Most van owners fail to check their existing van insurance policies before continuing with the same. They fail to realize that while the policy may have been suitable for last year, things might have changed since then and the policy may need revising. The varying circumstances may have rendered your previous van insurance completely useless as well. For this reason, it’s best to keep updating your policy at regular intervals and always evaluate the terms to make sure they are apt keeping in mind the present circumstances.

Although this may sound like a great deal of effort and time spent reviewing policies, it is imperative that you only pay for a cover that protects you, your van and the other drivers on the road. Be it a small change or a major alteration, if there is scope for modifying points or adding stipulations, you should not compromise on the hard work.

Do not fall into the temptation of rushing into renewal just because you feel it is the cheapest van insurance quote you could possibly receive. First of all, there are always better along the road. Secondly, it is more important that you receive a package that fits with your requirement. Otherwise, you just spent a year’s worth of valuable savings on an insurance that might not even come handy when the situation calls.

Constant vigilance is the watchword here. Man your van and make sure it gets all the pampering it deserves.

These days, everyone seems to want something for nothing and if the slightest thing goes wrong, you’ll likely be hit with a compensation claim – even when it was the fault of whoever is making the claim. Such is the way of the world.

However, to ensure you are covered against circumstances like this, the best type of insurance to take out is Public Liability Insurance. This will cover your business against any claims made for damages to property or injury claims that were caused by you or your business methods.

This type of insurance will cover you and your business against the following:

Legal fees – for yourself and, if you are found guilty, the claimant

Costs – whatever those may be

Expenses

Hospital Treatment – including ambulance costs that the NHS may claim from you and your business

Premium costs will vary according to the type of business you are running and what kind of cover you require. The best thing to do is research thoroughly. Try talking to a professional insurance adviser to ensure you get the very best advice with no nasty surprises and use comparison websites to get the very best deal at the best price.

Generally speaking, Public Liability Insurance is not compulsory (riding schools are an exception) but a lot of customers will ask if you have it and will require proof before they decide to work with you. Don’t forget the old adage – it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!

Of course, the word business may cover a wide variety of different activities, ranging from a corner shop to a horse riding establishment up to a major international corporate enterprise.

Yet right across the spectrum, all businesses may have certain things in common with each other.

Risks all businesses may face

These may be seen as:

• environmental risks – fire, flood, storms and high winds etc., may all wreak havoc with your property, its internal equipment and fittings plus things such as your stock and tools;

• external human intervention – it is an unfortunate fact of life that not everyone will respect your premises or property and the fact that you are a business, as opposed to the residential or private concern, may offer you no protection whatsoever from burglars and the like;

• staff risks – if you are an employer (and the definitions of that may be broader then you suspect) you may be exposed to claims from your employees if they have suffered injury during the course of the legitimate pursuit of their duties – in fact, the law may require that you take out employers’ liability insurance.

This is far from a comprehensive list but it may indicate just how vulnerable a business may be, irrespective of its size. There are various forms of business insurance available that are aimed at specific areas of requirement – such as shop insurance, computer cover for small businesses, tools and equipment cover for trades people and so on. Companies such as Endsleigh  Insurance offer a range of solutions.

With the exception of employers’ liability insurance (in appropriate circumstances) these forms of business cover are not mandatory.

Public liability insurance for businesses

As with most other elements of business cover, public liability insurance is not a legal requirement (though there may be exceptions depending on your business). It is designed to protect you against claims from third parties should someone be accidentally injured, suffer a loss, or even die, and your business is found liable.

Insurance claims for slips, trips and falls are among the most common type of public liability claims, and your business could suffer financially if a claim is made against you and you do not have adequate protection please.

There may be little doubt that we are now in a claims-orientated culture where businesses (and individuals) may be sued and having this protection in place may give you peace of mind that should something go wrong, your public liability insurance will step in and provide financial support.

Do also note that in some businesses (for example, if you are a tradesman working on council properties), your customer may only award you the job if you can prove you have public liability insurance up to minimum specified limits in place.

Why would you need general liability insurance?

There might be various events that can occur in your studio space with other people for which you might be held responsible. An example of bodily injury happens if someone walks into your studio, slips and breaks his ankle and he may sue you. An example of property damage would be if you rented out your studio and the electrical instruments blew out after the renter plugged their equipment into your board. The renters can sue you for damage to their property. Another case might be if a student sues you. Although this situation is hard to imagine, it is not something that is unprecedented. Your studio may suffer damages due to leakage of pipes, or any problem with the floor for which you need to keep your activity in the studio at hold. All these situations can be dealt with if you have studio insurance.

