Flood Damage Insurance for Businesses, How to Strengthen Your Cyber Insurance, Plus More

Welcome to the March newsletter! This month, we'll be taking a look at why UK car owners are wasting £1.5bn a year on auto-renewing car insurance and why car insurance , we offer a guide on flood damage insurance for businesses, 

Until next time,

West Craven Insurance

£1.5bn in Car Insurance Premiums Wasted Due To Auto-Renewals

 

 It has recently been revealed that UK drivers as a collective are wasting approximately &1.5bn annually by leaving their car insurance policy to renew automatically.

Recent research from comparison site Gocompare.com surveyed 2,000 UK drivers in early February to find out just how much effort they put into finding the best deal for them and what factors help form their decision.

The findings of this research showed that just over 5 million people in the UK opt to auto-renew on their current policy instead of searching for or talking to a professional regarding the best deal available for them.

Surprisingly the demographic with the most to gain from taking a more detailed looked at their policy - 18 to 24 year olds - topped the list as the group that was most likely to auto-renew each year.

When the respondents were questioned about their decision to not search for a better deal, the most common response was out of loyalty to the insurer (41%) closely followed by drivers stating that they have been with the current provider 3 or more years (32%).

It was also found that 33% of respondents, while they do read the renewal information, believe it should be easier to understand so that they can make a more informed decision. 34% of survey participants stated that they were unsure whether competing insurance providers are telling the truth when saying they can offer them a better deal.

Relationship Manager at Gocompare.com, Matt Oliver spoke on the results of the survey, he said “With car premiums hitting record highs, it’s now more important than ever to make sure you’re not getting a raw deal.

“At renewal, insurers will offer to continue your cover without you having to lift a finger. What they’re not so good at telling you is that by shopping around you may be able to find the same cover for less.

“Loyalty, when it comes to car insurance, generally doesn’t pay”

While all of the details of a policy can seem overwhelming and finding a suitable policy for your specific needs can seem tedious, it’s a much easier process when dealing with a broker.

Get in touch with us today so that our expert team can you find the right policy for the right price.

Businesses: Flood Damage Insurance

For a business, a flood on your premises can be an unmitigated disaster. Flood damage, structural damage, damage to electrics, and partial or total loss of stock. That can cost anywhere between thousands to millions of pounds. To help you protect yourself against this kind of financial risk, there are many different insurance policies that can help protect your business.

Is there a comprehensive flood insurance policy?

At the moment, there is no insurance policy that protects your business from the kind of devastation a flood wreaks. However, most building and contents insurance policy will include flooding as one of the risks. It’s worth double checking with your provider to make sure you’re covered.

Should your property’s structure, furniture or appliances be damaged due to a flood, you know you’re covered.

There are additional policies you can take out that offers additional industry specific protections. For example, if you run a shop, you can take out stock insurance, which can pay for any stock you lose should a disaster strike.

Another policy you could consider is business interruption insurance. A policy of this type can cover your lost income, should you need to stop trading whilst repairs are carried out.

What can insurance help cover?

Insurance that includes flood damage can cover a range of aspects, from repairing, replacing or rebuilding property that’s been damaged by flooding.

Each policy and insurer will differ on what their definition and restrictions on flood damage are. In general insurers define the risk of ‘flooding’ as an escape of water from the sea, river, canal or lake Etc. or flooding caused by heavy rain. You will also be covered for instances like a burst pipe or broken tank.

If you rent your business premises, then your landlord is the one who is responsible for insuring the building. That being said, any changes or improvements you make to the property won’t be protected so it might be best to consider tenant improvements insurance. You might also consider a business specific contents insurance so that items like furniture and equipment are protected.

An insurance broker can assist you in finding a single, all-encompassing policy that defends your business from the threat of flooding, ensuring you continue to remain afloat.

Compensation Changes Leads to Increase In Car Insurance Premiums

 

According to industry experts, the average car insurance premium could see a rise of up to &75 a year as a result of a government ruling.

The UK government has recently announced a change to the formula used to calculate compensation payments and the change will affect the financial awards given to victims of car crashes.

The Ministry of Justice has stated that it had no choice but to make the change under the current law and may consult on possible changes.

What’s changing?

Accident victims currently receive compensation that is paid in a single lump sum, which is reduced in accordance with the interest they can expect to earn by investing it.

In finalising the compensation amount, courts apply a discount rate, which for the last 16 years has been 2.5%, making the payout that much smaller.

