Strong Foundations – What Should I Look Out For When Appointing a Property Insurance Broker?

It’s the scenario no one wants. Standing in front of a pile of smoking rubble, everything gone, stressing over how you recover from this and the upcoming, cumbersome conversations with insurers. Clearly, the broker you appoint to arrange this vital cover for you, is a very important one. You want to know you can trust them to get you the right cover and then handle the claim to get the best result possible, if this ever happened to you.
Some things to think about;

Valuation

A very common issue with property insurance comes from what is known as ‘underinsurance.’ This is where the policy taken out does not cover the full value of the property insured. So, for example, your policy has £1m of cover for a building, but the real value of the property is closer to £2m (especially if including building costs). This scenario has a number of implications for your policy, but most importantly it means you will not be fully covered for a claim made.

This all makes accurate valuation of any property covered by your policy crucial to ensuring effective cover. How will your broker approach this challenge to ensure all the information provided is accurate? How do they assess a figure given for a property is accurate to its ‘actual’ value?

This also applies to other areas of property insurance. For example, business interruption (insurance for loss of business earnings in the event of halting activity due to property damage) can involve some quite technical calculations to get to the right figure insurers need for your policy. How will your broker help you with this?

Property Types

No two buildings are the same. From thatched roofs, to repurposed spaces, to high-risk flood zones; some properties present really difficult insurance issues. This is where a broker’s input can be invaluable.

What can your broker tell you about their experience with arranging insurance for different types of buildings? Do they have specific knowledge on your industry? Do you have any that you have caused you issues in the past? If so, what would be the broker’s plan to get these sorted for you?

As with the valuation, this doesn’t just apply to the buildings themselves. Are you looking to cover any specialist pieces of plant or a quirky form of stock with your property policy? Again, this can create a thorny insurance challenge where your broker’s advice is absolutely vital. Challenge them on their approach to this, see what they’re thinking.

Risk Management Services

Best practice for the management of property is constantly improving and adapting to new risks as they emerge. A broker is the ideal person to pass on that knowledge to you. This valuable insight can reduce the chances of you making a claim and then mitigate the impact it has if an unfortunate event does befall your business. Insurers also like seeing positive improvements in risk management of a company, so this risk management enhancement can directly help you with your search for cover, once implemented.

These additional services offered can be diverse. These could include benefits such as;

  • Risk management survey – desktop or in person
  • Risk improvement bursary
  • Seminars/workshops – online or in person
  • Expert articles
  • Access to partner risk management tools – software or hardware
  • Introducer deals to relevant suppliers for risk improvement – often at a discounted price

Does your broker offer any risk management services? Do they have any client success stories for these services? If they do, which do they think would be most useful for your business?

PomeloScan

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