Travel Insurance

As part of Marsh Networks we are pleased to be working with Alternative Business Funding Ltd to give provide access to further funding options via an easy-to-use online platform.

The Funder Finder engine from Alternative Business Funding gives you access to a free, online, business funding comparison site, with over 140 funding products tailored to suit all debt-funding enquiries.

In these unprecedented times, there is significant demand from UK businesses for finance. The Funder Finder has funders supporting the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) – however, with no guarantee a business will be eligible, it is crucial to support these businesses by giving them access to a “whole-of-market” solution.

The Funder Finder will take a business owner five minutes to complete and will match the business with the most appropriate funder and product.

If you have a funding requirement, you can share the Marsh Networks link: 

www.marshnetworks.funderfinder.co.uk.

HSB Engineering have agreed to increase the cessation of works period cover from 30 days to 90 days for any client who’s contract has been halted due to COVID-19 and Government restrictions.

This change applies to all existing policy holders, who must endeavour to follow the guidelines outlined below where it is permitted and safe to do so.

Temporary Closure of Construction Sites

It would be prudent for UK contractors to prepare themselves now for when either they voluntarily or driven by government directive have to temporarily close the work site.

Pre planning considerations –

• Carry out a risk assessment
• Consider legal and contractual implications
• Create a closedown plan which specifically details critical areas on the site
• Establish responsibilities and key contacts

When actual demobilisation commences –

• Document the progress on site to date
• Ensure emergency services access plans and provisions remain in place
• Remove waste from site or secure in covered and lockable containers
• Remove or secure scaffolding to prevent access
• Inspect current temporary support works
• Establish additional temporary support works for part built structures
• Back fill or cover over excavations and ensure dewatering systems are working
• Lock anti-climb hatches on tower cranes and note the expiry date of the certificate of thorough examination
• Retain essential electrical power supplies but drain down water systems and shut off water and gas supplies
• Remove materials and plant from site back to secure depot or secure within lockable containers and buildings
• Check site fencing and repair if necessary
• Establish site security during the closure period – whether staffed or remote monitoring if a possibility
• Record contact information for key personnel and establish responsibility for site access

The following information may help you prevent a breach of your insurance cover.

Government restrictions mean many businesses have closed temporarily which can result in buildings currently being left unoccupied.

Most insurance policies have unoccupied / security conditions and if your property/ies were unoccupied prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, then the usual security conditions required by their insurer are the same as before. These conditions may include among other things weekly visits, removal of combustible waste, switching off gas, water and electricity and letterboxes sealed.

Please refer to your policy wordings for the exact requirements defined by your insurer.

For premises that have become unoccupied during the COVID-19 outbreak due to Government restrictions, a number of insurers are relaxing their policy requirements for the time being. During this period, insurers will continue to review their position.

Please contact us immediately if:

• The outbreak has left you unable to comply with the policy requirements, as insurers need to be informed and any arrangement with insurers to relax or vary the requirements needs to be agreed in writing.

This pandemic has caused implications on different classes of insurance, which may have an impact depending on the type of policy you have. To keep up to date with information on the COVID-19 pandemic and potential impact on you please stay in touch with your account executive and regularly drop in to our website for updates.

POLICY WORDINGS AND CLAIMS

Whilst working hard to support you through the COVID-19 crisis – to help you weather the storm and continue to deliver for you, our clients, (many of whom we know will be facing severe disruption) we have received a large number of enquiries from clients on their insurance arrangements and cover.

Independent Legal Advice: COVID-19 Policy Wording Review

Clients need our support and guidance, which is why, in partnership with our Network provider, Bluefin Network, we have been able to engage with Fenchurch Law – a City of London law firm specialising in insurance – to get an independent, legal opinion on a wide range of policy wordings on your behalf. Bluefin are working with Fenchurch Law to review policy wordings across 92 insurance providers and more than 1,000 products to:

• Determine what cover attaches to each in respect of COVID-19 related claims, mainly under the sections of Business Interruption, Denial of Access, Notifiable Disease or Public Authority wordings.
• Assess the likelihood of success in the event clients wish to challenge declined claims.

Given the scale of this work, the review is being prioritised according to the customer volume per insurer – starting with those insurers with the most clients on cover. Please keep a look out for further updates and information as we will be updating progress regularly.

Case-by-case Legal Support

In the meantime, we understand that some clients are suffering declined claims and may need urgent support. So, to further assist Bluefin Network members, Fenchurch Law will continue to assess declined claims on a case-by-case basis – where the claimant falls outside of the Financial Ombudsman Service qualifying criteria¹.

Fenchurch Law will review the policy wording and may be appointed to engage with the insurer on the policyholder’s behalf if there are grounds to raise a challenge. However, costs incurred for doing so will fall outside of Legal Review and will be at the client’s expense.

¹FOS qualifying criteria: – SME with an annual turnover less than £6.5 million and employing fewer than 50 people or with a balance sheet total less than £5 million at time of the complaint

Cyber security is paramount as COVID-19 has encouraged more homeworking. Unfortunately this can lead to more attacks. Discover the cyber recommendations for remote working in this useful document from Aviva.

Please click on the image to read more: