Aviva has been warning commercial premises owners to be aware that pipes leaking and bursting is more common following the Christmas break than at any other time in the year. In fact, claims for water damage rise by 20% between December and February. The average cost of each claim is around £3,100. Property claims manager Paul Reddington, points out that any long period of closure can mean that any undetected leaks can cause serious damage. He says that companies closing over Christmas should take precautions to prevent accidents such as visiting the premises often.
Proposed strike action by British Airways has prompted travelsupermarket.com to warn customers about their rights to refunds and insurance payments. Those who booked with tour operators or travel agents should contact them to see if any alternative arrangements can be made. BA is not liable for any extra cost incurred by the new arrangements. Only some insurance policies will cover strike action and it will often only apply to tickets booked before the strike action was balloted. In this case, the action had been planned since November 2 and so any ticket booked after this date may not be covered. BA will refund any tickets booked directly with them.
Pruhealth, part of Prudential Insurance has made changes to the terms and conditions of its health insurance policy, which means that the discounts offered on gym membership are to diminish. Policyholders will only be able to get 25% of gym membership discount, a far cry from the previous discounts which often meant free membership. The new rules will apply from the date of the next renewal. Pruhealth have justified the move by saying that it was intended to prevent the overall cost of the plan from increasing by 5 -15%. It was also pointed out that those policyholders who did not belong to a gym were subsidizing those who did attend.
Adrian Flux Insurance Services, pioneers in the “sex sells” insurance marketing arena, has produced a 2010 calendar featuring it’s most attractive members of staff. The women work for the company as sales staff and in claims and customer services. They also promote the company at car shows on the weekends. The Flux Babes have their own dedicated website with information on their personally written blogs, plus hundreds more photos, games and screensavers. The women also update their pages on Facebook and Twitter regularly.
InsureandGo will be sponsoring a special Virgin Galactic flight in 18 months time. The flight of the Enterprise craft will include a performance of one song by Spandau Ballet. The flights cost around £120,000 per person and seat just 6 passengers. Each passenger will experience around 5 minutes of weightlessness during the flight into space. The founder of InsureandGo, Perry Wilson has said that he hopes the sponsorship will open new markets in space travel for the future … and most likely, space travel insurance. Can we say “InsureandGo are out of this world” or is it not close enough to Christmas to get away with bad jokes?
The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission will today publish plans to scrap the 1906 law aimed at the shipping industry. The law requires policyholders to give the insurer any information they think might be relevant to their application even if they are not asked specifically. The new law will require insurers to ask the questions they require answers to. The duty of disclosure will be replaced with a duty to take reasonable care and to answer all questions fully. The proposals are not expected to be heard by parliament until after the next election.
Those travelling over Christmas are being reminded by Insurance4carrental.com to consider a car hire excess insurance before they travel. Excesses of up to £1000 can be charged by rental companies and some insurance offered will not cover certain types of damage. Customers are advised to shop around for their excess insurance as that offered by the rental company may not be the best possible deal.
The Willis Financial Institutions Index from Willis Group Holdings has shown that insurers are currently underwriting very conservatively and are hopeful that the influx of new markets next year will improve trading conditions. It has also revealed that the average premium change has more than doubled from 10% to above 20% in the last year. A spokesperson from Finex Professional Risk has commented that confidence levels are expected to increase in 2010.
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