News

Have you noticed your premiums rising? Conditions in the professional indemnity market are changing. In this article we outline what these changes are, why they have occurred and what you can do to manage them.

With the UK scheduled to leave the EU on 29th March 2019, we want to provide our customers with a summary of the insurance implications of driving your vehicle in the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. 

Commercial property is worth £883 billion and accounts for 10% of the UK’s net wealth. Yet it is estimated that in London alone 24,400 commercial units are currently empty. Around 45% of these unoccupied properties have been vacant for over two years.

Is your anti-ransomware strategy in place? Are you adequately insured in the event of an attack? If the answer is NO to either question, then you need to review your cyber-security urgently.

PwC’s 2018 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey reveals that only 49% of global organisations admit that they’ve been the target of fraud and economic crime. But, what about the remaining 51%? Does a lack of awareness mean you may not even realise that you’ve fallen victim to fraud? 

In a climate of increasing cyber-crime, CLEAR asks could data security vulnerabilities in your business expose you to a GDPR fine? And if so, what remedy can cyber insurance provide?

Until recently hardly anyone knew of the Ogden discount rate but with effect from 20th March 2017, the Ogden discount rate was reduced from 2.5% to -0.75%

Here are the key points to note about the changes and how they will affect you:

The HM Treasury reported in the Autumn Statement 2016 that the standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax (IPT), the tax on general insurance, will increase from 10 per cent to 12 per cent with effect from 1st June 2017.

The weak pound may be good news for UK exporters but for firms that use parts, equipment and raw materials from abroad to make their products – business is getting much tougher. What’s more, the government’s caginess about what the terms of ‘Brexit’ will be may cause the value of sterling to sink further in the coming months.

One effect of this downward trend is that firms that bought parts or materials from overseas when the pound was stronger will find it more costly to replace them if, say, they’re damaged or stolen.

Despite increased regulation and more stringent internal controls, fraud, theft and dishonesty are still major threats to organisations.

In a fraud barometer report, conducted by a leading auditor earlier this year, it was highlighted that the total cost (£732 million) of fraudulent activity in the UK remains worryingly high, up from £717 million in 2014.

If your organisation is looking to minimise potential losses from fraud, theft or dishonesty, insurance can offer valuable protection. Here are our 7 reasons to buy crime cover:

The Insurance Act 2015 (Act) is here, replacing the 110-year-old Marine Insurance Act 1906, which until now, governed contracts between businesses and insurers. Many industry insiders are hailing the Act as the most significant change to UK insurance contract law in more than a century.

On 16th March 2016, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered his 2016 Budget to Parliament.

As part of the delivery, HM Treasury announced that the Insurance Premium Tax (IPT), the tax on general insurance, will increase from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent, with the extra revenue going to flood defence.

The government recently made some of the biggest changes to insurance law in over a century when they announced the Insurance Act 2015. The Act introduces some new obligations on customers, which are counterbalanced by strict remedies for insurers.

While winter is drawing to a close, there are still some significant risks to properties due to bad weather. This was highlighted recently with the damage caused by Storm Imogen.

What should you do?

There are a number of steps that you can take to prepare for floods:

We are launching a new insurance product that will provide cover for 'live' property risks (risks that are not insurable in the Legal Indemnities market).

This might be of use for clients involved in litigation on the defendant side or where you have identified a risk but conversations between the parties have already taken place thus excluding the risk from the Legal Indemnities market.