Some interesting research has been carried out relating to the amount that is estimated is being saved in flood damage here in the UK due to the inland flood defences that have been put in place over the years. The research was carried out by Risk Management Solutions (RMS) on behalf of Flood Re.
The research took into account many thousands of weather event simulations so an awful lot of work has obviously gone into producing the information. The research took into account the situation both without and with flood defences.
You may be surprised at just how much flood damage could be caused inland such as due to rivers breaking their banks. Apparently, it is estimated that with flood defences in place the cost of water damage could amount to around £0.7 billion. However, without flood defences in-situ it is estimated that the cost of damage caused by water could be in the region of £1.8 billion.
That is a huge potential saving of around £1.1 billion as a result of having inland flood defences in place.
An example of the benefit of having flood defences in place can be found in Bewdley, Worcestershire. This small, picturesque Georgian town has the River Severn running through it. For many years, on occasions, the river burst its banks and a significant number of homes and businesses running along the side of the river were flooded causing a great deal of flood damage to buildings and their contents as well as much heartache for the owners of those properties. That was until a few years ago when flood barrier defences were strategically put in place along the side of the river. Since then, there has not been a significant problem with flooding in that location.
Owners of properties within flood risk areas of the UK are likely to be charged more for their buildings cover so it may be a good idea to shop around. In that respect, why not get in touch with us here at AIB Insurance on 02380 268 351 and discuss your requirements with an experienced member of our team who will do all that he or she can to help source suitable, competitive, quality home insurance to cover both your buildings and any contents.
Whilst it is not a legal requirement to insure the contents and personal possessions in your home, surely it is a sensible thing to cover against the likes of fire, theft or accidental damage. After all, the cost of replacing things like your furniture, white goods and clothes could run into many thousands of pounds.
Well, according to the recently published ABI’s Home Insurance Premium Tracker covering 2018, a staggering one in four households here in the UK have not bothered to arrange such cover. That equates to around six million households.
Yet, the average cost of insuring home contents is only £127 per annum. That is a mere £2.44 per week – a small price to pay for the peace of mind of knowing that you can replace your contents if they are damaged in a fire and only have to pay the excess towards the cost of the items replaced.
Below is a list of the percentage of households in the UK that do not have home contents insurance broken down on a regional basis: –
Northern Ireland 18%
South East 19%
East Midlands 21%
Yorkshire & Humberside 22%
East Anglia 22%
South West 22%
Wales 22%
North West 24%
Scotland 26%
West Midlands 28%
North East 32%
London 45%
As you can see, Northern Ireland has the lowest percentage of households without contents cover at 18% and London has the highest percentage at 45%.
The above tracker also revealed that the average premium for buildings insurance in 2018 stood at £258 per annum with this being a drop of 8% when compared with the previous year. The average cost of combined buildings and contents insurance was £307 per annum with this being 1% more than in 2017.
Here at AIB Insurance, we have an extensive panel of closely vetted insurance companies that provide buildings and contents cover. So, if you are a single person living in rented accommodation looking to insure your contents or a family living in your own home looking to cover the buildings and contents, why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 and speak with a friendly, experienced member of our team. He or she will discuss your requirements and then look to obtain a no-obligation quotation from one of our panel members with a view to providing you and your family with complete peace of mind. We look forward to being of assistance.
We are pleased to inform you, our valued customers, that we have added Chubb Insurance to our bespoke panel of insurance companies. It has built an enviable reputation for the products and services it provides.
Chubb has been established for many years and is part of the biggest property and casualty insurer in the world. Here in the UK, the business focuses on a number of insurances including motor, home, accident and health, travel, aviation, the biogas and solar industry, commercial insurance, cyber risk, the construction industry, the marine industry and liability cover.
The company has been involved in providing motor insurance to high net worth individuals for over 20 years and household insurance to such customers for over 40 years.
In a very short period of time we have built up an excellent working relationship with Chubb. It prides itself on its quality of service right throughout the process of arranging tailor-made cover but also the company responds rapidly in the event of a claim being made by one of its policyholders providing unrivalled support during what is often a traumatic period.
In fact, in respect of household insurance, since 2000, Chubb has won the Insurance Times Industry Awards for Best Personal Insurer on no less than 8 occasions. It was the winner of the Insurance Times Broker Survey for Best Claims Service on 6 occasions since 2006. Furthermore, Chubb won the Best High –Net Worth Insurer award at the 2015 Private Asset Management Awards. In respect of motor insurance, Chubb has been the winner of the Insurance Times UK Broker Survey for the quality of its claims service and cover since 2014.
You can find out more about the products it provides by visiting the www2.chubb.com/uk-en website but below we have provided extracts from Chubb’s Home and Contents Insurance, Jewellery and Fine Art and Motor Insurance brochures highlighting some of the features and benefits of both products.
“ Chubb Masterpiece Home and Contents Insurance
What does it cover?
• All of your homes, UK and abroad are covered on the same policy as your main residence.
• With our agreed value approach for valuables and cars, the result is accuracy and a speedy claims payment.
• Following a Chubb appraisal, we will agree on the buildings and contents sum insured, including automatic cover for gardens and outbuildings.
