Claims

Client Update: Covid-19 and FCA Business Interruption Cover Test Case - Supreme Court Appeal (Judgment)

You may be aware from recent media coverage that on 15 January 2021 the Supreme Court handed down its ruling on the formal test case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The case was brought to provide clarity as to whether and the extent to which insurers were obliged to indemnify relevant business interruption policyholders for financial losses incurred following interruption to their businesses resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures imposed by the UK Government.

Read more information and what this means for you.

Our Promise

Insurance is rightly judged on the quality of support you receive in the event of a claim, or loss. At Longstone Finance Plc Insurance Brokers, we endeavour to arrange the most suitable insurance programme, designed around your needs, placed with top rated insurers. But that is just the start; should the worst happen, we firmly believe in supporting you at the time you need us the most, getting you back in the same position you were in before the loss – as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Dealing with a claim for a management team, who may be in disaster recovery mode can be difficult and time consuming. Your focus will quite rightly be on your business, staff, clients and general trading. Our priority is to take the complexity of a claim off your hands and negotiate a fair and prompt claim settlement on your behalf. We’re here to help when you need it most.

Providing a local, proactive, responsive and reassuring claims service is our number one priority. We believe we do that, with more claims expertise, in more places, which is why we have over 100 dedicated claims staff in over 30 locations. In addition to your usual account management team, our in-house claims experts are on hand to assist you on the claims journey, whenever you need us, wherever you need us. In addition, we have specialist teams in many areas and sectors, including commercial motor, caring professions, property, real estate and professional indemnity.

We can also help analyse the causes of claims to make sure of greater prevention in the future.

In addition to dealing with insurers when there is a claim, our experts also form part of your  management team, offering claims reporting, insight, trends and analysis to establish the casual effect. From here we can provide proactive advice on how to best manage your risk and improve claims performance, working with you to reduce future premiums.

Remember, our claims promise is that we are:

  • Over 100 in-house claims advisors in over 30 locations across the UK
  • Technical experts, with access to specialists
  • Proactive and hands on
  • Resourceful and operate using best practice procedures
  • There to support your management team
  • Always focused on delivering the best outcome for you
Emergency Advice from our claims experts

Employers Liability incidents advice to clients:

  • Never admit responsibility, ensure the matter is dealt with professionally and unbiased
  • Take photos of an area concerned as soon as the incident has occurred, retain any CCTV
  • Ensure an entry has been made in the Accident Book no matter how minor
  • Report the incident to your Claims Team and/or Account Executive at the first opportunity
  • Follow the Company Staff Handbook regarding covering wages and handling time away from work due to recuperation or ongoing treatment, ensure the employee is dealt with in the same manner as any other employee (no special treatment)
  • How severe is the injury? Have the HSE been informed? hse.gov.uk/riddor - In cases of death, major injury, or dangerous occurrences, you must notify the enforcing authority without delay, most easily by calling the Incident Contact Centre.  Cases of over-seven-day injuries must be notified within fifteen days of the incident occurring, employers must continue to record over 3-day absence events.  Cases of disease should be reported as soon as a doctor notifies you that your employee suffers from a reportable work-related disease.
  • Has a County Court Claim form been issued or any formal solicitor correspondence is received this is to be forward unanswered and without delay
  • Has a post incident Risk Assessment been completed?
  • Is this a re-occurring incident?  do you need to review working procedures/practices?
  • Ensure all Health and Safety meetings concerning the incident are minuted
  • Gather Witness statements as soon as possible before people forget the details
  • Gather the Employee’s Training records

Public Liability incidents advice to clients:

  • Never admit responsibility, ensure the matter is dealt with professionally and unbiased
  • Take photos of an area concerned as soon as the incident has occurred, retain any CCTV
  • Ensure an entry has been made in the Accident Book no matter how minor
  • Report the incident to your Claims Team and/or Account Executive at the first opportunity
  • Is this injury - How severe is the injury? Have the HSE been informed
  • hse.gov.uk/riddor - In cases of death, major injury, or dangerous occurrences, you must notify the enforcing authority without delay, most easily by calling the Incident Contact Centre
  • Is this damage to Property – How severe, take plenty of photographs
  • Has a County Court Claim form been issued or any formal solicitor correspondence is received this is to be forward unanswered and without delay
  • Has a post incident Risk Assessment been completed?
  • Is this a re-occurring incident?  do you need to review working procedures/practices?
  • Ensure all Health and Safety meetings concerning the incident are minuted
  • Gather Witness statements as soon as possible before people forget the details
  • Gather applicable contracts depending who is involved, i.e. if the incident involves a contract between the policyholder and customer etc to establish who is legally responsible

 

Property Damage advice to clients:

  • Don’t wade through flood water. You could be swept away by rapidly-moving flood waters where currents can be stronger than they look. Also, flood waters can carry debris, chemicals, and sewage which can cause injuries, disease, infection, and that are generally harmful to one's health
  • Don't handle electrical wires. Always remember that electrical lines and water do not mix. Standing in water and attempting to remove electrical wires is dangerous. Also remember that even if you do not have power in some locations in your house, not all the lines could be dead
  • Don’t light candles in a flooded building. It’s very possible that standing flood water could contain oil, gasoline, or other flammable liquids.
  • Take plenty of photos of the damage, retain any CCTV footage
  • Does this involve a criminal act? If so, inform the Police and obtain a Crime Reference Number
  • Does this involve a Third Party – i.e. contractor? (if so we will need a copy of contracts in place)
  • Make the area safe and mitigate any loss as soon as possible by…. turning off supplies if needed, arranging temporary repairs to prevent further damage (if the costs here is not much different to the full repair obtain insurer advice as soon as possible however insurers would expect a policyholder to act prudently uninsured.
  • If a repair can be undertaken to prevent further damage, take photos and ensure this is done to mitigate any loss, i.e. repair the burst pipe but await insurers instruction regarding the rectification work
  • Obtain Contractors’ advice on the cause and rectification costs, ask them to put this in writing