Guidance Notes on Insurance Terms and Defenitions

ANSWERING QUESTIONS / STATEMENTS / ASSUMPTIONS:

Before any question is answered, read the assumptions, declarations and statements carefully, on the welcome page, which you are required to confirm by ticking a box. You should complete all the general questions and the parts of the proposal relevant to the cover required. If there is insufficient space, please use supplementary pages or Please call or email us info@shopinsurance.co.uk

Average clause

To avoid being penalised by your insurers please consider carefully the sums insured that you request. With regard to contents cover, the insured values should be the full new replacement values. In the case of building(s) this should be the full re-instatement value including removal of debris, architect & planning fees. Failure to do so entitles the insurer to apply the average clause and your claim’s payout will be reduced.

For Example:
Suppose you suffer a fire damage that causes £100,000 worth of damage to your buildings, and you have insured the buildings for a reinstatement value of £200,000. You may be forgiven for thinking no worries I have twice that amount of cover. However, the buildings re-instatement value is £400,000 and that’s when the average clause becomes important and that’s when you start worrying!

The implication of the average clause:
As the true reinstatement value of the building is £400,000, and as you are only covered for £200,000 – effectively half the real re-instatement value, the insurer will now pay half of any valid claim that you make. Therefore, in this instance the Insurance Company pays out £100,000 – and leaves you with a shortfall of £100,000 to fund from your own resources. So please to avoid this situation ensure that you enter the full re-instatement values before cover is purchased.

BASIS OF INSURANCE

Should you proceed and take out an insurance policy / contract then please be aware that the all the assumptions and questions that you answer shall form the basis of the insurance contract that you are buying.

BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEMS

Please note that if when taking out cover you declare to the insurer that you have an approved and maintained burglar alarm system then you must adhere to the declaration for the duration of your cover. The reason being that your insurer may not pay out for a claim(s) should you suffer an incident and the insurer finds out that the alarm was not kept in working order. Should your Alarm malfunction or become damaged then this is a material fact and you will need to declare this to the insurer immediately in order for them to reassess the situation and offer revised terms.

If you have declared to the insurer that there is an alarm at the insured premises then the insurer warrants that the installed alarm must be fully operational within the insured premises and that it must be put in operation when the premises are closed. Furthermore all stock / contents must be kept in an alarm-protected area of the Insured premises.

CLAIMS / PREVIOUS INSURANCE HISTORY

Please note that the insurance industry maintains certain registers for the purposes of fraud prevention. Furthermore insurers share Personal Data provided to it with fraud prevention agencies and other insurance companies for the purposes of fraud prevention and to validate the claims history of a person seeking to take out insurance. So please disclose your claims / losses full history to avoid non payment of your claim(s) at a later date.

HOW TO MAKE A CLAIM
For any circumstance that could give rise to a claim, please call immediately also within 30 days of any such circumstances call the insurer’s Claims Line / Help Line on: 0121 628 9494

You will need to supply the following details:

• Your Name
• Telephone Number and a Contact Name
• Policy Number
• Risk Address
• Correspondence Address (if different from Risk address)
• Date and time of incident
• Cause of Damage: Fire / Accident , etc
• What was Lost / Damaged?
• Estimate Cost of Claim
• Police Crime Reference Number

(see policy documents for further details)

DUTY TO DISCLOSE ALL MATERIAL FACTS

It is your duty to disclose all material facts. This means that every proposer or insured, when seeking new insurance, amending or renewing an existing policy must disclose any information which might influence the insurer in deciding whether or not to accept the risk, what the terms of the policy / certificate should be or what premium to charge. If you fail to disclose all material facts, this may render the insurance voidable from inception (the start of the contract) and enable the insurer to repudiate liability (entitle the insurer not to pay your claims).

A material fact is one likely to influence acceptance or assessment of this proposal to Underwriters. If you are in any doubt as to what constitutes a material fact, you should consult with us. Please call or email us info@shopinsurance.co.uk

UNOCCUPANCY WARRANTY

Unoccupied shall mean wholly, mainly, or partially unoccupied or not in use. If the property is / becomes and remains unoccupied for more than 28 days then restricted cover may apply. This is a material fact and you will need to declare this to the insurer immediately in order for them to reassess the situation and offer revised terms.

Getting The Right Insurance

GOODS DELIVERING
If you intend to deliver your goods to your client’s address then consider the following facts:

• Value of goods if damaged (Can be covered by the Goods in transit section of the policy)
• Transport – if you use your own vehicle or that of your employee then make sure that you have business with delivery use cover for this aspect of your trade. Failing to do so will invalidate your vehicle insurance cover and you may find that you are driving without insurance.

WORK AWAY PUBLIC LIABILITY EXTENSION

If your employees are working away from your premises then you need to have this aspect of the work covered by requesting work away Public Liability extension. For a florist this might be decorating a wedding venue, dining tables, venue room, church, etc.
For a carpet shop – fitting carpets.
Furniture shop – Carrying the goods into the client’s home.