public liability
- Thread starter werewolf
- Start date
don't just check on price, check on what's covered for what price. You'd be surprised about the differences then 
all fine and dandy with price, but wait till you have to put a claim through with them. We carried out some work where one of my guys pebble dashed the side of a guys car with gravel while using a strimmer. Clearly our fault, we admitted it and submitted the claim as such. It took over 6 months to sort out, numerous calls by me and the other guy. Also had problems with them on personal finance as well.
Thermo said:
Curry the night before?
werewolf said:
I went with these this year, saved me about 50% in money on last years cover and gained £1,000,000 in professional indemnity cover
http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/
My tuppence worth
a) Woodulike is spot on, the devil is in the detail, pay particular attention to the exclusions and the excess's so you know exactly what you're getting.
b) Don't fall for specious special offers like "includes £1m Professional Indemnity (PI) cover", these often mean little. The chance of any self-employed tradesman claiming under PI is so ridiculously small it means nothing.... they might as well throw in free Alien Invasion Insurance for all the good it'll do you. Not saying there's anything at all wrong with such policies, it's just that the "free chocolate teapot" doesn't make them any better either.
c) Don't be too influenced by individual horror or "they're great" stories, I'm not sticking up for anyone here, quite the reverse.... they can all be pants, like everything these days any claim you make will go to a big call centre type place and how well it is handled depends largely on how good the person who picks up your file is. They could be great, they could be pants... you'll never know until you have to claim. Add to this the fact that claims handling can be subcontracted or you might be buying from an agent, so you could go with say "Electricians Ins" only to find that all "Electricians Ins" just write under a binder and/or the claims are handled by say.... AXA, who in fairness to at least some of the thousands of claims staff at AXA... then may well handle it beyond reproach.
So find a policy that covers what you want for a price you want to pay and enjoy the fact that you are buying insurance in probably the best insurance regulated country in the world and that your claim WILL be paid.
Or of course you could try using an old fashioned broker, a qualified professional who can advise you... offer you tailored advice, give you assistance with any claims and you don't pay a penny for it..... of course they're not that easy to find these days now everyone DIY's their insurance on the interweb.
a) Woodulike is spot on, the devil is in the detail, pay particular attention to the exclusions and the excess's so you know exactly what you're getting.
b) Don't fall for specious special offers like "includes £1m Professional Indemnity (PI) cover", these often mean little. The chance of any self-employed tradesman claiming under PI is so ridiculously small it means nothing.... they might as well throw in free Alien Invasion Insurance for all the good it'll do you. Not saying there's anything at all wrong with such policies, it's just that the "free chocolate teapot" doesn't make them any better either.
c) Don't be too influenced by individual horror or "they're great" stories, I'm not sticking up for anyone here, quite the reverse.... they can all be pants, like everything these days any claim you make will go to a big call centre type place and how well it is handled depends largely on how good the person who picks up your file is. They could be great, they could be pants... you'll never know until you have to claim. Add to this the fact that claims handling can be subcontracted or you might be buying from an agent, so you could go with say "Electricians Ins" only to find that all "Electricians Ins" just write under a binder and/or the claims are handled by say.... AXA, who in fairness to at least some of the thousands of claims staff at AXA... then may well handle it beyond reproach.
So find a policy that covers what you want for a price you want to pay and enjoy the fact that you are buying insurance in probably the best insurance regulated country in the world and that your claim WILL be paid.
Or of course you could try using an old fashioned broker, a qualified professional who can advise you... offer you tailored advice, give you assistance with any claims and you don't pay a penny for it..... of course they're not that easy to find these days now everyone DIY's their insurance on the interweb.
LondonRay said:
Well, we found one years ago. Still with them, still great service and good policies
Music to my 'wallet' and profit & loss accounts tooLondonRay said:Music to my earsWoodYouLike said:
LondonRay said:
Sorry didn't mean it was a free offer, I meant that after I choose it the total for my public liability and professional indemnity was still 50% less than my previous cost.
As for needing Prof indemnity I would disagree after a court case this year where I started out as a witness only to be told by the judge I had to become a 2nd defendant. Public liability wouldn't pay out to cover legal costs as technically I hadn't damaged anything and the case was based around contractual wording.
I am now covered for everything except 'an alien invasion'
That piques my interest no end Dave, but I shall refrain from being nosey.
However you must admit that what you're talking about is going to be a pretty rare occurence.
That said I guess it just goes to show that in our increasingly litigious society you just never know when you're going to end up facing a legal bill etc and we all end up with higher premiums.
However you must admit that what you're talking about is going to be a pretty rare occurence.
That said I guess it just goes to show that in our increasingly litigious society you just never know when you're going to end up facing a legal bill etc and we all end up with higher premiums.