It happens to us all……..

A week or so ago we had a terrific downpour at Chesham. The drains in the road didn’t cope and the office was flooded! The water came in through the doors at the back and at the front of the premises, no escape!

Fortunately for us we’d done an inventory of equipment only two years ago and had an up to date figure for replacement items. We’ve had to close the office while repairs are being carried but hope to be back on site in the not too distant future.

Just a tip for those with storage!
If you store stock your policy may be subject to a stillage warranty which means that you need to keep stock off the floor, usually pallet height is good enough. Talk to us if you’re unsure what’s on your policy.

It just goes to show that a proper review of cover is very worthwhile, if yo’d like us to carry out a review for you give us a call on 01462 440088 or email: info@npainsurancebroking.com

When Employers Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance is not enough!!

Generally, as business people, we all tend to think if we’ve bought a general insurance package then any liability issues we face should be protected. Well, that is generally true; however, package policies are designed to protect the business and not its directors or senior employees.

Over the last few years it has become more common for claimants to pursue claims against individuals working in the business as well as the business itself. In fact on many occasions individuals are named as defendants in Court proceedings.

Examples of these are as follows:

• Director of a glazing manufacturers named personally in an unfair dismissal claim from a former employee.
Costs incurred of £14,055 in defending the director.

• Transport manager of a waste management company prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service following an accident involving an unroadworthy vehicle operated by the company.
Claims reserve £15,000

These type of claims can be covered under a Directors and Officers policy.

A Directors and Officers policy covers:
• Your legal liability as a director or officer of the company
• Your legal costs and expenses in respect of:
any investigations
the defence of any legal action seeking your disqualification as a director
extradition proceedings (including appeals)

There are many other extensions as well including Indemnity Fraud, Corporate Manslaughter, Breach of Contract, Pollution Taxation and Data Protection

If you want any more information simple give us a call on 01462 440088 or email:
info@npainsurancegroup.com

by Richard Bigden

Patrick Collier gives some topical advice around your key staff:

For all of us looking forward to the World Cup can we imagine the consequences of Wayne Rooney being injured and out???? England’s chances of success fall considerably.
Well in business your Wayne Rooney’s are your key employees… Consider what would happen to your business if your key salesmen and women weren’t hitting the back of the net due to injury or death… If you lost your Wayne for, hopefully not ever, but for six months what would be the financial cost to you???
Luckily with Key man Life and Critical Illness protection, to name just two products, you can insure your business against this risk…

Contact Amanda or Mike at our Hitchin Office to have a no obligation chat about the risks to your business and let’s hope that Wayne hits top form this month…

01462 440088 or email: info@npainsurancegroup.com

Just be careful, when buying insurance, that you know exactly what you’re paying for. Far too often we see policy schedules giving a vague account of a condition of cover but no detail. Unfortunately, without looking at the detail it is quite likely that the condition may not be satisfied and if that happens the insurers have every right to turn down your claim.

If you need someone to explain what the schedule and policy together means then give us a call at NPA, we make sure our clients have a thorough knowledge of what they need to be doing to manage the risks they face and what insurers insist upon before they accept cover.

The insurers, believe it or not, try to pay the losses they face but if you haven’t complied with their requirements they will not be writing you a cheque!

For advice on cover detail and insurance issues in general call us on01462 440088 or email:
info@npainsurancegroup.com

Bullying & Victimisation
Over the last ten years we have seen society become more and more litigious with the rise of “no win no fee lawyers” and the growing trend that “someone must be to blame”. One area where many businesses have seen challenges to them is from their own staff. In the increasingly polictically correct world of today there are many more chances for any employer , manager or supervisor to be accused of harassment or worse sexism or racism.

Why are we telling you this?
It is possible to insure against any claim that may come about like this. At NPA, we can help you with this and can cover you for many of these eventualities, at a very reasonable cost, and the piece of mind it brings it can be invaluable.

What’s this cover called?
Employment Practices Liability or Employment Law Protection.

What does it cover?
Whilst covers do vary slightly between individual insurers and you would need to check the full policy wording, this type of policy gives cover for the following:
• Your legal liability following an employment dispute for claims against you must be brought within England, Wales or Scotland
• Your legal costs and expenses are covered in respect of attendance at any employment or health and safety investigations.

I bet it is really expensive
Cover is normally available at a relatively low cost. Whilst the cover will depend on your previous experience, and how you manage your business, the cost is not high particularly when compared to the peace of mind it can bring.

Why not ‘phone us for a quote. You have nothing to lose and peace of mind to gain.
Tel 01462 440088 or email us: info@npainsurancegroup.com

Poted by Richard Bigden

Are you using your ISA allowance?