Who would need general liability insurance?

If you own a studio or if you are the primary leaseholder for your facility, then you would need a general liability insurance under which studio insurance is a category, in order to protect your business against potential lawsuits. However, if you are an independent contractor and are using a space in a facility that you don’t own or are not the primary leaseholder, you would require only professional liability insurance.

Thus you can see how useful studio insurance can be to protect you against any activity happening in your studio and to your studio.

Younger drivers are given a more expensive premium as they are regarded asindividual who are impulsive and at a higher risk due to the lack of travellingexperiences. The view of young drivers being impulsive has been backed up bythe statistic studies that most car accidents on the road are caused by a youngdriver.

Getting a young driver insurance is already so costly, what more if it is amodified car? Modified car insurance for young drivers could be very expensive, and evenmore so for younger male drivers. Before you work on or even think aboutmodifying your car, you should check with your car insurance provider first.You will have to find out how much it is going to affect the premium that youwill be paying for your young driver car insurance policy after themodification that you will be doing.

Then again, if you are making some good modification, wouldn’t it increase therisk of your car being vandalized or even worst – stolen! On the other hand,you should look out for a company that specialise in insurance young driverswith modified car, if you have bought a car which was already modifiedbeforehand. They may be better to assist you, as they are experienced in thefield of both modified car as well as young driver’s insurance.

With this, it is important for you to get a car insurance for your young driver, even more so if the young driver has his hands on a sports car. It is a known fact that buying a sportscar insurance for young drivers could be expensive, but there are a few steps to help you lower down the premium.

First of all, as a young driver, the premium will obviously be expensive – to help out with that fact, you may want to get a car which is lower in risk. In other words, if you are thinking to buy a sports car for your young driver,then you may want to purchase a sports car which is known for its stability and safety performance.

Besides buying a lower risk car, you could also get your young driver to engage in additional safety training courses. There are courses in the market that can help the new drivers to gain extra road experiences, and the course is usually taken within a year of passing the driving examination.

The course will teach the young drivers how to deal with difficult conditions that a driver may encounter – such examples would include bad weather, dazzling headlights, night time driving, and even driving in town. There is no examination at the end of the course and upon completion, drivers could start saving for the insurance premium immediately.

Professional indemnity insurance covers you for any claims that occur as a result of work you carry out for a client. It is most commonly required by professionals who act in an advisory capacity, such as lawyers and architects, where the potential consequences of errors or omissions can be substantial. However, professional indemnity insurance is also worth purchasing in a wide range of other sectors, since there will often be a financial impact to the client – and therefore, to you – where work is not carried out to a standard that is considered adequate. Note that this is different from Public Liability Insurance, which relates only to loss or damage to third parties in the course of your work, not as a direct result of it.

Employers liability insurance is also quite distinct from professional indemnity insurance, and protects your employees from injury or illness of various kinds whilst at work. This includes those who are volunteers or self-employed but working under your supervision. In the UK, employers liability insurance is a legal requirement. Cover must be at least £5 million.

Professional indemnity insurance

Professional indemnity insurance covers you from the financial consequences of claims arising from poor or inappropriate professional advice. Obviously, in certain professions the result of incorrect advice could be significant. But although PII might most commonly be associated with areas such as law, medicine and architecture, it is worth exploring in other sectors too. Potentially, anyone in an advisory capacity might be liable, if the client believes their work has brought about a loss. For example, advertisers and marketers might be subject to the accusation that their campaign has had the opposite effect to the one intended. Photographers might have claims brought against them if they fail to produce work of the necessary quality for an event such as a wedding.

The amount of professional indemnity cover required varies according to circumstances, and can often be highly subjective. If you are in any doubt you should consult with an experienced adviser.

Professional indemnity insurance differs from public liability insurance in that the former applies to losses that occur as a result of incorrect or inappropriate advice, whereas the latter protects you from claims that occur due to loss or damage in the course of your work. One example might be accidental injury that occurs to a third party who is unconnected to the work you are carrying out – such as a member of the public who happened to be in the wrong place.

Employers liability insurance

Both professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance are distinct from employers liability insurance. This protects you from claims arising from employees who suffer illness or injury at work through the fault of the employer. Cover of at least £5 million is mandatory in the UK, unless the business is not a limited company, you are the sole employee, or if you employ only close family members. Businesses can be fined up to £2,500 for each day they do not have appropriate cover. Cover with most policies starts at £10 million.

