Coronavirus – A message from our Managing Director – 19/05/2020

May 19, 2020

Update from our Managing Director:

Since the Coronavirus pandemic began, so much has happened, so we wanted to provide you with an update on what we have been doing throughout the crisis.

From a trading perspective; We remain fully operational with all our staff working from home and, despite the odd glitch our I.T team, and amazing staff in general, have ensured that our customers and business partners have not suffered a reduction in the exceptional levels of service they have come to expect from us.

Across all of our Trading Divisions; Commercial Business, Motor Fleet, Private Clients and Car, Home and Van Insurance we have been working hard to deliver flexible insurance covers which can cater for our clients everchanging circumstances, considering that our clients’ requirements have changed in line with the unfolding crisis that Covid-19 has forced upon us all.

Commercial Business Insurance;

We are proud to represent a broad section of the business community, with a varied selection of business trades and sizes. They all have some individual requirements and we have been working hard to fulfil their needs.

In addition, we have lobbied our Insurer Panel, and have been instrumental in negotiating policy enhancements and adaptations, designed with the current lockdown conditions in mind, which have benefitted our own customers, and in some cases have been adopted by those insurers for their wider broker panel. These include but are not limited to;

  • Unoccupied Property Extensions
  • Cover for Business Contents and Equipment removed from the premises.
  • Enhanced Cover for Plant and Machinery on unoccupied construction sites.
  • Mid Term Premium Reductions based on reduced Turnover / Projections
  • Assistance with Instalments and Payment breaks

These enhancements are considered on an individual basis, and as you would expect; some terms and conditions will apply – so please contact the Commercial Team if you would like to explore any of them.

Business Interruption Cover:        

Our View on the cover provided under the business interruption section of a policy for the Pandemic has taken shape following various conversations with both customers and insurers, trade bodies and expert legal advice. Although there will be some exceptions where a very low number of specialist businesses purchased the cover for Pandemics, businesses fall into 2 main categories;

  • Insurers who are clear that cover is not provided for, and where we agree that the wording is unambiguous.
  • Insurers who are stating publicly and to us either globally and/or on individual cases that their policy does not provide cover, but where there is considered ‘trade/professional’ opinion that the wording they are relying on is not as clear as they suggest.

None of the Insurers have intended to provide cover for a pandemic, we have never sold this as a stand-alone or extension of a policy.

Where a customer is with an Insurer who have a policy wording which is clear and unambiguous, in most cases, these are the larger insurers on our panel, such as; Aviva, Allianz, AXA, NIG, Zurich – Our message is; use the government support available and where those Insurers have provided additional or extended covers to help business through the lockdown.

There are a small number of Insurers on our panel, such as Hiscox or Eaton Gate where the insurer has publicly, and when directly questioned by us at a senior level or on individual cases strenuously denied that cover is provided under their policy. However, there are a number of policyholders as well as legal professionals and other legal advisors who disagree on this point. Although most may concede that it was not any of these insurers intent to cover the pandemic, there is opinion that the policy wordings are written in a way that does not make that clear and may have left them open to a claim.

The insurers who fall into this category are going to fight these claims, and the likelihood is that a court or the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) will need to make a judgement before we see clarity on the position, and this will take time.

Where a business is insured with one of these insurers and has suffered a financial loss such as loss of income, including any additional costs incurred to continue to trade, we would recommend that they contact us to present a claim to the relevant Insurer.

It is important to note that this may be a long road, and we, therefore, recommend accessing as much of the government support as possible to protect your business in the current crisis.

As your insurance broker we are here for you every step of the way and you can be assured that we will work to obtain the best possible outcome for you.

Motor Fleet Insurance:

Our Motor Fleet Division is equally expert and has a vast array of clientele from; large Haulage, Taxi & Courier to more standard fleet risks. Flint Insurance has been at the forefront of negotiating various benefits which are designed to help our customers through the pandemic, these include;

  • Reducing existing Cover to Laid-up Damage, Fire & Theft
  • Providing separate Laid-up Damage Fire & Theft cover
  • Changing Policy coverage to incorporate new business activities
  • Amending European Cover mid Term
  • Flexible payment and Instalment plans.
  • Having the ability to provide ‘pay as you go’ Fleet Insurance

Flint Insurance is looking at every conceivable way to reduce premiums short term to help our customers get through these difficult times. In addition, all our policies can be amended 24/7, so customers are never without our support if they need to add or delete vehicles any time of the day or night.

Private Clients Home & Motor Insurance:

Flint Private Clients Division are also on hand to provide expert advice. During the pandemic, our Home policies automatically extend to cover working from home and business equipment. Additionally, we are able to provide valuations on both buildings and contents remotely and cover unoccupied property in the UK or abroad.

Our Private Clients Motor Insurance policies can be amended to cover vehicles whilst laid up for damage, fire and theft to reduce premiums where required.

Personal Insurance; Car, Home and Van:

Flint Personal Insurance division are working tirelessly to provide expert guidance to our customers during the pandemic. Our Home Insurance policies can be extended to include working from home, Business equipment in the home and unoccupied property usually without additional cost.

Vehicle coverage on our Car and Van Policies can be laid-up for damage, fire and theft cover only to reduce costs, and insurers will extend cover to include any change in business activities, including some delivery of goods, voluntary work, short or longer term.

Not Just Business as Usual:

It is fair to say that this crisis could never be described as ‘business as usual’ – there is nothing usual about it. The effects on the whole world, country, economy and individuals are completely without comparison and our customers are experiencing situations which they have never had to contend with before.

Flint Insurance is committed to being on hand to support our customers however they need us, many of our customers access a number of our divisions and they will continue to receive the highest level of personal service and expertise they have come to expect from us, so if you have any insurance requirement however large or small, please use the relevant teams’ contacts below;

We are all in this together, and together we are STRONGER!

Darren Taylor, Managing Director

Flint Insurance

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