November Newsletter - Guard against invalidating your travel insurance this Christmas

In this month's edition, we're preparing for the colder months with tips on making sure your travel insurance stays valid this festive period and suggestions for protecting your home.

Elsewhere, we take a look at reports that young drivers are unknowingly purchasing fake car insurance policies on social media and if you're looking to protect a key person at your business, why not learn about Keyman Insurance?

Guard against invalidating your travel insurance this Christmas

 

It’s difficult not to get swept up by the myriad of tasks that Christmas brings every December. Presents to buy, decorations to put up, various family members to appease…it’s a lot to keep track of even before you add a festive holiday into the equation. Travel insurance might not be high on the list of your priorities, but a small action could invalidate your policy. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of tips to make sure you stay covered and protected when you go on your travels this Christmas!

Timing is essential
Starting the policy at the right time is a crucial component of travel insurance, so if you’re looking at buying single-trip cover, make sure you do so when you’re booking the holiday itself. It’s important to fulfil policy criteria in the event of an accident or an illness that stops you from taking your trip; purchasing travel insurance at the right time is a big part of that.

Declare all of your medical conditions
It’s important to make sure you detail any relevant pre-existing conditions when choosing your policy, even if you aren’t experiencing any health issues at the time of purchase. The reason behind this is that you won’t be covered in the event of issues during your trip should you fail to disclose any important historical or current ailments.

Don’t leave important possessions unattended
When it comes to taking care of your important possessions on holiday, it’s always better to be as safe as possible than sorry. That’s why we recommend putting anything highly valuable into a locked safe when you aren’t carrying it with you or it’s not in sight, as your insurer will view anything stolen as unattended property should it not fulfil the above criteria.

Make sure your documents are up to date
It can be a pain keeping on top of your travel documentation, and if your passport has a few months to go before it expires then it might be tempting to try your luck and use it before your trip. Unsurprisingly, we don’t recommend that! It’s a well-established fact that a large proportion of countries around the globe will require your passport to have at least six months validity on your passport before they will allow you entry and should border patrol refuse you entry on your arrival, your insurer won’t offer any cover. The same approach should be taken with visas; make sure you get the correct one to save yourself any bother.

Get inoculated
For those of us planning a trip to a more exotic location during this festive season, it’s essential that you book an appointment with your GP to talk about any inoculations or vaccinations that you may require. Again, it’s simply not worth the risk of contracting an illness that will invalidate your travel insurance, so make sure to plan ahead accordingly.

Keyman Insurance - what you need to know

 

Businesses of all sizes need a variety of insurance products in order to operate with confidence and deal with setbacks or bumps in the road, from public liability, cyber and professional indemnity insurance.

What these policies do not take into account, however, is the importance of the people who make your business great. Perhaps it’s the Chief Technology Officer with knowledge of your inner workings that cannot be replaced, or maybe your Financial Controller who keeps everything ticking over. Should they suffer an accident, become critically ill or even die, your business could be severely affected.

This is where Keyman Insurance comes in.

When could it be useful?
To provide an example, should your CTO be hit by a car when cycling and suffer severe injuries that leave them unable to work for a prolonged period of time, keyman insurance can provide compensation for lost business or to mitigate lost confidence in your customers as a result of their absence. This scenario isn’t exclusive to accidents, of course, and could well hit your business hard should a key member of your team pass away or contract a serious illness.

Essentially, keyman insurance is there to provide you with financial stability as a result of the absence of a person vital to keeping your business running properly. It allows you to continue operating with the added knowledge that should the unexpected happen, you will not lose out financially.

To learn more about Keyman Insurance, contact us today.

Protecting your home as Winter approaches

 

With the clocks going back at the end of last month, the night setting in earlier and the cold weather making itself known, it’s time to prepare for Winter, and that means making sure your home is in tip-top condition.

Having home insurance is a great start, but how do you make sure you don’t invalidate your policy during the colder months?

Inform your insurer about any building work
Homeowners often consider carrying out big pieces of building work during this period, be they extensions or improvements, to make sure that they’re prepared for Christmas. However, in your rush to get ready for the festive season, make sure to provide your insurer with details on the work you intend to carry out.

Not informing them about any major changes to your property could invalidate your policy, so it’s a vital part of the process whatever work you wish to carry out.

Make sure your contents are properly valued
Underinsuring or overinsuring your contents can put you in a precarious position; the former could leave you out of pocket in the event of a claim as your insurer will only pay to replace the contents you’ve declared, whilst the latter could mean that you’re paying more than necessary to protect what you own.

Now is a good time to accurately tot up the value of your possessions and provide your insurer with as accurate a number as you can provide.

Changed your locks or alarms? Let your insurer know
When your policy is agreed, your insurer will have taken into account your current security system and locks in order to determine any possible risks. Should your locks or security features have changed, it’s certainly worthwhile updating them to make sure that your policy remains valid.

Maintain your home to save a future headache
It’s easy to skimp on property maintenance when you’ve just moved in, given how exhausting moving home can be as a process. We’re often tempted to ignore small problems or faults if we can live with them, but this is the time of year where the weather can wreak havoc on those seemingly little issues.

We recommend clearing your gutters to allow water to properly drain, checking your roof for any loose slates that could cause damage, repair broken fences or gates and get your boiler serviced. Small things like this can cause homeowners big headaches if left untreated with windy and wet conditions on the way, which is why preparation is key.

Need help with your home insurance needs?
If you’re concerned about protecting your property and its contents ahead of the Winter period, or experts are on standby to discuss your options with West Craven. Click here to contact us today.

Young drivers buying fake insurance policies via social media

 

Young drivers have been warned to resist attractive and heavily discounted car insurance offers on social media sites such as Instagram, with recent findings suggesting that 17-24 year olds are most likely to fall prey to so-called ghost brokers.

Analysis provided by price comparison site GoCompare has revealed that young men in this age bracket are particularly susceptible to this insurance scam, which targets people with discounted deals on social media and uses forged insurance documents in order to offer a lower premium. Non-English speaking communities were also said to be at risk.

Typically, drivers who purchase insurance cover from these ghost brokers are unaware that their cover is fake and often do not discover this until they attempt to make a claim. The penalties for driving without valid insurance can cost an average of £769 per driver alongside penalties.

It’s easy to see why young drivers, typically subject to higher premiums as they are deemed a bigger insurance risk, would fall for such a scheme, but with the Financial Conduct Authority sending out three warnings this year regarding unauthorised brokers, it’s clear that more work needs to be done to combat the issue. In 2019, Delta Car and GLC Car Insurance have both had their practices exposed by the watchdog.

“Younger, less experienced drivers pay more to insure their cars – which makes them particularly susceptible to adverts for heavily-discounted insurance,” offered GoCompare’s head of Fraud Detection and Prevention, Fleur Lewis. “Ghost brokers often operate on social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, where they often use imagery and logos of established insurers to enhance their believability.”

“Ultimately, ghost broking has a detrimental effect on all drivers by increasing the cost of insurance premiums for everyone. It’s a growing problem, which the insurance industry and law enforcement agencies are working together to tackle.”

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