In each case, professional indemnity insurance and employers liability insurance should cover you for both your legal defence in the event of a claim, and any damages that result from it. This is important because even if a claim is spurious (what constitutes inappropriate professional advice or injury can be quite subjective), a client or employee can still cause significant financial damage to you and your business. In addition, public liability insurance is not required by law but is often necessary. All of these can be purchased as part of a combined commercial insurance policy, which offers other necessary cover in one package.

This article was supplied by the leading firm of Irish insurance brokers, Robertson Low, established in 1995 and the only Irish incorporated ‘Lloyd’s broker’.

Spending money on an accountant may not seem like a top money saving tip at first glance, but accountants are a prudent investment for any person or business looking to streamline their finances.

A chartered accountant is one who is registered with, and adheres to the regulations of an official accountancy body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland (ICAI). Firms in Dublin boast some of the best chartered accountants Ireland has to offer, and all of their accountants are registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. To gain registration with an official body such as the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, each accountant will need to prove their financial capabilities. Therefore these accountants come highly recommended as proven experts in their field.

Chartered accountants are finance experts; highly trained in spotting areas within your finances where you can save money. They can provide information and advice on good savings practices, the best types of savings available and how to streamline your finances so that you spend less each month. If you are a business owner, or are involved in running a business, then chartered accountants can also be very helpful in balancing your books, ensuring that correct amounts of tax are paid and maximising profits.

In this way, by hiring a chartered accountant, you will gain peace of mind that your finances are in the best possible hands and the tips that these accountants provide could help you to save a lot of money too. While their services cost money, the cost is far outweighed by the savings you could make by having the services of an accountant on hand.

There are many reasons accountants are being highly sought for advice and help. Engaging the services of a personal chartered accountant is becoming more popular during the current financial climate in Ireland as many individuals look to save as much money as possible.

Dublin accountants can be trusted because they’re regulated by an official body. This means that the services they offer are to solely help you or your business save money, balance your books and give advice that will ensure that you maximise your spare income and curb any money being spent unnecessarily. This income can then be saved for a rainy day, or spent on the items you really need.

• stock and fittings and fixtures protection against different events such as fire and flood;
• the actual shell of the business may be protected against damage or destruction;
• you may be able to claim for income loss if you cannot open your studio due to one of the events insured in the policy;
• your stock and any fittings and fixtures may be covered by the policy for such as damage, destruction or theft;
• depending on your business you may have stock shipped to your business address. If this is the case your stock may be protected while on its way to you. Therefore if it is damaged, destroyed or stolen you may be covered by the insurance policy
• liability insurance may be included in your studio insurance policy. There are different types of liability insurance. If you have members of the public coming into your studio you may want to ensure that you have adequate third party liability insurance behind you. Employers’ liability insurance typically provides protection for legal costs brought about if a member of staff suffers an accident or injury on the premises. You may need to consider products liability cover if your studio requires you to use products on customers;
• bear in mind that with all studio insurance there are numerous benefits but there are also some exclusions. Therefore it may pay to take the time to read over the small print very carefully before paying out for insurance. When checking out the small print check over the amount of excess you typically have to pay if a claim is made.

Protection against the worst case scenarios
As part of your beauty salon business you typically give out numerous treatments to customers. While for the majority of time there is no problem with the treatments or procedures, there may be the odd time when something goes wrong. This of course is the worst possible case scenario for your business. Not only might injury to a client be bad for your business, it may lead to severe financial distress. Depending on the severity of the injury you may be sued and this leads to legal costs. Legal costs may soon mount up and become unaffordable. In the worst case you may even have to sell your business to pay these costs. Beauty salon cover may provide you with help towards the legal costs, and therefore may potentially save your business from ruin.

The building itself is of course essential to your business. Without this you typically have no business, and each day you cannot open your salon may see you lose a great deal of money. Therefore you may wish to have peace of mind that in the event of a fire or flooding and your premises are destroyed or badly damaged, you have a business buildings insurance policy to fall back onto.

Your salon cover typically provides protection for another essential part of your business, your stock and the contents of your salon. These things are typically at risk of fire, theft, flood and vandalism and may be protected in the policy.

Bear in mind that beauty salon cover, as with any other insurance policy, comes with terms and conditions. Checking these before taking out insurance may save you from a nasty surprise if a claim is made for something you thought was covered, but is not.