Did you know that every tax year you have the opportunity to invest in stocks and shares through an Individual Savings Account (ISA)?

And did you know that, unlike other forms of investment, with an ISA you won’t pay income or capital gains tax on any growth? Remember, tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Finding the ideal investment for you

Nott Pybus & Associates offers a wide range of funds from some of the UK’s largest fund managers and we can help you to find the ideal combination to meet your needs.

It’s important that you feel completely comfortable with your investment. That’s why Nott Pybus & Associates only offer the very best financial products at all times..

Take a fresh look at your existing ISAs

If you have existing ISAs with other providers, transferring them to Nott Pybus & Associates could help you to refresh your investments and reduce paperwork.

Transferring your existing ISAs should be straightforward, and again we can help you to decide whether this would be the right move for you.

Want to know more?

We’d welcome the opportunity to tell you more about the benefits of investing in an ISA and give you advice on how you could use one to help you meet your financial goals.

If you would be interested in arranging a meeting to discuss this further or if you have any questions in the meantime please call our Hitchin office on 01462 440088 and ask for Mike Tipper, he’ll be happy to help.

Posted by Mike Tipper

The question we are regularly asked by new clients is why are we not on consolidator sites like “what’s the Meerkat.com” etc…..?

From our point of view it’s pretty straight forward really.. yes we can do car insurance and the vanilla household insurance.. in fact were very good at it!! If you want to test us give our St Albans office, NPA Supreme , a call and check us out. But the answer lies in the fact that we like to think that we are a bit more than just a price, we like to think that we try to get to know our clients, in fact many of us have known our clients for so long that our relationship is much better than just a business one.

The whole ethos at NPA is to offer the right product and cover for the right situation.. tell me a web site that can do that??? We want to know the problems you have so that we can offer the right solution.. If we don’t hear about the risk we can’t find the right solution..

If you would like a no obligation chat or a visit from one of our Account Executives then please either give us a call or contact us via the email and we will get straight back to you.

by Patrick

Tel 01462 440088
email info@napinsurancegroup.com

Many times after serious losses businesses fail to recover because of two major issues:-

- Inadequate sums insured
- Inadequate indemnity period for Business Interruption.

Most insurers apply an ‘average clause’ to their policy whereby any claim settlement will be reduced by the amount of under insurance . For example if your combined buildings/machinery/stock sum insured should be £3,000,000 but you have only insured for £2,000,000 then in the event of a loss the insurer will only indemnify you up to two thirds of your loss. Therefore that £300,000 flood claim or loss could cost the ongoing business £100,000 out of future or current earnings ! The serious loss will put you out of business !

Often, not enough thought is given to the Business Interruption aspect of your insurance cover. You need to consider how long it will take you to recover after a serious loss to get back to the levels of turnover and gross profit before the loss. The majority of firm’s consider 12 months to be adequate but unfortunately in practice this is often too short a period. For example:-

- How long would it take to order, install, test and run new machinery
- What are delivery times for new machinery
- If customers go elsewhere how long would it take to get them back ?
- Are your customers seasonal, ie would you miss more than one season ?

Ensure you discuss this in depth at your next visit from NPA.

Cliff Nott

Why do I need a broker?
To make sure you know what the cover you’ve paid for is all about, that you are aware of the risks to your business and to explain what the terms and conditions are all about
To ask the Insurance market to assess your risk and give you a price for underwriting that risk

Does it cost any money to use a broker?
Brokers are normally paid a commission by your insurer. People generally don’t pay for insurance advice. The cost is within the annual premium
Arrangements can be made to be paid by charging a fee instead of accepting commission from your insurer but that tends to be on an annual premium of £50,000 and above

What kind of help will they give me?
NPA will go through all aspects of cover with you in order to make sure that any insurance related risk has been discussed and options given to you
We do business with a number of insurers every day so our expertise in the industry and our relationships with the market will help you find the best protection at the best price

How do I know they’re any good?
NPA have been around since 1990, the business has grown both organically and through acquisition to get to where it is today and the majority of our work is through referrals

What about the internet, isn’t that cheaper?
Yes, the internet could be cheaper but do you really know the full facts about what you’ve bought?
Are you comfortable about discussing a claim if it happened and confident that you can negotiate a good settlement?
Does it make sense to deal directly with an insurer when they don’t know about your business as well as a broker who’s happy to represent your interests

CONTACT US: www.npainsurancegroup.com
T +44 1462 440088
E contact@npainsurancegroup.com