• For most homes, we guarantee that, whatever the cost, we will rebuild your home exactly as it was. In effect, giving you unlimited cover.
• We let you choose the craftsmen for any repairs and refurbishments.
• We also agree the contents sum insured. Then, for most homes, if this sum is insufficient to replace the contents, we will automatically increase it by up to 25% without charging you more.
5 key benefits of Masterpiece
1) Your choice of contractor
We encourage you to choose your own contractors and craftsmen to repair your property following a claim.
2) Unique home and contents appraisal service
We don’t make underinsurance your problem. Our in-house experts will help establish the value of your property and contents to ensure you have the right amount of cover.
3) No restrictive conditions or warranties
We won’t limit your cover or restrict your lifestyle with onerous clauses. We rely on your natural concern to care for your possessions
4) We settle on a ‘new for old’ basis
When replacing your contents, Chubb pays you what it costs to replace the item today up to the value agreed on your policy
5) All homes on one policy
Whether you own a country house and a city apartment or an extensive worldwide property portfolio, you can enjoy exceptional cover under the same policy as your main residence.”
Within the Chubb Masterpiece Home and Contents Insurance policy it is possible to insure Jewellery and Fine Art and below we highlight what is covered: –
“ Jewellery and Fine Art
• You have automatic worldwide cover for ‘all risks’ with almost no restrictive conditions. Our policy includes accidental loss or damage and you’re covered when travelling – eliminating the need for separate personal effects cover.
• If your jewellery is lost, stolen or damaged beyond repair, our ‘agreed value’ for specified items gives certainty about the financial consequences in the event of a claim. We’ll pay you the full sum insured (not a depreciated ‘market value’) with no deduction for excess. There’s also a lower premium rate for specified jewellery.
• If you lose or damage part of a ‘pair’ or ‘set’, we’ll offer to take the remaining parts and we’ll pay you the full agreed value of the entire set.
• If your jewellery loses value after damage we’ll compensate you for any loss in its agreed value due to the claim.
• Under our Signature policy, if you buy a new piece, we’ll cover new purchases immediately for 90 days, 60 days under our Initial and Masterpiece policies. After the 60 or 90 day period, we must be instructed to add the items to the policy to avoid underinsurance.
• No valuations are necessary for jewellery under £50,000 and we can insure collectables separately.
• Similar generous terms apply to art, antiques, guns, wine, instruments, handbag collections and other collectibles.
Chubb’s Masterpiece Motor Insurance
What does it cover?
If your car is written-off or stolen:
• With our ‘agreed value’ approach, we’ll pay you the full sum insured with no excess, not a depreciated ‘market value’.
• If the car is under 15 years old and its replacement cost exceeds your agreed value, we will pay more than the sum insured to help you buy a like-for-like replacement.
• If the car is over 15 years old, subject to a limit of £100,000, we will pay 25% more than the sum insured to repair your cherished vehicle and get it back on the road.
• All courtesy cars are immediately dispatched after fire, theft or accident. We provide up to £4,000 for you to rent a car of a similar specification to your own, in the unlikely event that the courtesy car is unsatisfactory to you.
• We’ll replace your sound system for the full cost, with our unlimited audio/stereo cover.
As well as for driving your own cars, you’ll be comprehensively insured for:
• Driving any car you don’t own (applies to all named drivers).
• Lending your car to anyone not living with you.
• Business trips (except hiring your car for a fee).
• Driving in Europe at any time. Insurers will often limit this to 30 days.
If you break down:
• You’ll have Europe-wide breakdown cover for you and your family, including HomeStart.
In addition to this, you can also expect:
• Solicitor’s fees when pursuing a claim for personal injury or uninsured losses of up to £100,000.
• Child seat replacement after an accident, even if there’s no visible sign of damage.
• No premium increase or loss counted against you when the loss isn’t your fault, for instance due to vandalism or if your car is hit when parked.
The key benefits of Masterpiece
1) Diminution In Value cover Diminution In Value (DIV) is a pioneering new cover that pays the policyholder the difference between their car’s market value before and after a repair, as well as the repair costs. The cover applies to cars over 15 years old and will be paid out if the car has been valued or purchased at least 24 months before the loss.
2) We pay the agreed insured value
Most insurers settle total loss and theft claims based on the market value of a vehicle at the time of loss. Chubb provides “agreed value” cover, so the value of your car is locked in for the entire policy term. If you need to make a claim to replace your vehicle, you’ll receive 100% of the value we agreed whether it’s Day 1 or Day 365 of the policy.
3) Automatic comprehensive cover on borrowed vehicles
Insurers often only provide third party cover when you borrow another vehicle. With Chubb, you and other named drivers enjoy fully comprehensive cover on any vehicle you rent or borrow. And anyone driving your insured car is fully covered.
4) You choose the most suitable repairer
Most insurers stipulate where your vehicle should be repaired. Chubb allows you to select the most suitable garage, dealer, upholsterer or coachbuilder, or we can help you select one from our approved repairer network and we’ll guarantee the use of original manufacturer’s parts. “
Here at AIB Insurance, we look forward to a long and successful working relationship with Chubb Insurance that will no doubt be of great benefit to many of our high net worth customers. So, if you wish to discuss any of the above insurances and require a quotation, why not give us a call.
