Thinking Risk

The Construction industry has been through a tumultuous few years - COVID-19, Brexit and most recently the Ukraine war have caused disruptions with project delays, supply chain issues, price inflation and the availability of labour. This article considers how these issues have impacted the construction insurance market, and what businesses can do to help their broker achieve the best possible terms on their behalf.

This summer has seen unprecedented temperatures. On the 19th July 2022, the UK experienced its hottest temperature on record where the thermometer touched 40.3C in Lincolnshire. This month the Met Office have issued a further Amber warning for Central and Southern England and Wales.

The current hot weather may be welcome for holidaymakers, but many workplaces in the UK are not equipped to deal with the current extreme temperatures. It makes sense to consider putting in place some simple common-sense measures to help mitigate the heat, reduce the risks and make your colleagues more comfortable.

Directors and officers of limited companies can have unlimited personal liability for the decisions and actions they take on behalf of their company. The trend is increasingly for senior leaders to be held personally accountable for organisational issues and problems (eg cyber-attacks, environmental incidents and financial failings), making D&O insurance more important than ever.

Government communication of the changes to the Highway Code implemented at the end of January 2022 has been widely criticised, so it is important for businesses running a fleet to ensure their drivers are fully briefed to avoid danger and confusion.

Winning this prestigious industry award is testament to the hard work of all our staff, who have remained focussed on delivering an outstanding service to clients through an incredibly difficult year.

UK SMEs typically lose £13.6bn each year from legal issues, and this cost is on the rise. Costs of a legal dispute can be seriously damaging for a business and can even prevent companies from trading.

Commercial Legal Expenses insurance can help take the strain, reducing the costs and time spent on legal disputes. This article highlights some of the post lock-down issues which are driving litigation and outlines how legal expenses insurance can help.

"Is the current Professional Indemnity market harder than Only Connect? Yes, it really might be even harder than the fiendishly difficult BBC quiz show.  

It is certainly the most difficult and challenging insurance market I’ve experienced in over 30 years in the industry, and the underlying problems were all solidly in place and building long before we could all spell 'coronavirus'."

Sean Trent, Divisional Director of Lonmar Global Risks (part of the GRP Group) discusses the difficult Professional Indemnity market, and how PI insurance buyers can help their broker to achieve the best solution possible for their business.

Both the residential and commercial property markets have steadily hardened in recent years, resulting in premium rate hikes every quarter since Q3 2018, along with an increasingly restrictive risk appetite and more stringent terms from insurers.

Unfortunately, this trend is continuing into 2021. This article examines the reasons for this hard market, and provides advice to property owners about how to minimise its impact on their renewal premium and terms.

The Covid emergency has been the catalyst for rapid change and innovation in business practices. As we start to see a light at the end of the tunnel with a return to less restricted working, now is the time to think about what has been leaned over the last year, and how this can make a positive difference to your business effectiveness in the future.

• Remote working means cybercriminals can potentially attack business systems by hacking staff’s personal devices
• A recent Symantec analysis suggested that about one in every 3700 emails is now a phishing email.
• The Office for National Statistics recorded a 53% increase in hacking in the year to September 2020, - about 4500 small businesses are hacked every day
• 40% increase in “malware” attacks which lock businesses out of their own systems – average cost per attack £600,000
• The escalating impact of cyber crime means cyber insurance is now more important than ever for small businesses