Welcome to our July newsletter! In this edition; How not switching insurers could be costing you every year, why the Insurance Act 2015 is important to your business, June's lightning strikes lead to a spike in claims and are you really getting the most out of your home insurance? 

Until next time,

West Craven Insurance

 When it comes around to that time of year where you’re prompted to pay your car insurance, many will spend hours shopping around for a better deal. However there is still a large portion of the general public who are not looking for a better deal, which could see them losing &110.

The recently released Premium Driver Report found that the average cost of car insurance between December 2015 – February 2016 was &682.26. This quote was over &100 more expensive than the cheapest quote at the time.

The report also found that the price of the cheapest available car insurance has risen to &552.95 which is 17.5% higher than the cheapest insurance quote in February last year.

Simon McCulloch says, “Unfortunately, the rise of motor insurance premiums does not seem to be going away any time soon. While external factors like the Insurance Premium Tax hike will have inevitably pushed up premiums, it seems that the inertia of some motor insurance customers has been the real driver of the premium increase.”

Research shows that shopping around for insurance may seem like a waste of your time, but it’s actually healthy for the industry! It encourages the various providers to become competitive with their prices and it helps them to generate new sales. 

To find the best insurance deal, you need to shop around. Here at West Craven we can help you to find the deal that’s right for you. You will receive a personal service, with no call centres or automated telephones.

 

 

 

 

 

A new law is coming into place on the 12th August 2016 which will require businesses to disclose a greater amount of information in order to ensure that their insurance policies that cover them are valid.

What is the Insurance Act 2015?
The Insurance Act 2015 brings in new rules and regulations that focus on what businesses will be required to do before an insurance policy can begin or be renewed. This applies to all policies taken out on or after the 12th of August 2016 and governed by the laws of England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

What is the benefit of the Insurance Act 2015 to the consumer?
There are two main benefits of the Insurance Act 2015. The first is that it requires both the insurer to ask the right questions to determine a customer’s eligibility for an insurance policy. Secondly, it provides further clarity on insurance policies, which leads to more appropriate cover, less invalid claims and hopefully less disputes.

Why is it so important?
The Insurance Act 2015 imposes an obligation on policyholders to make a ‘fair presentation of the risk’ before a contract of insurance can be entered into or renewed. For a business to be insured they must carry out a reasonable search within their business to identify every material circumstance which is known or ought to be known.
For businesses that fail to comply with new rules, it would be a breach of the terms of the insurance, meaning that a business's insurance would not be valid until the necessary steps have been taken to resolve these issues.

How can businesses ensure they are compliant?
It is vital that businesses have a clear and defined understanding of all the risks that are being insured. Any of the processes of compiling and checking risk information should be documented and any concerns or failings should be noted. It is also important that businesses define who is responsible for each stage of these processes and where all information can be found. It would also be beneficial for businesses to liaise with brokers and insurers to confirm any requirements of the business.

 The stormy weather that many of us experienced throughout June seems to have wreaked havoc for people! There was a big boost in insurance claims for damage caused by lightning strikes.

Direct Line received more than 200 claims since the beginning of June rather than the usual 10-20 they normally see per month.
One of the larger claims was one for &45,884 worth of damage caused when a policyholder’s electrical system was hit. Consequently, a range of equipment was damaged including CCTV camera, burglar alarms, televisions and a central control system for their property.

 

Lightning doesn’t have to directly strike your home to be dangerous. The average 15,000 amps of current can conduct through metal pipes or wires extending outside your home, and can also travel along any metal bars or wiring in concrete walls or floors. Therefore, it’s advised to avoid using any electrical device or plumbing fixture inside your home during a storm.

With temperatures up to four times as hot as the sun concentrated into a channel often as slender as a pencil, it’s no wonder why lightning can be so destructive and deadly!

What can I do to protect my home?
Lightning conductors will not keep lightning from striking but will help direct it safely away from your home if properly installed. Ensure they are attached to your house’s roof and embedded in the ground by a cable.
Lightning also tends to travel across the ground, so if you’re considering planting trees in your garden, keep the taller ones at a safe distance from your house.
The easiest way to protect your electrical appliances in your house is to unplug them as soon as you here the first clap of thunder. Put that shower you were going to have on hold until the storm as passed as plumbing pipes make excellent conductors for lightning. Also, stick to mobiles and cordless phones during the storm – 5% of people that are struck by lightning are talking on their corded phones! 

Home insurance is designed to give you the ultimate peace of mind. All your worldly possessions are stored within the walls of your single most expensive asset which means you need the best possible home insurance. But how do you know if you’re getting the most out of it?

According to research by the ABI (Association of British Insurers) found that home insurance providers paid out over &8 million in claims every day. That’s over 2 billion a year paid out to those unfortunate enough to make a claim.

However despite these figures, the ABI still found that the general public mistrusts insurance providers, believing that the majority do not support their best interests. This is detrimental to both parties as it cuts off custom to the providers and means that customers are not buying adequate cover, or they’re not making claims for damage to their property.

By not trusting your home insurance provider you’re missing out on claiming when you need it most. The ABI found that a positive 4 out of 5 insurance claims are successful. The unsuccessful cases were caused by not having the correct cover or people making claims for items below the compulsory excess. These are all problems that can be overcome by having a better understanding of your cover.

A general Home Insurance Policy will normally cover:
• Fire, Smoke or Explosion Damage
• Fallen Trees
• Flooding
• Vehicle collisions
• Vandalism
• Damage caused by leaking pipes
• Damaged caused by leaking heating system
• Subsidence

Some of the common misconceptions of home insurance cover:
• Contents i.e. rugs, jewellery, electronics
• Frost
• Pest problems
• Leaky guttering
• General wear and tear

Getting to know your policy will ensure you know where you stand when it comes to the protection of your home. 

Receive a quick and easy quote for home insurance here