Unfortunately, according to the most recent AA British Insurance Premium Index that looks at the average of the 5 cheapest premiums, there has been an increase in the cost of obtaining home insurance last year. This comes on top of higher fuel prices seen at filling stations and an increase in motor insurance premiums.
In the space of 12 months, the cost of buildings cover rose to an average of £114.43 per annum in the final quarter of 2016 from an average of £106.36 per annum in the last quarter of 2015 with this equating to an increase of 7.6%. Between the third and fourth quarters of 2016 such cover rose in cost by 1.1%.
In the space of a year, the cost of contents cover rose to an average of £60.69 per annum in the last quarter of 2016 from an average of £58.67 per annum in the last quarter of 2015 with this being an increase of 3.5% although, interestingly, the cost of such cover between the third and fourth quarters of 2016 actually dropped by 5.7%.
In the space of 12 months, the cost of combined buildings and contents insurance rose to an average of £157.27 per annum in the final quarter of 2016 from an average of £150.67 per annum in the last quarter of 2015 with this being a rise of 4.4%. Between the third and fourth quarters of 2016 such premiums rose by 0.3%.
London and the South East is the region in the UK where it costs the most for a combined buildings and contents insurance policy with the average premium being £165.93 per annum in the final quarter of 2016. The West and West Country is the least expensive for this type of cover in the same period with the average premium being £146.58 per annum.
Here at AIB Insurance, we have an extensive panel of insurers offering buildings and/or contents insurance. So, why not get in touch with a member of our team on 02380 268 351 to discuss your requirements and obtain a quote without any obligation to see if we can save you any money on this valuable type of cover.
We are delighted to confirm the Flood Re scheme has received authorisation by both the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from 1 April 2016 and AIB have been signed off as competent, ready to go from the 6th April 2016.
As such, we will go live with the scheme with effect from 6th April 2016 with Flood Re expecting up to 350,000 households to benefit from the government led initiative.
Earlier this month, Flood Re CEO Brendan McCafferty told members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Insurance and Financial Services that the scheme had two issues to solve before it would be authorised by the PRA.
McCafferty commented: “I am delighted that we now have authorisation from the regulators. The Flood Re team is continuing to work hard with insurers ahead of launch.
“From 4 April, Flood Re will be live and ready to accept policies. A list of insurers that will be using the scheme will be available on the Flood Re website from the evening of Friday 1 April.”
McCafferty has repeatedly urged brokers to get ready for the scheme and AIB have invested time and money to make sure we are well positioned to provide the cover.
Nigel Gould of AIB said, “We were aware some insurers were making the Flood Re proposition available through their direct channels first, which would have put us on the back foot. As such, we have invested heavily and believe we are perfectly placed to provide our clients the most suitable options and offerings if they live in a flood risk area.
Flood Re is a new way to help people who live in flood risk areas get affordable home insurance. It launches on April 4th 2016. It is not a home insurer itself – instead it works behind the scenes with existing insurance companies.
Flood Re helps insurers offer more affordable flood insurance to those in areas at risk of flooding. It will mean people can shop around more easily to find policies with more affordable premiums and excesses. The scheme will develop over time so people should find they have even more choice in the future.
Now, if you were asked to name the largest private residence in the UK, many of you would say it was Buckingham Palace that is occupied, although not owned, by the Queen. In fact, this is not the case as the largest private home in the UK is actually called Wentworth Woodhouse and is located a few miles from Rotherham in South Yorkshire.
You may also be interested to know that, since around the middle of last year, Wentworth Woodhouse has been for sale through Savills estate agents for in excess of £8 million. It is a Georgian mansion built in the 18th century and sits in 82 acres of woodland and gardens.
The property was originally owned by the 1st Marquess of Rockingham and has 250,000 square feet of floor space of which 124,600 square feet is living space albeit some of the property is not presently habitable as it requires millions of pounds spending on it to restore it to its former glory. It is said to have the longest façade of any private home in the UK with a width of 606 feet.
It is believed to have at least 300 rooms and 5 miles of corridors. There is a marble saloon that, although not large at 60 square feet, was once felt to be England’s finest room of Georgian times. There was a stable block once occupied by 84 racehorses as horse racing was an interest of the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham.
Its last owner was the late Clifford Newbold who was an architect and bought the property in 1999 for around £1.5 million. He spent a considerable amount of money on partly restoring it but died last year at the age of 88.
His family decided that the property should be sold so this sounds like a wonderful opportunity for someone to take up the challenge of finishing off the good work Mr Newbold started although, from the sound of things, any new owner will need a large bank balance to not only buy it but carry out the repairs.
Here at AIB Insurance, we have insured many large family residences. So, if you would like a competitive home insurance quotation why not give us a call on 02380 268 351.
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Some interesting research has been carried out relating to the amount that is estimated is being saved in flood damage here in the UK due to the inland flood defences that have been put in place over the years. The research was carried out by Risk Management Solutions (RMS) on behalf of Flood Re.
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