insurance - LJN Blog Posts - Landscape Juice Network2024-03-28T10:03:39Zhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/insuranceHow the Met Office helps the insurance industry assess riskhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/how-the-met-office-helps-the-insurance-industry-assess-risk2014-11-05T07:09:01.000Z2014-11-05T07:09:01.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>The Met Office is helping the insurance industry understand its windstorm risk. The Insurance and Capital Markets Applied Science team at the Met Office has developed a suite of European windstorm products and services aimed at supporting reinsurers, insurers and brokers this coming winter and beyond.</p>
<p>As well as hazard maps designed to support risk pricing at a local level, the product suite includes a catalogue of historical windstorms for portfolio management and capital reserving and alerts and impact analysis of incoming storm events for insurance operations.</p>
<p>When a major Atlantic storm reaches land, policyholders have a higher than ever expectation of help. Insurers must deploy staff on the ground, boost call centre staff numbers and call forward capital for early settlement of claims. To do this they need early alerts with confidence levels, and a regularly updated view of the storm size, track and severity.</p>
<p>Read the full article: <a href="http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/insurance-risk">http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/insurance-risk</a></p>
</div>Warning over 'flash-for-cash' car accident insurance scamhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/insurance-scam-fraud2013-08-16T06:49:21.000Z2013-08-16T06:49:21.000ZLandscape Juicehttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/LandscapeJuice<div><p>Motorists are being warned about a new insurance scam where criminals flash their lights to let other drivers out of a junction, then crash into them on purpose.</p>
<p>Anti-fraud experts are calling it "flash-for-cash".</p>
<p>The gangs tend to target new, smarter vehicles or vulnerable road users, including older people and women with children in the car.</p>
<p>The scam is costing insurers hundreds of millions of pounds every year.</p>
<p>Read the full article on the BBC: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23717575?ocid=socialflow_twitter_bbcnews" target="_blank">Warning over 'flash-for-cash' car accident insurance scam</a></p>
</div>Things to look out for when buying insurance for landscape gardenershttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/things-to-look-out-for-when2010-09-27T14:00:00.000Z2010-09-27T14:00:00.000ZSimply Businesshttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/SimplyBusiness<div><p>As requested at Landscape Juice Network, my colleague Laura and I put some things together to look out for when you are looking for <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/partner/landscape-juice/landscapers">Landscape Gardener’s business insurance</a>. I hope this clarify buying the right cover for your business.<br/> <br/> <b>Public liability insurance</b><br/><br/><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/partner/landscape-juice/landscapers">Public liability insurance</a> is important for your business because it will pay out in the event that a mistake is made which causes an injury to a member of the public or customer, or which damages their property. We recommend taking out a minimum cover of £ 2 million.<br/><br/><b>Chainsaw licence</b><br/><br/>If you’re a landscape gardener and you’re using a chainsaw to cut trees and bushes, please mention this when you take out an insurance policy. Insurers segregate landscape gardeners in two categories: “excluding treefelling” and “including treefelling”.<br/><br/>Also important: you do need a chainsaw licence in the UK if you are a landscape gardener and your business involves treefelling.<br/>Failing to have a licence will result in problems with your insurance.<br/><br/><b>Tool cover</b><br/><br/>How important adequate cover is for your landscape business was the “<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/topics/this-is-england-2010?xg_source=msg_com_forum&id=2074886%3ATopic%3A136491&page=1#comments">This is England 2010</a>” post from Jill.<br/><br/>One of the most made mistakes is that people assume that tools will be covered by a Public Liability Insurance. That’s not the case: you need to take out a separate cover for your work tools.<br/><br/><b>Tools overnight cover</b>: You can also choose to include tools whilst left in your vehicle overnight. Cover can be provided for up to £10,000 and may include cover for tools in transit (dependant on insurer). Cover is for loss, destruction or damage by any cause not specifically excluded within the insurer's policy.<br/><br/><b>What will an insurer NOT cover for tools cover?</b><br/><br/>An insurer will not cover you when you find missing tools during a routine check or individual items exceeding 500 Pounds.<br/>If you have work tools exceeding this amount, always contact your insurer for a separate arrangement.<br/>If you keep your worktools in a van (overnight) and you took out additional cover to cover this, your vehicle doors should be fully closed and properly fastened. Lock all doors and windows.<br/><br/><b>Specific questions your insurer might ask you when buying insurance for landscape gardeners:</b><br/><br/>• Do you gain access by using ropes, harnesses or suspended platforms?<br/>• Do you dispose of fumes, effluent or other harmful waste as part of the insured business activity?