Advice Centre
» Commercial Legal Expenses
» Public Liability
» Employers Liability
» Health & Safety at Work
» Business Interruption Insurance
» Composite Panels
» Office Tenants & Leaseholders
» Shared Office Insurance
» Office Block Contents & Buildings Insurance
» Fire Risk / Appliance Testing
» Fire Risk / Smoking
Commercial Legal Expenses
Commercial Legal Expenses insurance has been available in the UK for over 35 years. The cover originated in France in the early 1900s but did not become legal in the UK until 1967. As society becomes increasingly litigious Commercial Legal Expenses is becoming increasingly important. Commercial Legal Expenses can be purchased as a ‘stand-alone’ product or can be included as section of a package policy by most insurers.
Why buy Commercial Legal Expenses?
Commercial Legal Expenses insurance provides protection against ‘the cost of potential commercial legal disputes, providing the legal advice and representation businesses need to minimise their exposure to these risks’.
Legal Defence Costs Covered.
Solicitors can be amongst the most expensive professionals in terms of hourly rates. Charges can range from around £150 to £250 per hour. Added to this can be the barristers’, court and other administrative costs and expenses. Costs like this soon add up and can have a negative impact on the profits of the business.
Employment Dispute Legal Costs Covered.
The growing number of employment tribunals and increasing compensation awards provide evidence that today’s society is becoming much more litigious (inclined to take legal action). In 2008 the total value of compensation awarded exceeded £30 million.
Changes in Legislation
Increasing demands are put on companies with new and more onerous legislation being constantly introduced. There is also an added burden from the many European Union (EU) directives that companies have to adhere to. It has been suggested that only 1 in 10 companies actively try to keep up with changes in European Union laws.
TAX, PAYE and VAT Protection
Tax investigations by HM Revenue and Customs place heavy burdens on businesses countrywide. There has been particular focus in recent years over the status of small to medium enterprises and their contractors.
Public Liability
Public liability or third party liability insurance covers you and your business against any damages that may be awarded to a member of the public as a consequence of your business’s negligence or actions. Claims and defence costs can often run to tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds which if not insured would cripple most small businesses. Public liability insurance also provides financial support to cover legal fees, costs and expenses that may occur when defending a claim. Public liability insurance is not compulsory across all businesses, however there are certain businesses that are required to have public liability insurance.
Examples of Public Liability Claims
- Janet Davies, an office administrator, who slipped on a wet floor whilst shopping for her daughter's wedding, resulting in her fracturing her wrist
- Keith Saunders, a football fan, was out celebrating his football teams' 5 – 1 win with friends at his local restaurant and suffered from food poisoning.
- Kelly Stone, an elderly pensioner fractured her hip when the pizza delivery man from Lots and Lots Pizza Ltd accidently knocked her over whilst he was running back to his bike.
The claimants were all instructed a solicitor to make a claim for:
- Loss of earnings
- Medical expenses
- Taxi fares
- General damages/compensation
- Legal costs
Please note: Case studies are fictional; any resemblance to real claims or individuals is entirely coincidental.
Employers Liability
Employers have certain responsibilities to their employees to ensure that they do not suffer injury or death during the course of their work. Employers’ liability insurance covers your business against the cost of compensation and legal fees as a result of injury or illness caused to an employee by the business negligently. Employers liability insurance is compulsory by law unless your business is not a limited company and you are the only employee or you only employ close family members who are not likely to bring an action against you or your business is a limited company and you are the only employee and own 50% or more of the issued share capital.
Examples of Employers Liability Claims:
- Steven Smith, a factory worker, who has lost a finger whilst working on a cutting machine. Whilst working on a cutting machine, Steven’s middle finger was dragged, along with the metal he was working on, into the machine, unfortunately amputating the upper part of his middle finger on his right hand.
- Linda Staffer, an office worker, who slipped on the canteen floor, breaking her wrist. Linda was collecting morning coffee from the canteen when unfortunately she slipped and fell breaking her left wrist. The first aider was called and they arranged for Linda to be taken to hospital.
John Worry, a road worker, who is alleging he is suffering from vibration white finger. Over the past few months Mr Worry has noticed numbness in several of his fingers especially when the weather is cold. More recently his fingers have taken on a blue appearance. His doctor has advised him that this could be due to his work and so Mr Worry has contacted a solicitor.
The claimants were all instructed a solicitor to make a claim for:
- Loss of earnings
- Medical expenses
- Taxi fares
- General damages/compensation
- Legal costs
Please note: The above case studies are fictional; any resemblance to real claims or individuals is entirely coincidental.
Health & Safety at Work
Who is the HSE?
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national independent watchdog for work related health, safety and illness The HSE act in the public interest to reduce work related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.
Where can I obtain information on Health and Safety and Employers Liability Insurance?
Businesses can get guidance of Health and Safety and Employers Liability Insurance issues from www.hse.gov.uk. If you are unsure whether you need Employers Liability insurance when taking of your Commercial Business Insurance please read the HSE’s guide for employers: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse40.pdf. The HSE also offers a “Better Business” initiative for smaller businesses - www.hse.gov.uk/simplification/business.htm.
Please list some examples of injury hazards in a workplace?
Some of the types of injuries that can be sustained at work can be:
- Manual handling and lifting, especially lifting heavy and awkward loads
- Slips on wet or food contaminated floors
- Falls from height
- Being struck by hand tools including knives, especially during boning out
- Machinery such as conveyors, band saws, derinders, skinning machines, pie machines, packaging machinery
- Exposure to harmful substances and hot objects for example splashes and vapour from cleaning chemicals.
