The Insurance Centre - Norwich

GAP Insurance - Can you afford to be without it?

2010-04-30T10:49:00.004+01:00

GAP Insurance or Guaranteed Asset Protection to give its full name is designed to make up the shortfall between the current market value motor insurers pay out in the event of a total loss or stolen vehicle claim, and either:

a) The amount which remains outstanding on a Finance Agreement – known as Finance GAP or b) The original amount paid for the vehicle – known as Invoice GAP

Gap Insurance is available on: -

+ Cars & light vans (up to 3.5 tons)

+ Driving Schools

+ Motorcycles

+ Motorhomes

+ Taxi

A weak car-sales market isn't just bad news for car manufacturers, dealers and the like. It can also be bad news for you the consumer. The value of used cars has declined which probably means your car is worth less than you think, and more perhaps importantly even less than you owe. This can mean that if your car is stolen or written-off, you may not get enough from your insurance policy to cover your lease or loan- leaving you out of pocket and without a car.

Car dealerships offer GAP insurance but at significantly higher premiums than typical available via a broker. We have seen examples where a motor dealer is offering similar cover at 4 times the premium. As with all insurances it pays to shop around.

Purchase Price Protection is available for up to 6 months after you bought the vehicle whereas Finance Protection is available at any time within the first 3 months of the loan.

An example of Gap Insurance:

Vehicle Cost: €20,000

Deposit: €1,000

18 months later….

Insurance settlement after write off: €12,500

Outstanding amount to pay on Finance: €14,500

Shortfall to pay: €2,000

Finance Gap will pay: €2,000

On the Fiddle?

2010-04-01T17:01:00.003+01:00

Most cases of Insurance fraud are identified before a claim is paid out, however recent estimates published say that three to five percent is paid out on claims which are later identified to be fraudulent.

That said, insurance fraud is oppurtunist by nature, and so some claims go undetected.

The industry is working hard to address these issues.By monitoring and analysing fraudulent claims and using this knowledge to strengthen their methods of detecting fraud. This approach ensures that the industry is constantly finding new and improved ways to tackle fraud.

However, in these difficult economic times, fraud is more likely to occur owing to increased finacial pressures. One particular area of concern is known as 'Fronting'. Fronting occurs when the main driver of a vehicle is incorrectly stated by the policyholder when taking out a motor policy in order to achieve a lower premium.

Research was commissioned looking at how motorists viewed the practise of 'fronting'. Several couldn't define the practise and one in five young motorists admitted to previously, or currently, using a 'fronted' insurance policy.

The activity aimed to highlight to consumers that by providing misleading information, motorists are committing insurance fraud, which could invalidate a policy, leaving them exposed to additional costs, and potentially footing the bill, if they are involved in a accident.

The research also indicated a disconnect between drivers' perceptions of fronting as a 'white lie' versus the reality of it as a legal offence.

There was also some confusion over responsibility for damages in the event of an accident. A third (31%) of drivers wrongly assume that they will be covered if the policy is 'fronted', where in fact, if proven, insurers can refuse to pay for damage to the "insured" vehicle and may
look to recover third party claim costs from the policyholder, driver or both.

So, when giving information regarding your insurance be accurate and don't fib as you may be found out and it cost you 'big time'.

Are you a Liability?

2010-03-24T13:35:00.003Z

A lot of people in the UK are self-employed or have their own businesses. These businesses can be involved in lots of various types of activities from builders to cleaners from scaffolding to book-keepers. The compensation culture of the present day means that all businesses owe it to themselves to ensure that their public liability insurance is not only in place but is also sufficient should the worst ever happen.

If you are a one man/woman operation you need to have a Public Liability policy to cover you whilst you are undertaking your work. The policy will provide cover for damage to Third Party property or person(s) for which you can be held responsible for.

Obviously if you employ anyone then you are legally required to cover those employees against injury for which you are also responsible, this is essential when carrying out your companies trade.

Areas of concern are when people use sub-contractors / labour to help them undertake certain jobs that may need some additional assistence, cover for these people needs to be looked at very carefully as although they may have their own seperate cover they are possibly working under the direction of the company employing their assistance and if something happens to them whilst doing that job it is you they will be looking at for recompense.

It is also worth considering that if the sub-cotracted labour has no policy or their policy has lapsed then if an incident happens the customer will be looking not to them but to you for possible claim.

So, in conclusion, we are advising you seek help from ourselves and we can guide you as to the cover you need, don't try and cut corners with regard to your employees or sub-contractors because you could get into very expensive waters.

For your Liability requirements and sound advice give me a call on 01603 403637 Philip Beckett.

In our next Blog we are going to tackle Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Why not pop round to my office at Home?