<br/>• Do you work at depths below 1 metre underground?<br/><br/>I hope this will clarify things to look out for when you take out insurance for landscape gardening.</p></div>Insurance Companies and the landscaping Industryhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/insurance-companies-and-the2009-12-05T14:30:00.000Z2009-12-05T14:30:00.000ZSustainable Land Managementhttps://landscapejuicenetwork.com/profil/SustainableLandManagement<div>As traditional landscaping techniques creep into suburban areas or more often suruban areas creep into ex agricultural areas with elements of traditional landscaping maintained as features as prescribed by planning authorities and quite rightly. There is an increasing problem with the insurance implications. The following is an example of such a problem:Further from the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/profiles/blogs/retaining-stone-walls-in">retaining wall</a> failure blog, the recent spell of enquiries with regards remedial operations to older and some newer structures has also highlighted another more significant problem with traditional and sustainable landscaping practice.November's rainfall resulted in 12 enquiries to ourselves with regards wall collapse all but one were dry stone structures. (It is important to note that there were a huge amount of mortared and block walls which collapsed in this period, but this is not our field.)Of the 11 remaining walls, 7 of the householders concerned went to their insurance companies - 4 of the insurance companies were happy to pay, following a visit from an assessor. 2 of the walls the remedial operations were small enough to almost match the excess and as such the insurance was not needed.The final wall, which was initially a very well made structure, albeit smothered with Ivy was part retaining, (800mm),<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3314140290?profile=original" alt=""/></p>but largely a free standing structure, built from metamorphic stone, which although related to the slate formations of Cornwall is substantially stronger and is more often located in the more post industrial areas of the county. (This wall is found within 3 km of the heartland of the tin mining zone). Built in the late 19th to early 20th century it was a serious piece of workmanship. The retaining element is all important here, as the garden level has probably risen considerably during this period. As such it soaked up much of the heavy rainfall, with little drainage. Consequently near the roots of the magnolia the stone was weakened in an already susceptible place and as surface water flooded through the expanding gap it allowed the horizontal plane stones to effectively 'float' out of position. The photo clearly shows the result and the reality that the wall is at real risk of further collapse. The wall is in a poor state in general and as such several factors can be attributed to the collapse. Subsequently the assesor was able to list a few factors; it only takes one possible factor for the claim to be dismissed.The point of the above example is twofold:Firstly during liaison with both the assesors involved both stated that they didn't really know about such walls. This isn't surprising as the geotechnical data is scant and any resulting guidelines filtered down to practitioners is very basic. After all with most land based traditional techniques the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index" target="_blank">BTCV handbo</a>oks have remained the standard for the past 20 years, I am not critisicing these handbooks, which are excellent, but it is just meant to be a simple guide and not representative of the huge variety of styles resulting from differing techniques honed across the diverse geography of the UK and certainly not intended as a guide for the actual craftsman and woman who have the specialised regional skills. The problem therefore for the practitioners and the insurance companies is where to go for the specialist knowledge needed in determining such cases.Secondly as most of the problems related to mechanical failure in traditional landscaping skills will be the result of weather, how is it going to be possible to ensure that adequate measures are adopted into gardens in order to allow the remnants of traditional techniques to survive. At present SUDS regulations and other attempts to alleviate environmental problems rarely take account of the existing traditional structures which co exist with the concrete boom following WWII. Therefore it is paramount for new regulations to take account of this loophole.In the above it is not necessary to criticise the insurance companies, but I know of and I am sure many others have come across examples where the insurance companies have acted not out of forgiveable ignorance but actually using the highlighted problems as a means to wriggle out of paying. Bearing in mind the current potential costs to insurance companies we may see an upward trend of such decisions.Without naming any of the insurance companies who have unjustly refused payment I will state that the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nfumutual.co.uk/" target="_blank">NFU</a> who have an agricultural history have as far as I have seen persistently understood these traditional techniques and have been able to identfiy and insure accordingly for potential problems.<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=175511807867" target="_blank">Cornish Stone Walls and Hedges</a><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.paysagedurable.com" target="_blank">www.paysagedurable.com</a></div>