News

Brokerbility Holdings Ltd ‘BHL’ (part of the Clear Group) has been awarded the Gold Standard by Investors in People (IIP), following a rigorous assessment process conducted by an IIP assessor in August. This is an inspirational achievement for everyone at BHL and the Clear Group and a testament to BHL’s drive, focus and commitment to ‘make work better’. It is also the hallmark of a conscientious employer and the product of an outstanding workplace, and we should all feel very proud of this well-deserved accolade.  

The chief objective of most employee benefits programmes is to increase staff happiness. The advantages of doing so are clear - overarching business goals of expansion and increased efficiency become more achievable, staff turnover and the associated costs of recruitment can be lowered, and overall productivity can be improved.

But a benefits programme that is not effective or well optimised for the business offers the reverse of these - and can instead constitute a risk.

If your business offers staff a benefits package, evaluating whether it constitutes an asset or a potential liability to your business should be a priority.

We explain why - and how it can be efficiently assessed - below.

Ben Shuttleworth, Corporate Marketing Manager at CLEAR, has been accepted onto the Zurich Leadership Academy.

We are delighted to reveal that two CLEAR employees have been named in Insurance Business UK’s list of Rising Stars 2021.

Eamonn O’Mahoney, Head of Business & Customer Service at CLEAR’s recent acquisition Luker Rowe has been accepted onto the Zurich Leadership Academy.

We are delighted to announce Clear Insurance Management’s new partnership with VLC & Partners – a leading insurance broker based in the Netherlands. 

Award-winning, independent broking group CLEAR today announces the acquisition of Anderson White Insurance Brokers. This latest deal represents the 30th acquisition made by CLEAR since it was established in 2001, and the group has more than doubled in size since ECI Partners invested in 2018.  

If you’re a buyer of Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance, you’re likely aware that the market has hardened significantly in recent years.

An imbalance between supply and demand has led to insurers becoming increasingly selective about the risks that they write.

The Whiplash Reform Programme went live on 31 May 2021, following a government review of whiplash claims that result from low-value road traffic accidents.

The Whiplash Reform Programme changes how insurers handle these types of claims. The aim of the reform is to reduce the costs to insurers and curb opportunistic and fraudulent claims. The reform will also allow unrepresented claimants to claim for injury through the Road Traffic Accident (RTA) Small Claims Portal – Official Injury Claim Service (OICS).

Deniz Djemal of CLEAR and Ben Hutson of our recent acquisition Luker Rowe have been chosen for RSA’s 2021 Broker Leader Programme.

CLEAR director, Dan Innes, who is spearheading CLEAR’s initiative to reduce its carbon emissions and become carbon net zero by 2030, agreed to share his thoughts on how he sees the UK insurance sector tackling global climate change. 

The operational and economic impact of the pandemic on businesses may have given rise to an unforeseen consequence: underinsurance. 

Over the weekend (20-21 March 2021) CNA Hardy were the victims of a large scale global Cyber Attack. Investigations continue into the cause and as to whether any customer data has been compromised.

CNA Hardy have stressed that the security of their data and that of their insureds ’and other stakeholders is of the utmost importance to them. Should they determine that this incident has impacted their policyholders’ data, they will notify those parties directly.

For more information please visit www.cnahardy.com

The Clear Group announces the acquisitions of HIA International based in Coventry and Bedford and Luker Rowe Chartered Insurance Brokers based in Amersham.  These latest deals reflect a continuation of Clear’s strategy to acquire well-run and profitable broking firms as well as attracting brokers to join its Brokerbility network.

Rentcharges have been in existence since the 1290 Statute of Quia Emtores, which was payable to the lord of the manor in perpetuity.  They became popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras as a mechanism to release land from its manorial owners and get the land into use.  Once the land was developed, the subsequent owners would then be liable for a yearly charge, normally ranging between £2 and £10. 

We recently welcomed Mike Edgeley to CLEAR as our new Group CEO.

Mike was kind enough to spare a few minutes to discuss his background, his thoughts on CLEAR, and his plan for his first few months.

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is an invasive non-native species of weed, identifiable by its red bamboo-like stems and green spade-shaped leaves. Japanese Knotweed spreads quickly and is known to cause damage to the structures and substructures of buildings by taking advantage of weak points in the buildings' fabric, such as cracks in masonry, caused by movement in the substructure. Consequently, the presence of Japanese Knotweed is an important consideration during a property transaction or property development.

The UK formally left the EU at 11pm on 31 December 2020, and while the main treaty is agreed, there is still a lot of detail that the UK and EU need to sort out. One of the key issues that remains unresolved is the fact that the rules relating to financial services have not been finalised. Indeed, there is relatively little in the treaty about financial services at all. 

On Friday, the Supreme Court handed down their judgment on the High Court test case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), regarding business interruption insurance claims and COVID-19. 

The case involved the policy wordings of six insurers, and in a number of respects the court found in favour of the FCA. The judgment is binding on the six insurers, and insurers with similar wordings will be required to interpret their wordings in light of the ruling. 

As we hunker down for a third national lockdown, it may be necessary for you or your tenants to vacate your premises entirely or change how it is occupied.