2010-03-10T10:53:00.002Z

With the changing work culture many of you may have an office at home from which to work. It's likely that you haven't even given a second thought to how your Insurance is effected, but you certainly should.

The need to inform home insurers that you operate a business from home, especially if you have clients visiting for business cannot be underestimate.

If you have stock (say for an E-bay business) this will be excluded if you have not cleared this with your home insurer. Not only is the stock excluded but it may invalidate the policy entirely!

We can provide policies which incorporate a level of cover for working from home for most types of business but the underwriters need to be informed at the outset of trading from home.

There are also specialist policies available combining the Home and Business Insurance or stand alone Working from home policies which may prove of benefit to people.

The moral of the story is: - if you work from home and have an office, stock or anything business related at home, check your Household Insurance as it is likely that you not covered. If this is the call us on 01603 400755 and we be only too pleased to find you a policy suited to the needs of you and your business.

Sun, Sea, Sand and erm... Insurance

2010-02-25T13:56:00.003Z

So imagine you are sitting on the edge of your sunbed, leaning over your beloved with the suncream in hand thinking to yourself, "How luck am I?" I would pay for this job" when in the corner of your eye you see a fellow holiday maker is carried past on a stretcher clutching their head. "Well thats knackered their holiday up" you think - But what should be going through your mind is "I am glad I took out that Travel Insurance".

Amazingly many people still don't bother with insurance for themselves, their families and loved ones when going on holiday. The cost can be surprisingly affordable especially when you consider the probable expenses that can be racked up if you are unfortunate enough to have a mishap.

I can speak from personal experience as to how things can get out of hand when a "holiday goes bad". We spent 2 weeks in the South of France .I know what you are thinking "flash git", but alas not. It was in a tent shared with many of God's creatures including very large spiders and the odd (sometimes very odd!) reptile.

So, we made our way back by train to remote French station just short of our Gare du nord, unfortunately an incident further up the line created a log jam effect. We didn't fret initially as we had plenty of time make our connection on the Eurostar. The carriage got hotter and hotter, the delay got longer and longer.

When we finally arrived at the station we had to break the Olympic 800 metres record to get to the Eurostar terminal only to arrive just in time to see the train being waved off, Bugger.

We managed to talk our way on to the last train back to U.K despite being initially told to wait until tomorrow. So I finally started to unwind, and sat on train thinking about how it could've been a lot worse. Little did I know what was in store!

As we approached our station in Kent we gathered our belongings and waited for the train to stop- we were still waiting 60 miles up the line! I had contemplated pulling the emergency cord and doing a runner but thought better of it. We managed to get a taxi back to the correct station over an hour away. Hoorah arrived at the station.

We had arrived at station to pick up our car and get home in one piece albeit somewhat later than expected. Except the car park entrance is locked up for the night. By now my partner and the kids had almost gone into meltdown so we had to get to a hotel for the night and get car in the morning and head home.

How i didn't cry i don't know but nevertheless we came back the next day and went home some 24 hours late. At least I knew that I'd be able to recover my expenses on the Insurance that I had not forgotten to take out.

Food at Gare du Nord - £40
Taxi fare - £65
Hotel Rooms for 1 night - £180
Travel Insurance - PRICELESS

So take heed of my little adventure and remember that things do go disastrously wrong and you can give yourself peace of mind get an instant Travel Insurance Quote now. Its a false economy not to have any Insurance and could cost you a great deal of money.

Driving Instructors Insurance from Insurance4Instructors. Everything a Driving Instructor ever needed and more!

2010-02-16T12:30:00.004Z

Our specialist provider Insurance4Instructors (the google rank #1 in its category), is not only one of the leading providers of Driving Instructors Car Insurance in the UK but also provide Gap Insurance, Breakdown Assistance and Public Liability Insurance to Driving Instructors. These form part of an impressive portfolio of products available to Driving Instructors by The Insurance Centre.

Gap Insurance - Vehicles depreciate in value at an alarming rate. If your new vehicle is a write off following an accident, fire or theft your insurers will only pay the current market value for the vehicle. This policy would pick up the difference and not leave you out of pocket. This policy will be offered by the motor dealer but not at these amazingly low prices.

Breakdown Assistance - No driving instructor should be without breakdown cover and this policy is specifically designed with Driving Instructors in mind and is certainly cheaper than many of the alternative available.

Public Liability Insurance - Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against a variety of risks which in today's compensation culture is a must.

For more information visit our website at www.insurance-centre.com

Motor Insurance - Beware your quote may not be quite as it appears.

2010-02-15T16:30:00.006Z

We all have transport namely cars, vans or motorcycles and all these modes of travel need to be insured.There are many questions that have to asked prior to a quotation being given, all of which have a baring on the premium and the terms offered for each risk.

