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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. 

CLEAR will be 20 years old this year, and after two decades of successful growth the business now handles over £200m in premiums, has completed 27 acquisitions and has more than 400 employees working across 10 offices. In 2017, CLEAR secured the backing of ECI Partners, which resulted in a doubling of EBITDA.

We’ve put together a Hard Market Video Series, where key members of the CLEAR team discuss the issues being faced across various insurance sectors and offer some helpful advice to insurance buyers.

Systematic checks for an international motor insurance certificate (IMIC), also known as a ‘green card’, may be introduced as proof of third-party motor insurance at the border of EEA member states if the Brexit transition period ends without a trade deal. 

We’ve put together a Hard Market Video Series, where key members of the CLEAR team discuss the issues being faced across various insurance sectors and offer some helpful advice to insurance buyers.

 In support of local Leicester organisation Hope Against Cancer, we’re excited to announce the release of a Christmas charity single on 2 December 2020 – It’s Christmas (Santa’s On His Way).

Born out of an idea that account executive Tommy Reid, from Clear Group company BHIB Insurance Brokers, had with Tracey Hallam from Hope, the single will help raise much-needed money for this amazing charity.

We’ve put together a Hard Market Video Series, where key members of the CLEAR team discuss the issues being faced across various insurance sectors and offer some helpful advice to insurance buyers.

Our property specialist, James King, recently published a feature in the RICS Property Journal on the ramifications of Covid-19 on insuring properties.

We’re pleased to be able to share the feature, reproduced in full below.

The risk of what is termed ‘long Covid’ has been much reported recently - and insurers are reacting.

‘Long Covid’ is the term given to long term symptoms of Covid-19. While initial scientific studies into the disease suggested its duration was relatively short, more recent research suggests a small portion of people infected will suffer from symptoms over a much longer period.  

Every year we team up with Cockpit Arts, the UK’s only creative business incubator for craftspeople, to offer a special award for professional makers and artists. And each year we receive numerous engaging, exciting and innovative entries from across the UK. 

But there can only be one winner — and for 2021, we’re very pleased to announce that it’s Spirit Artist Jeweller, Chloé Valorso.

We’ve put together a Hard Market Video Series, where key members of the CLEAR team discuss the issues being faced across various insurance sectors and offer some helpful advice to insurance buyers.

We have all seen many changes in 2020. One of these being a transformation to the cyber security threat landscape. The year has brought out all kinds of cyber criminals — from opportunistic COVID-10 phishers to amateur student hackers taking down educational systems to prevent access to online classes. As the cyber security threat landscape continues to change, so must we.

This post will identify current and significant threats to help you to prepare for whatever changes come next.

As we head into the second national lockdown, it may be necessary for you or your tenants to vacate your premises entirely or change how it is occupied. 

Following on from our 'hardening' insurance market article, we’ve put together a Hard Market Video Series where key members of the CLEAR team discuss the issues being faced and offer some helpful advice to insurance buyers.

We’ve previously written about why the insurance market is getting harder, however as the issue remains complex, we wanted to pay particular attention to the key issues in a hard market for Financial Lines.

Read the following article to learn more — and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, our contact details can be found at the bottom of this article.

Many of us have felt the effects that COVID-19 has had on the education sector with school closures and university lockdowns. On top of these pandemic effects, educational institutions are also having to struggle with coping with cyber crime.

We are excited to announce that we have partnered with Sparqa Legal to offer our clients a cost-effective online legal platform to help answer legal questions and create documents without the help of a lawyer.