- Work related upper limb disorders from repetitive work, such as cutting, boning or jointing
- Noise induced hearing loss from noisy areas, for example powered saws or blast-freezers / chillers, heavy food processing machinery
- Dermatitis from prolonged exposure to water and detergents and rubber / latex gloves
- Occupational asthma from exposure to flour, bakery dust, grain, egg and fish protein
- Carcinogenic risk from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from smoking meat products
- Ill health from long term working at reduced temperatures
- Rhinitis and conjunctivitis from exposure to grain, flour, spices and seasoning
- Work related stress from working in a high stress environment.
Business Interruption Insurance
What is Business Interruption Insurance?
Business Interruption insurance provides protection against financial loss to your business. Cover only applies if the financial loss was caused by an incident where the material damage was covered. For example, there is a fire at your business premises and damage is caused to the buildings and contents. It takes the commercial insurance company 6 months to replace and repair the fire damage. The business interruption cover under your commercial insurance would pay for your loss of income or loss of gross profit for this period.
What does business interruption insurance cover?
There are two core elements business interruption policies cover, namely:
Loss of income/fees or a loss of gross profit following reduction in turnover
Increased cost of working to avoid or reduce a reduction in turnover/gross profit
What is increased cost of working insurance?
Increased cost of working insurance provides cover for additional expenditure incurred for the sole purpose of avoiding the reduction in turnover. The policy covers expenditure such as:
- Renting alternative premises whilst the insured are waiting for their damaged premises to be repaired
- Hiring replacement machines and equipment whilst permanent replacements are on order, or repairs are being completed
- Paying for the cost of transporting staff to another location to be productive
- Paying for overtime working at other premises
Is the business interruption cover unlimited?
No, the amount of business interruption cover is limited up to the amount shown on your commercial insurance documents and up to a maximum indemnity period (e.g. 12 months) . However, both the amount of business indemnity cover and indemnity period can be increased. It is important that you calculate your loss of gross profit for 12 or 24 months and request adequate cover.
Can business interruption cover be purchased in isolation?
No as this cover only comes into force when an insured peril causes material damage. Therefore, it must be purchased as part of a commercial business insurance policy.
Composite Panels
What type of business might have composite panels?
A business involved in food processing where temperature control is vital will have composite panels. We have a panel of insurers who special in Meat wholesalers Insurance, Food processing insurance, Food manufacturers insurance. Whatever the trade we our team is here to help you you’re your commercial business insurance.
What are composite panels?
It is important that you declare that your premises have composite panels when taking out commercial business insurance. Composite panels are an efficient building system, which has high insulation and hygiene qualities. The panels consist of two skins, usually metal, and an inner insulation core.
What makes composite panel’s high risk?
The inner insulation core can be combustible/flammable, therefore increasing the risk of fire. As fire is an important cover under your commercial insurance it is important to establish the type of composite panels at your premises.
Are all composite panels combustible/flammable?
No. There are many types of composite insulation and not all of them are combustible. However, regardless of the type of composite panels your commercial insurance provider will need to be informed.
Which composite panels are considered to be combustible/flammable?
- The main combustible ones are:
- Expanded Polystyrene (EPS)
- Fire Retardant EPS
- Polyurethane (PUR)
- Polyisocyanurate (PIR) (standard)
- Polyisocyanurate (PIR) (approved) will provide some fire resistance but is still considered combustible
- Despite being combustible if your premises has any of these panels we will still be able to provide your with a commercial insurance quote and explain the terms set out by the insurance company.
Which composite panels are considered to be non-combustible/non-flammable?
Considered to be non-combustible insulation materials:
- Foamed glass
- Glass fibre
- Mineral wool
It is important to provide your commercial insurance company as much information of about the composite panels as possible.
Office Tenants & Leaseholders
We highly recommend that you check the terms of your lease or tenancy agreement to establish who is responsible for the arrangement of buildings insurance.
If your lease/tenancy agreement stipulates that it is your responsibility to arrange and maintain the buildings we can include this under your office insurance and note the interest of the landlord and/or their agents.
If your lease/tenancy agreement stipulates that it is your landlord’s responsibility to arrange and maintain the buildings insurance we recommend that you seek the lanlords permission to obtain alternative building insurance quotes. Unfortunately, some landlords and their agents become complacent and expect their tenant to pay uncompetitive buildings insurance premiums.
Our team will be happy to quote you or your landlord competitive Office Buildings Insurance.
Shared Office Insurance
It is very important to inform your office insurers if you operate from shared premises.
Your office insurance provider will need to know if your proportion of the office is self-contained and the business activities of the other tenants.
We have a number of office insurance products that would suit your shared office insurance requirements.
Office Block Contents & Buildings Insurance
Arranging office insurance for your company’s office block is more complex than arranging standard office insurance. The company may own or be responsible for boundary walls, fences, gates and car parks. The office block may be shared between several other businesses. When evaluating the required sums insured consideration is required for the costs of re-instating underground service pipes and Internet cables. Further consideration is required for architects, surveyors and legal fees necessarily incurred in the re-instatement or repair of the premises.
Fire Risk / Appliance Testing
Electrical equipment malfunction and the outbreak of fire is always a real risk within a modern office. By law, appliances must be checked and tested periodically by law.
For further information please visit: www.hse.gov.uk/electricity/maintenance/safety.htm
Failure to comply with such regulations may invalidate your office insurance policy
Fire Risk / Smoking
Offices are required by law to ban smoking within the building. However, the risks posed by smoking outside should be considered. Precautions to prevent fire such as the provision of sand buckets for extinguishing cigarettes should be evaluated.
Our team will be happy to provide you with office insurance risk assessment guidance.