With the influx of the Comparison websites a great many people attempt to get their own quotations, unfortunately this has produced a few problems which people should be aware of.

The accuracy of the answers is very important and people can inadvertently put in the wrong details thus rendering the policy void with any claim not being dealt with. Some people mis-read the questions e.g Details are required of all motoring convictions-They then fail to put down details of convictions that are not on the driving license.

The second problem arises when people endeavour to manufacture a premium suitable to them by withholding various key facts. Such information is vital to the underwriting process and by simply lying about "Who the main Driver is" or "Where is the vehicle is parked overnight" can render the insurance invalid.

Another trick used by companies is to increase the Policy Excess that you have on your policy unbeknown to the policyholder. There are 2 of types of excess that exist on a policy, the "Compulsory" excess that all policies have, and a Voluntary Excess that you can adjust. One Comparison site boasted that increasing the voluntary excess to £500 would result in a saving of between 25 and 30%. What it didn't say that was that the voluntary excess would apply as on top of any compulsory excess which could potentially result in an excess of £1000!

So, people think "Yes i don't mind paying the first, say £200" and i will get a 5% discount of the price.What they fail to realise is that lurking on the policy there is already a £150 Compulsory Excess therefore in the event of a claim they will have to pay the first £350.

It is all very well in this day and age just considering the bottom line price but it is worth contacting a broker like ourselves we can guide you to a policy to suit all of you, taking you through the pitfalls that lay in your path and we could well beat it on many occasions if not get very close to the comparison website premiums.

That way you support your local business as you would like to be supported in the businesses you all work in and you have someone you can talk to or call and see us.

So why risk problems just call us and we will help you on anything motor.

regards
Philip Beckett

For more information visit our website at www.insurance-centre.com

Enjoy a glass of wine whilst Phil sorts out your home insurance.

2010-02-12T10:59:00.002Z

When we all sit down tonight and maybe crack open a bottle of wine or tuck into our evening meal we have lovingly prepared the last thing we would probably ever consider doing during that evening is give a single thought to insurance.

However, what I would like you all to do in the next few weeks and days ahead is to do that very thing.

Firstly in this initial Blog lets talk Home Insurance.

Unbelievably many people have no insurance for Buildings or Contents insurance.

We all put things to one side and when nothing untowards happens, we don't give it a second's thought, especially when it's perceived as extremely tedious (and some would say boring.)

Some people recently caught up in the major flooding that has taken place may have also not given insurance a second thought but when that water began to enter their homes I bet they wished they had.

Why not have a little think about what you possess, the clothes you own and the money you spent on them, the jewellery you have, or perhaps have been given by friends or relatives, furniture that you would have to replace, t.v's, music systems everything you have in the world.

Now imagine having nothing and it all gone.What would you do, how much time would it take you to accummulate it all again?

The cost to cover your hard earned possessions may be, in relation, extremely small and at the very worst must be worth giving us a call so we can give you an idea of cost. You can pay over a number of months using our various payment options.

The same goes for building insurance - we can help you by giving you a leaflet to fill in that takes you through your house helping you measure the true value to re-build your home and replace your contents room by room.

You have nothing to lose and peace of mind to gain at a premium that may surprise you.

We are local so you can get us easily on the phone or call in and see us for advice in Norwich City.

Now lets have a look at those who have given insurance a thought in the past but have not given much thought to it much since.

Insurance, to be of any use, has to be kept up to date, especially Home Insurance. Let it get out of date and if you need to make a claim then you could well end up a very disappointed person.

The condition of Average applies to many policies, that means that should you make a claim and that amounts you have insured are less than what they should be this may well result in you being paid out les than what you would have expected to be getting.

Remember most policies are New for Old and that means for the majority of your household contents you need to insure to replace as new and insure for that value.

With regards to the buildings its a re-build cost that is required in the majority of policies with an additional amount added for site clearance and Architectural drawings etc.

The simple method to get all this is to ask a professional broker to help you -that way we can guide you through and we can help do the thinking for you, leaving you to have another glass of wine or a pudding for dinner.

Don't be fooled to thinking "it will never happen to us" - it may - and you will be devastated.

Watch for our blogs in coming weeks, we will try to offer advice to you

and help whenever we can

For more information visit our website at www.insurance-centre.com

Our New Blog

2009-01-14T09:51:00.004Z

Blogs seem to be the in thing at the mo and we thought it was about time that the Insurance Centre Norwich got in on the act.

Over the coming weeks, months and years this should shape up to be a useful and entertaining read. We will bring you news and views from the Insurance Centre and the Insurance World in general.

Now I'm not saying that this is going to be the best blog ever but you never know!

For more information visit our website at www.insurance-centre.com