Our Festive Season Opening Hours are:
Explore our New Bi Yearly Newsletter here. Our Winter/Spring edition covers advice on: Looking after your premises in Winter, Being Under Insured, and Cyber Insurance Cover.
Produced with content from Aviva and Allianz Insurance.
Our Festive Season Opening Hours are:
It’s already that time of year again, and what a year its been! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. You can find our Christmas opening hours below.
Our Christmas opening hours will be:
Our Festive Season Opening Hours are:
Friday 24 December – 9am-12pm
Monday 27 December – Closed
Tuesday 28 December – Closed
Wednesday 29 December – 9am-12pm
Thursday 30 December – 9am-12pm
Friday 31 December 9am-12pm
Monday 3 January -Closed
Tuesday 4 January 9am-5pm
Clients experiencing financial difficulties
On the 18th May 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority introduced new measures for insurance and premium finance firms to help clients in financial difficulty. Should you be experiencing financial hardship, or if things change at work or home, we may be able to help by:
Where amendments to your insurance cover does not alleviate your payment difficulties, you should contact your finance provider directly as further support may be available, which could potentially include:
It is important that customers do not leave themselves uninsured, so we encourage you to contact us to discuss the options available if you are struggling to afford your payments during this uncertain time.
Please see our FAQ’s on Payment Deferrals
Q – What is a payment deferral?
A – A payment deferral is an arrangement under which a firm permits a customer that pays their insurance premium in instalments to make no payments for a specified period
Q – How do I apply for a payment deferral?
A – You should contact your insurer or finance provider direct
Q – If I am granted payment deferral, will I be classed as being in arrears on my payments?
A – No, nor would the provider or any third party such as broker or debt collector be allowed to cancel the policy or collect payment during the deferral period
Q – How long can I defer payments?
A – One to three months however, the provider can grant a longer extension should they wish
Q – Will I have to pay a fee?
A – The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would not expect a customer to be liable to pay any charge or fee in connection with the granting of a payment deferral
Post and paper-based documents
We continue to handle all post (incoming and outgoing), and paper-based documents such as cheques, as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure they are processed in a timely manner to safeguard policy cover. Should you have any concerns about instructions or cheques you have sent which may not have been processed, or documents you believe you are due from us, please contact us urgently.
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we are issuing this Newsletter to provide additional advice to our clients on insurance matters arising. In an earlier email, we discussed the impact on travel insurance and business interruption cover to those who hold this cover. In this edition, we discuss how other forms of insurance cover are affected and actions organisations can take to protect themselves. IT Security Cyber Insurers have reported a ‘spike’ in claims for data breaches and incidence of hacking, as companies have put in place arrangements for staff to access their work IT systems from home. Insurers stress the need to avoid insecure Virtual Private Networks (ie those without adequate encryption or multi-factor authentication) and remote access apps. The most common types of claim being seen by Cyber insurers are hackers installing ransomware and theft of funds. Insurers are also seeing a rise in ‘social engineering’ incidents – criminals taking advantage of remote working arrangements to fake identities, tricking staff into paying forged invoices. Companies and charities should ensure staff are trained to query requests for payments and to check bank details on invoices to avoid being caught-out. If not already arranged, it is recommended that organisations consider taking Cyber insurance to cover losses and liabilities associated with hacking and data breaches. Your regular Insurance Services Surrey adviser will be able to assist in arranging this. Directors’ & Officers’ Liability/Charity Management Liability Insurance Despite the hard work and best endeavours of executives, some individuals may face legal claims of negligence in making decisions at this time or actions by regulators or statutory bodies. To this end, we recommend that consideration is given to adequate levels of insurance to protect individuals and the organisation. It is anticipated that the availability of such cover may reduce and that rates may increase as the number of claims rises. If such cover is not currently selected, your usual Insurance Services Surrey contact will be able to advise. In theory, these policies can also be extended to include legal actions against the organisation by employees/candidates for an alleged breach of employment law, although the availability of such cover is becoming more scarce. Certainly, once redundancies are planned, taking cover to guard against resultant legal claims is not possible. Organisations will want to consider investigating the availability of such insurance before redundancy plans become a consideration. Employees returning to work As employees return to the workplace, organisations will be vulnerable to claims that the health of staff members was compromised by a lack of adequate social distancing and hygiene measures. Claims for compensation for illness are likely to increase. This may lead to the cost of Employers Liability insurance rising in the medium term and the availability of cover being limited for organisations which have suffered such allegations. Firms and charities are urged to carefully plan arrangements to keep staff apart and to shield those who are vulnerable (or look after vulnerable household members). It is important to communicate the practical measures you are taking to staff on a regular basis to help reassure them that their health, well-being and safety is your top priority. Make sure employees are clear about what procedure they should follow if they begin to feel unwell, both in the workplace and at home. In particular, organisations will need to consider: consulting and following recommended Government guidelines:Government advice and guidance conducting a deep clean prior to reopening and review of cleaning arrangement e.g. ensuring all phones/keyboards etc are wiped daily with anti-viral cleaner implementing and signposting social distancing requirements for staff and visitors utilising PPE, shielding, additional