The Services of a Commercial Insurance Broker.
If you are looking for a commercial insurance broker to help protect either your premises or your business assets, the UK insurance market has a wide selection of qualified professionals, ready to help. Many first-time landlords (seeking commercial building insurance), or small business start-ups (seeking business insurance), may be slightly confused as to the types of commercial insurances available. So many business owners choose to browse the Internet to find the telephone number of someone knowledgeable, who can answer questions and provide alternative solutions. Many potential policyholders end up speaking with an experienced commercial insurance broker in the intermediary market…
The intermediary market consists of thousands of qualified insurance brokers. Many of these insurance brokers have traditionally been based in offices on high streets, up and down the country. Most brokers will have access to wide range of business insurance policies, and commercial property insurance policies. However, whereas the the vast majority of the U.K.’s general insurance broker market will have a broad range of mainstream products (such as motor, travel and home), there are far fewer brokers specialising exclusively in commercial policies for landlords or business owners.
These types of brokers will generally have special knowledge and understanding of a wide range of commercial trades, as well as how various different types of premises are used by these trades. In particular they will be able to translate the risks associated with a particular trade, with the various insurance options on offer to the client. This may include pointing out warranties on various policies, which may require the policyholder to mitigate a risk by taking practical action. These sorts of details need to be explained to prospective customers prior to purchaser because each risk situation is different.
Insurance companies can’t be expected to design a completely bespoke commercial insurance product for each individual customer. However due to the vast experience insurance companies have in dealing with a large variety of insurance claims, commercial policy wordings have been refined over her years, to cover a very wide range of perils. Qualified brokers are under an obligation to point all important facts out and depending upon their status, may offer objective alternatives, so clients can make a decision that is right for the business or property investment needs. For example many commercial building insurance policies have stipulations regarding the length of time a building can be left empty without a tenant, (before landlord checks on security and maintenance have to be made), under the terms of the policy.
Hardly any commercial insurance is sold online using a credit card, (without first going through a detailed conversation or ‘fact find’ between the client and the insurer or broker). This is because every commercial business operates in a different environment, and has a different set of circumstances and risks. No ‘standard quote form’ could hope to capture every possible answer to every possible commercial scenario for an underwriting rating structure to produce an instant quote. So insurers need to satisfy themselves that they are providing the right product mix, that meet the needs of every policy holder – all of whom have diverse and sometimes unique business needs.
The first port of call is usually a telephone call to the broker, (to discuss your requirements and ultimately outline the possible options available). This telephone call will inevitably lead to more questions that require answers for underwriting purposes. This perhaps requires a bit of research from the client to go away and get the answers. As a potential policyholder you may be surprised to know that the commercial insurance broker may require answers to any a whole range of practical things about your business (that you may not have thought were relevant). These factors may include such things as:-
- What your building is made of;
- The nature of any occupancy (if your a commercial landlord);
- What your annual turnover is;
- What are the security arrangements for securing stock and valuables;
- What production processes you have on site;
- What is your customer profile.
If you have been searching for the phone number of a commercial insurance broker using the Internet, it is likely you will end up browsing insurance-based websites, that are marketed in very similar ways. Insurance is a heavily regulated market, and not prone to exaggeration, nor outrageous sales claims. These websites will represent and promote a wide range of insurance organisations, across different channels to market. These will consist of the traditional high street Insurance Broker, Introducers, Price Comparison Engines, Appointed Representatives and Insurance Companies directly. It can be very easy to get ‘information overload’, when browsing through such similar marketing messages and key selling points – especially when this bullet points are all targeting landlords and business owners of the many offices, shops, warehouses, clubs, pubs across the United Kingdom.
Whether you ultimately choose to take out one commercial policy over another, it is likely to be proportional to how much confidence the call operator gives you over the phone. No business owner wants to jeopardise their enterprise, by purchasing an insurance policy from someone they feel is inexperienced, or doesn’t know anything about a real business. On the other hand if the telephone operator clearly has a good knowledge of your market sector, and how your business is likely to operate – they are more likely to inspire confidence in you as a broker worth trusting to buy commercial insurance from.
At Assetsure, we are able to offer insurance quotes for commercial buildings situated in the UK. We can provide cover for a wide range of trades, including:-
