commercial & industrial insurance consultants

Business Insurance Explained

Insuring Your Assets

Property / Material Damage

This can cover your buildings, contents and stock against loss or damage caused, for example, by fire, lightning, explosion, earthquake, storm, flood, burst pipes, malicious damage, impact by aircraft vehicles & animals, forcible & violent theft, accidental damage, sprinkler leakage and subsidence. It can include cover for physical damage caused by terrorist acts, seasonal increases in stock, accidental breakage of fixed glass, the cost of repairing locks and other damage caused by a theft, employees' personal belongings, the cost of reproducing any paperwork or computer records, loss or damage of frozen or chilled goods due to power interruption, loss or damage to your property at exhibitions within the UK and loss of rent.

Business interruption

This can protect you against the effects of a reduction in revenue and/or increased costs of working due to interruption to your business following a loss at your premises which is covered under your Material Damage policy e.g. fire. It can also protect you from interruption to your business following damage to neighbouring property which prevents access to your premises, damage to your suppliers’ or customers’ premises, damage to public utilities, loss or damage at a contract site where you are working,

Goods in Transit (Non Haulage)

Covers your goods against loss or damage whilst being transported from one location to another in the UK. It can include goods being transported in your own vehicles, by haulage contractors & parcel carriers, by post or rail and samples with your sales staff.

Marine Cargo

Covers your goods (including goods being exported / imported) against loss or damage whilst being transported from one location to another anywhere in the World.

Goods in Transit (Haulage)

Covers your responsibility (as defined in your Conditions of Carriage) for loss or damage to goods being transported on your vehicles Cover can include your liability for loss or damage to - goods in temporary storage in the course of transit, being transported by your sub contractors, being stored in your warehouse or to drivers’ personal effects.

Money

Covers business money whilst at the premises (in & out of safe) and during transit to & from the bank.

Book Debts

Covers the cost of tracing and establishing how much your customers owe you and the amount of any unpaid debit balances which cannot be traced following destruction of your business records.

Fidelity Guarantee

Covers you against theft of money or goods that belong to you, or that you are responsible for, by an employee.

Computer

Covers loss or damage to computer equipment at your premises. Cover can be extended to include loss or damage to computers (including laptops) anywhere in the World. Cover can also include breakdown, reinstatement of data and increased costs of working or loss of revenue following loss or damage to computer equipment.

Cyber-Liability / Electronic Risks

For any Company that uses computers and/or the Internet it fills the void created by traditional insurance policies that do not cover e-risks. Cover can include : Damage to your computer systems and business interruption (loss of revenue) as a result of a virus or hack attack; Ransom demands or threats to introduce a virus or hack into your computer systems; Legal expenses incurred in the enforcement of your intellectual property rights on the Internet ; Defence costs and legal liability due to defamation, breaches of privacy, breaches of intellectual property rights or the breach of any statutory duty as a result of any electronic communications ; Defence costs and legal liability for other peoples’ financial losses as a result of a hacking attack or virus that emanated from your computer systems or due to their inability to access your computer system.

Engineering

Covers a range of specialist areas including :

Periodic inspection services of plant and equipment to comply with Health & safety legislation and approved codes of practice – e.g. Lifts/hoists, steam pressure vessels & systems, hot water boilers, refrigeration & air conditioning systems and fire protection systems, dust extraction systems.

Cover for explosion and collapse (steam pressure plant) or sudden and unforeseen damage to pressure plant

Cover for breakdown to plant & machinery

Cover to protect against interruption to your business following breakdown of plant & machinery

Cover for your own plant, equipment & temporary buildings at sites where you are working

Cover for loss or damage to hired in plant

Cover for loss or damage to plant hired out

Cover for damage to goods in temperature or atmosphere-controlled stores following breakdown or power interruption

Cover for machinery in transit (Dismantling loading transit unloading erection and testing maintenance cover)

Erection All Risks – Cover for the erection & installation of plant & machinery

Contract Works / Contractors All Risks

Covers accidental loss or damage to building & civil engineering works in the course of construction. Damage to any existing structures is normally excluded as they are often already insured by the Property Owner but cover can sometimes be extended if this is not the case. Cover can include - temporary & permanent work done; unfixed materials in storage, in transit to the site and on site; your plant & equipment, temporary buildings & their contents; employees tools; contents of show houses; speculative developments; your liability for loss or damage to plant, equipment, cranes & temporary buildings that you hire in; your liability to pay continuing hire charges for hired-in plant & equipment; damage caused by terrorism. Cover can be arranged on an annual basis or to cover one-off contracts.

