it is certainly worth noting the considerable growth and change in what is relatively a short amount of time. The number of staff has more than doubled and the office moved across Ashburnham Road to a much larger premises to cater for the growing needs.

The local broker, face to face approach is still a part of the business but online trading has seen the company branch out to the whole world now and can now boast customers as far away as Australia. If you would like to know more about who Ashburnham Insurance are then visit the website.

Insurers Unaffected By Economic Downturn

noreply@blogger.com (Ashburnham Insurance Services Limited) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:57:00 +0000

It seems that despite the economic problems, insurance companies have remain relatively unscathed. Well, this is true to an extent. Insurers are experiencing the same problems that you and I are, from worrying about what bank you keep your money with to difficulties obtaining credit - we are all in the same boat.

The thing that has kept insurers going seems to be the fact that we all still need insurance, and probably more now than ever before. We all still drive our cars, live in our homes and have mortgages and families to protect. In essence the income for insurance companies is relatively unchanged. The only area of concern is therefore the other side of the coin - i.e. the expenses of the company.

Outgoings generally increase over time even when there isn't economic downturn so many companies are now reviewing their outgoings in a bid to cut out any unnecessary costs. This could be as simple as freezing employee salaries or moving utilities to cheaper suppliers. Simple measures but necessary to keep the companies profits going and thus keep them in business in these difficult times.