Due to continued growth the Airsports Insurance Bureau team are pleased to welcome new addition Tom Hopkins to its personal lines Executive team. Tom has been recruited as one of our Senior Insurance Consultants and will be responsible for ensuring both our new and existing clients get the very best service.
Tom has spent the last couple of years at Turners Insurance in Botley, Hampshire and has an excellent background providing insurance solutions to both commercial and personal clients, particularly property related insurance products.
Tom had this to say on his appointment:
“As soon as I spoke to AIB I knew it was the perfect opportunity for me to progress further within the insurance industry locally. I appreciate that insurance can be a ‘necessary evil’ at times and I like to assist client’s in ‘taking the pain’ out of the Insurance Purchase and making sure they get a quality product designed around their needs.”
Tom lives in Locks Heath supporting his local Premier League Football club, Southampton FC. He is a keen poker player and will often attend tournaments throughout the south of England. Tom considers himself well travelled and the three people he’d like to invite to his ‘perfect’ dinner party would be former professional boxer Carl Froch MBE, Liverpool FC legend Steven Gerrard and TV royalty, Ross Kemp.
Whilst it provides homeowners with peace of mind to have home insurance, should there be the need to claim on the policy in the event of the likes of a fire, it is undoubtedly an unpleasant experience to say the least should such a thing happen in your property or perhaps worse still should you suffer a break in by a burglar. Well, Co-op Insurance has done some research to find out some effective things that can act as a deterrent to a thief.
The insurer made contact with twenty five ex-burglars who were able to suggest a number of measures that homeowners could put in place to possibly reduce the likelihood of them being burgled.
Apparently, 26% of those ex-burglars that took part in the research felt that movement activated security lights provided the greatest deterrent to burglars here in the UK. No doubt, it would be sensible to consider having such lights coming on that would light up the front and the back of the home as well as the sides to provide the best overall potential protection against a burglar breaking in and stealing your valuables and possibly causing damage to your property.
The research revealed that 22% of burglars were of the opinion that CCTV cameras acted as the biggest deterrent to burglars. Again, presumably it would be a good idea to have such cameras located in positions that provide complete coverage of all the doors and windows and the surrounding area of the property.
Interestingly, 15% of ex-burglars that took part in the research felt that the major thing that would stop them trying to break into a home would be a barking dog. It just shows such a pet is not only something to love and care for but a dog also provides some useful practical benefit to a family.
Now, you may have thought that monitored burglar alarms were high up on the list of things that would act as a deterrent to a burglar trying to break into a property. Well, only 11% of the ex-burglars taking part in the research were of the opinion that such alarms were the most effective deterrent.
Also worth noting is that it is not a good idea to shut your curtains or blinds prior to departing on holiday as this may suggest to a burglar that the property is presently unoccupied. It is also not a good idea to leave post sticking out of the letterbox so why not ask a neighbor to check this out whilst you are away and push the letters through the letterbox onto the hall floor.
We do hope that you have found the above to be of benefit. If you are interested in arranging home insurance then why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 and speak with one of our team who will discuss your requirements and arrange a quotation without any obligation. We have an extensive panel of insurers at our disposal so we should be able to provide a quality, competitive quote for most sorts of property, contents and personal belongings.
We are pleased to announce that Plum Underwriting Ltd has been added to our carefully selected panel of insurers. It is worth noting that we undertake a great deal of due diligence about those wishing to be included on our panel.
Plum Underwriting Ltd is located in London EC3 and was set up in 2002 initially to concentrate on the home insurance marketplace. It now tends to focus on specialist and non-standard commercial and domestic properties in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
For instance, all risks home insurance can be arranged on the likes of high and medium net worth owner occupied properties. Cover is automatically included for things like cyber cover, legal expenditure, home emergency and identity theft for the later type of properties with travel insurance also being included for high net worth homes.
If you are going to have renovation works carried out on your home or your business’s premises then Plum Underwriting Ltd can arrange specialist cover providing complete peace of mind.
Cover can also be arranged for unoccupied properties and holiday homes and insurance can also be provided for landlords looking to insure their let properties.
A non-standard home insurance policy can be put in place for people who may otherwise have found it difficult to arrange cover. For instance, those who are bankrupt, properties that have suffered with subsidence, those in danger of being flooded and homes of a non-standard construction.
The company has built an enviable reputation for the level of customer service it provides and the range and quality of products that are competitively priced. We have to say that our dealings with Plum Underwriting Ltd have been excellent. We look forward to that relationship continuing for many years to come that can only benefit our clients.
You will no doubt be aware of the vast number of commercial properties in the UK that includes the likes of industrial units, shops, supermarkets, hotels, retail parks and office blocks. Construction of such properties continues in many parts of the country providing employment for those in the building trade and, of course, for those people working for businesses that are taking up occupancy of such premises.
However, have you any idea where in the world many of the investors in these properties are actually from? The perception is probably that the vast majority are based here in the UK.
Well, you would be correct. However, in the last 10 years, there has been a big increase in the number of overseas investors in commercial property.
The Property Industry Alliance (PIA) that includes the likes of the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC), Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Property Committee of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has produced the Property Data Report 2014. This report reveals that, as at the end of 2013, 24% of those now owning commercial property for investment purposes in the UK are from overseas – that is almost a quarter. In the region of 75% of such property is in London.
What is significant is that such overseas investors have increased their ownership in commercial bricks and mortar in the UK by 129% in the ten years leading up to 2013. That now makes them the largest group of owners putting the likes of UK institutions (pension funds and insurance companies) in second place at 19%. In fact, in the last 10 years the latter group have actually reduced their holding in UK commercial property by 16% – a significant drop. The third biggest owners are collective investment schemes such as managed funds and unit trusts that invest in property. In total, £385 billion is invested in commercial property.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next ten years in terms of ownership of UK commercial properties.
For bespoke landlord insurance call the team on 02380 268351 for an instant quote and cover.
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Due to continued growth the Airsports Insurance Bureau team are pleased to welcome new addition Tom Hopkins to its personal lines Executive team. Tom has been recruited as one of our Senior Insurance Consultants and will be responsible for ensuring both our new and existing clients get the very best service.
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