Latent Defects * / Decennial

Protects against the cost of repairing or restoring damage caused by an inherent defect in a structure. The insurance is available for new and recently constructed commercial and industrial buildings and provides cover for up to 10 or 12 years from the date of practical completion. Cover can be taken out by the developer, owner, tenant or provider or financier (or any combination of these).

Latent Defects, are defects which have originally occurred at the time of construction but do not manifest themselves until some substantial time afterwards

Motor Fleet

Covers your business vehicles - cover can be Comprehensive, Third Party Fire & Theft or Third Party only. Cover can include automatic cover for temporary vehicles, and for use in EU countries.

Motor - Special Types

You are required by law to have third party motor insurance on all vehicles (including mechanically propelled plant – e.g. tractors, excavators, loading shovels, fork lift & reach trucks etc) which are used on a road or other public place.

Personal Accident

Covers employees against accidental injury either on a 24 hour basis, or for accidents at work only. Benefits can include a lump sum payment for death, loss of a limb, permanent total disablement and a weekly payment for temporary disablement.

Annual Business Travel

Cover can include personal accident, medical & emergency expenses, business money, personal effects for anyone travelling on company business.

Credit Insurance

Protects you against loss following the insolvency of customers. Cover can apply to specific customers only or to all customers.

Kidnap & Ransom

Cover can be provided to companies and individuals against kidnap for ransom; extortion (including the threat to abduct, inflict bodily harm, cause physical damage, introduce a computer virus, disclose proprietary information or commit a product adulteration; wrongful detention; hijack

Insuring Your Liabilities

Employers Liability

This is a legal requirement for anyone who has employees, trainees or labour sub contractors. It covers your legal liability to pay compensation including legal costs to employees who suffer an injury or disease arising out of, and during, their employment.

Public Liability

Covers your legal liability to pay compensation including legal costs for bodily injury to people other than employees and/or damage to their material property arising from the business activities at or away from the premises

Products Liability

Covers your legal liability to pay compensation including legal costs for bodily injury to people other than employees and/or damage to their material property arising from products sold, supplied, installed or repaired.

Financial Loss

This is an extension of Products Liability and covers your legal liability to pay compensation including legal costs for financial loss suffered by third parties where there has been no injury or damage.

Product Recall & Contamination

Cover for manufacturers who can fall victim to accidental/malicious contamination or product extortion, any of which may lead to a product recall. Cover can include Accidental contamination, that can occur at any stage of the manufacturing or distribution process; Malicious product tamper; Extortion - Criminals may contaminate products (or threaten to) in return for a ransom payment

Product Guarantee

Cover can include costs associated with replacing/re-covering/re-working products that have failed to perform their intended function due to faulty manufacture, design or installation (after hand over to your client); Financial losses suffered by the your customers, or third parties, as a result of a loss under the product guarantee section; Costs incurred in recalling products where there has been a failure to perform intended function or threat to cause bodily injury/property damage that may result in the assured being exposed to a legal liability

Professional Indemnity / Errors & Omissions (E&O)

Covers your legal liability to pay compensation including legal costs for negligent acts, errors or omissions in your professional advice or services. Cover can include loss of documents, dishonesty of employees, unintentional breach of copyright, libel & slander. Cover is available for a wide range of professions and businesses who provide professional advice or services

Directors and Officers Liability (D&O)

Protects directors and officers of a business against claims arising from their actions and decisions made on behalf of their company. It also reimburses them for the considerable legal costs that they can incur in defending a claim

Legal Expenses

This policy provides access to expert advice and assistance in resolving a number of different areas and if necessary will pay for the cost of legal fees and/or accountancy fees to conclude the dispute. Typical areas of cover, which often can be bought as a package include, Contract, Employment, Data Protection, Criminal Prosecution Defence, Property Protection and VAT Disputes. For larger companies wide cover is available for each specific area.

Environmental Impairment Liability

Cover is available to address the substantial environmental clean up and other related costs associated with gradual pollution & environmental impairment including :

Gradual pollution to Third Party Sites
Covers against legal liability for gradual damage caused to a third party from an insured site.

Gradual Pollution to Your Site
Covers clean-up costs following gradual pollution incurred in the course of complying with pollution regulators.

Sudden and Accidental Pollution Cover
Covers the costs of site clean-up arising from sudden pollution or accidents either to your site or third parties. Your own site clean-up costs are not included within a standard public liability policy.

Construction / Performance Bonds

There are a number of different Construction and Performance bonds that you may have to take out if you are a contractor. Such bonds guarantee you execute all the various clauses within a specific contract.

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Ashby Wray is a member of the Commercial Broking Alliance Ltd.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for General Insurance Business.
Registered in England no: 214188 * Established 1922
Kenant Chambers * 2 Bath Avenue * Wolverhampton * WV1 4EQ
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