hand washing facilities and restricted access to keep everyone safe staff who travel or visit other company premises may also need additional equipment or briefing. a contingency plan if employees display symptoms e.g temporarily suspend trading and/or conduct a deep clean ensuring all employees are aware of any changes to the safe system of work and that changes are documented has equipment/machinery been idle for a period of time? What needs to be done to ensure safe operation? documenting additional staff re-training, e.g. re-orientation or reinduction process for returning staff. signposting staff to mental health and well-being support and resources. The risks to people’s health from this pandemic are psychological as well as physical. Motor Fleet Insurance Some Motor Fleet insurers are allowing cover on vehicles to be ‘laid-up’ if the road tax on these cars or vans has been revoked and the vehicle is now subject to a Statutory Off-Road Notice. Your Insurance Services Surrey contact will be able to advise on the best way to do this. Marine Insurance Where goods have been in transit by sea since before lock-down procedures began, it is possible that these will need to be stored in temporary warehouses whilst deliveries are held-up. It is important that we are aware where this is the case, as the insurers will need to amend the policy to ensure continued cover. Private Motor Insurance We are heartened that so many people are volunteering at this time or taking on temporary work to help out. It is important to ensure that, if you are using your own car for such purposes, your private car insurance extends to include use for this work so as to remain road legal and to avoid uninsured claims. Your plans Please do remember to let us know if: your premises are currently unoccupied. Most policies include a requirement to notify insurers and to carry out certain precautions if no-one is regularly going to be present during your normal business hours for an extended period. If any security at your premises is likely to be compromised, particularly the response to alarm systems you need cover for business equipment away from the premises. your business or charity is offering different services from normal (an example would be a restaurant now offering take-away food instead). Organisations will also need to ensure that appropriate health and safety risk assessments are undertaken regarding home-working and if children are to be brought into the workplace as a result of school closures. Staff working from home may also need to inform their own home insurers that this is the case. This is especially important if they are likely to receive business visitors. We do understand that these are challenging times and we are available to answer your insurance questions. Best regards, The Insurance Services Surrey Team PO Box 1533 Woking GU22 2RY Insurance Services Surrey is a trading name of Insurance Services (Surrey) Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The information in this newsletter was compiled on 11th May 2020 |
In light of
the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we are issuing this Newsletter to update our
clients on how Insurance Services Surrey are operating and share advice from
the insurance market regarding cover.
How we are operating
Our technology allows our staff to operate from home with access to both
computer systems and telephones. We appreciate that this is a worrying time for
all business owners. Please be assured that all our staff are set-up to help
you in the usual way. Please continue to telephone our main switchboard (01483
532921), or email your usual contact or enquiries@insurancesurrey.co.uk.
Insurers are in the process of adapting to new ways of working, which is leading
to longer response times. Please do notify us of any changes required to your
insurances, or renewal information requested, as early as possible, to enable
us to best help you.
Commercial Insurance
The majority of insurances arranged for organisations in the UK do not include
any provision to cover losses sustained as a result of COVID-19. Business
Interruption insurance is principally designed to cover the extra costs of
working or loss of profit (depending on the cover selected) following physical
damage to property or stock. Insurers generally take the view that an epidemic
or pandemic is a systemic, governmental risk (like war), rather than an
insurable fortuity for a particular business. Some Gross Profit or Gross Income
Business Interruption policies do extend to provide a limited cover benefit in
relation to the authorities closing-down premises due to a specified list of
notifiable diseases, however these do not extend to include new, previously
unknown diseases such as COVID-19. There are a handful of exceptions under
insurance packages for a small number of specialist businesses or charities and
we will be happy to advise further on this.
If you hold Business Travel Insurance with us, please let us know if you have
needed to cancel any business trips as a result of Foreign & Commonwealth
Office (FCO) advice not to travel. Travel insurers will expect policyholders to
exhaust all options to obtain refunds from airlines, hotels and other providers
before settling claims. We will work with insurers to ensure claims settlements
are made as quickly as possible.
Any trips that you or your staff continue to make to anywhere where the FCO
advises against any travel, or all but essential travel, will not automatically
be covered by travel insurance.
Regrettably, travel insurers generally are either pulling-out of providing any
new quotations for cover or are doing so, but excluding cancellation resulting
from COVID-19. We will be happy to advise on any concerns you have about this.
Your plans
Please do remember to let us know if:
Organisations will also need to ensure that appropriate health and safety risk assessments are undertaken regarding home-working and also if children are to be brought into the workplace as a result of school closures. Staff working from home may also need to inform their own home insurers that this is the case. This is especially important if they are likely to receive business visitors.
We do understand that these are challenging times and we are available to answer your queries regarding insurance cover.
Best regards,
The Insurance Services Surrey Team
PO Box 1533
Woking
GU22 2RY
Insurance Services Surrey is a trading name of Insurance Services (Surrey) Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Our Festive Season Opening Hours are:
Thursday 24 December – 9am-1pm
Friday 25 December – Closed
Monday 28 December – Closed
Tuesday 29 December – 9am-1pm
Wednesday 30 December – 9am-1pm
Thursday 31 December – 9am-1pm
Friday 1 January – Closed
Our festive opening hours are: