Coronavirus Hub

The insurance industry is currently reviewing this. The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) are in talks with insurers but at the moment there is no commitment from insurers to offer payment holidays. If you pay via our Close Brothers Finance Agreement then they are offering support with payment holidays, or reduced monthly costs. Please call them to discuss your own individual account.

Personal Lines – 0333 321 8566

Commercial Lines – 0333 321 8567

or you can email customerservicespf@closebrothers.com

Please give us a call first so we can talk it through with you.

We appreciate during the current circumstances many businesses are looking to reduce costs, this this could be a false economy. For example, if your insurers have paid a claim under your policy then you are unlikely to receive any refunds at all, so you could end up paying for a whole years premium for only a few months cover. There are also some insurance policies in the UK which are compulsory through legislation, or if you cancel certain policies you may be in breach of mortgage covenants or contractual requirements.

Even with your business premises closed and whether trading has stopped or continued from home, there is still the possibility of loss. There may still be visitors (invited or not) to your premises who could be injured. Unoccupied buildings are also more susceptible to other losses, such as burst pipes, theft, arson or malicious damage. Such a loss is likely to add further financial burden to your business. If you have cancelled your insurance you will be left with these costs yourself and many businesses would struggle to survive such damage.

You should also remember that cancelling your Employers Liability will leave a “gap” in compulsory cover. Even if you are furloughing employees, they are still employed and your liabilities remain. If you are retaining any employees, this cover remains compulsory.

Businesses that supply products could still have latent Products Liability with claims arising in the future. Goods already supplied may not have been “consumed” yet and this could happen at any time. If you cancel cover and your products cause damage, injury or illness to a third party during this break in insurance, you will not have any protection.

For professionals who purchase Professional Indemnity insurance, these policies are issued on a “claims made” basis, meaning that you must have a policy in force at the time a claim is made against you, regardless of when the work was actually carried out. In effect, you will have no insurance for any works previously completed.

Your business will be making important, speedy decisions during this time of such uncertainty, it is our opinion, keeping Directors & Officers Liability insurance will be essential to protect those decision makers.

Please talk to us about your specific policy, it may be possible to reduce some of the covers and we can advise you on your individual circumstances.

We understand that during this time your turnover and wage roll could be dramatically reduced. Most Employers & Public Liability insurance policies are fixed annual contracts with turnover and wage roll updated upon renewal each year. We and BIBA are pressing insurers for an industry wide response to this request. We will keep this page updated with any changes on the insurer’s stance.

We are issuing renewals to all of our clients in the usual way. We are reviewing all policies with clients as and when they come up for renewal to ensure we are offering the best solution in the current circumstances. We can help by advising insurers on reductions in estimated turnover reducing public and products liability premiums and all furloughed staff can be treated as ‘clerical’ and therefore reduces the premiums charged for ‘manual employees’ under the employers liability section.

Many insurance policies include a “unoccupancy condition”, which can restrict cover if the property is unoccupied or impost particular conditions which you must comply with. Failure to comply with these conditions may result in some cover being removed, such as theft, malicious damage and water damage.

Due to the Governments decision to enforce social distancing measures and keeping as many people at home as possible we understand that may of our clients business premises are now temporarily unoccupied and this can be for longer than the standard 30 days insurers give for unoccupied properties. Many insurers are trying to be as flexible as possible and have extended their usual unoccupancy notification periods from 30 days to 60 or 90 days. Please call us to confirm your particular insurer’s stance.

You should ensure of course that your premises is secured, doors, windows and gates are locked, alarms are active and services shut off where possible.

Like many businesses at the minute, your continuity plan may include several staff working from home, as an employer you remain responsible for the working environments of your staff even if that is now their own homes. Injuries to staff from bad seating posture, as an example, could still result in a claim against your business. You should issue your staff reminders of sensible working positions and risk of bad posture, ask for confirmation from your staff that they are using suitable workstations, and ensure the work equipment they have taken home is correctly insured. This comes under an “all risks” section of a business policy, please check your policy to see if you have any cover or call our team to discuss.

As we have already explained all our insurers have implemented their business continuity plans and all claims departments are fully operational and contactable. We ask that you contact us with the first notification as a broker we look to manage the claim process for you. If it is an emergency and out of business hours, please call the 24 hour claims phone numbers in your policy wordings.

Some insurance policies contain obligations on the policy holder when it comes to notifying insurers of a claim. Some conditions include a time limit, as an example you may be required to notify an insurer of a theft claim immediately. Failure to comply with this condition can mean you are unable to claim an indemnity under the insurance policy. Due to the current travel restrictions imposed by the government visiting your premises may not be an option. We at JMP along with the ABI and BIBA are talking to insurers about employing more flexibility around such conditions and the insurers are currently looking at this on a case by case basis. So please give us a call to discuss.

If you become aware of a possible claim please give our team a call and we can advise you on the best course of action.

Businesses could be held liable for employees who contract COVID-19 at work, or members of the public that contract it through their business activities. Whilst such a case would be difficult to prove, businesses need to ensure that they document that they are following government guidance to mitigate any potential claims and that this is updated as and when the guidance changes.

To make sure you avoid any such risk, you should follow government guidance closely. You need to ensure you communicate constantly with your employees and customers. Prepare risk assessments and mitigation strategies, ensuring this is all documented. For a business to be held liable, a breach of duty must occur. If the government advice is followed, not only will it help protect your employees, it will also be difficult to allege such a breach.

The systems and processes that businesses implement now to safeguard their staff and customers, could determine whether claims are brought and whether they are successful. Employers should ensure that leaders within the business adhere to and enforce any measures that are implemented. If this doesn’t happen and a claim is made against the business, you could be held vicariously liable for the negligence of a manager who fails to adhere to internal policies and procedures.

Yes, we are still issuing renewals in the usual way and are able to provide you with new insurance policies. All our staff are working from home and can work remotely to ensure service levels remain unaltered. Contact one of our team if you need to discuss your insurance policy or need a car insurance quote.

Yes because Motor Insurance is a legal requirement in the UK. If you have declared your vehicles SORN then we could look to reduce your fleet insurance costs by getting fire, theft and laid up cover only, removing. Some insurers provide this option, so please call us to discuss your specific situation.

Yes you do! Motor insurance is a legal requirement in the UK and so it must remain in place unless you declare your car off the road and with a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN). However, we do recommend that you keep your car insurance cover in place even if declared off-road as your vehicle could still be impacted by a number of potential hazards such as theft, fire, storm damage, accidental damage, vandalism and malicious damage. Cancelling will leave you with no cover for theft if the car is stolen or someone attempts a break-in. There could be an increased risk of theft because there are fewer people around and emergency services are occupied elsewhere. Continuous insurance is also highly likely to be required if the vehicle was purchased using finance.

All of our insurers have implemented their continuity plans and you can still make a claim. We ask all our clients to first notify us of claims if it is in normal business hours as we can then manage this for you. If it is out of business hours then please call the 24 hour helpline on your policy documents.

Insurers’ main priority is to make sure their customers can continue to have their claims paid in this challenging environment. Given the disruptions to international transport and manufacturing because of Coronavirus, it may take longer to get the necessary parts to repair your car.

The Government has announced that all cars, vans and motorcycles, which would usually require an MOT test will be temporarily exempted from needing one from 30 March 2020. Your insurance will not be affected because of this.

If you have to drive to your workplace because of the impact of Covid-19, your insurance policy will still be valid. You do not need to contact us to update your documents.

Please give us a call so we can check your policy. We may need to add them as a named driver if this is the case we will need some information about that person (Full Name, Date of Birth, Occupation, License date and type, any claims, convictions or points).

If the person helping you has their own car insurance that includes a “driving other cars” section and they use your car with your permission, they can drive your car. However, they will only get third-party cover so any damage to your own vehicle would not be covered if an accident happened.

There is no need to notify your insurer if you are providing volunteer support to your local community with grocery and pharmacy collections, dropping neighbours for appointments or signed up to the NHS volunteer responders. Your motor insurance allows for volunteering so long as your support is on a volunteer basis.