The Ministry of Justice has decided that the discount rate will be cut from 2.5% to 0.75%, effective from the 20th March. This change means that the victim of an accident will receive more money, but it will result in a higher cost for the insurer.

The change in discount rate is expected to have quite the impact on the insurance industry with some insurance experts labelling the move as “crazy”

Director General of the Association of British Insurers, Huw Evans, offered his opinion on the decision, he said “Cutting the discount rate to minus 0.75pc from 2.5pc is a crazy decision by Liz Truss.

“Claims costs will soar, making it inevitable that there will be an increase in motor and liability premiums for millions of drivers and businesses across the UK.

“We estimate that up to 36 million individual and business motor insurance policies could be affected in order to over-compensate a few thousand claimants a year.”

Experts are predicting rises from &50 all the way up to &1000 for younger drives. Mohammad Khan, UK general Insurance Leader at accountancy firm PwC said “We anticipate an increase of &50-&75 on an average comprehensive motor insurance policy, with higher increases for younger and older drivers - potentially up to &1,000 for younger drivers, and a rise of up to &300 for older drivers”

7 Steps For Strengthening Your Cyber Security

 

 With recent reports stating that cyber crime is now the most common offence in the UK, cyber security has never been more important, especially for businesses. With cyber attacks on the rise all companies must take the necessary steps to protect any databases they maintain, but most importantly the personal data of their customers and employees.

We’ve put together a list of 7 steps you can take to help make your business less vulnerable against cyber criminals.

Strong Passwords
While you may have heard it a thousand times, it is still always the best place to start. Having a strong password and a strong password policy could really save you from an attack. Using a strong password is the easiest and cheapest way to give your cyber security a boost and using 8 characters or more, with a variety of upper and lower case characters can go a long way.

It’s also important to keep your passwords varied. Using the same password for multiple accounts could be massively damaging, if one of your accounts were to be hacked it would leave all of your accounts vulnerable.

Purchase anti-virus software
If your computer catches a virus, it’s not as visually catastrophic as you may think, your system won’t immediately begin crashing and then fade to a black screen. The reason it’s so important to invest in software to protect your system from viruses and spyware, is because there are a lot of tasks being carried out in the background and that’s where the anti-virus software comes in.

A good anti-virus software will keep your system safe from the threats on both the front end and in the background, while also notifying you of potentially harmful websites and links.

Stay up-to-date
Following on from the previous tip, in order to keep all of your operating systems, software and applications at their strongest, it’s important to keep them up-to-date. Cyber criminals are always looking for new ways to exploit your system, but at the same time the developers of your system are constantly improving their security through updates and patches.

Ensuring that every system in your company is kept up-to-date on regular basis could potentially save you from the latest method of attack.

Check all links
One of the most common methods cyber criminals use to access personal data is phishing. You may receive email messages that appear to be from trusted sources or well-known brands that ask for your information or require you to click a link to confirm some of your details, however, by clicking the link you could be directed to an unsafe web location and your data could be vulnerable to an attack.

An easy way to check most links is by hovering your mouse over the link itself and it should show the exact address you will be taken to. Some email addresses may appear legitimate, however, it may just be displaying a fake contact name such as ‘Windows Support’ that if clicked would reveal an ‘011010.net’ email address.

If you’re suspicious, take an extra second to check that the link is secure before clicking through to a dangerous website.

Be careful when logging in while you’re out
In today’s world, there are plenty of us working while on the go, but it is vital that you remain extra vigilant when away from the office. Finding and connecting to free WiFi when you’re out and about can be a lifesaver, however, free and public WiFi can also be vulnerable to online criminals if the network is not protected properly.

If you can avoid using public Wifi, then it’s best to keep your companies’ data safe by not accessing the network at all. However, if you have to access the network, try using a ‘private browsing’ session so that your credentials won’t be stored locally.

Always log out
This rule applies at all times, but even more so when outside of the office. If you’re logged in to an account with sensitive information such as financial or personal data, ensure that you log out before closing your browser.

If another user were to use the same system after you close the browser, there is a good chance you will still be logged in to any accounts you have accessed during your previous session. It may seem tedious to go through all of your accounts and make sure you’re fully logged out, but it could save you in the long run.

Invest In Cyber Cover
Finally, to make sure your business is fully covered against the threat of cyber crime, take a look at the details of your current business insurance policy. Your current cover may not include cyber insurance as standard, leaving your business vulnerable if the worst were to happen.

Speak to us today and we can help make sure that your policy suits your business needs.

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