A case in Scotland, which recently resulted in three companies being fined over the same incident, provides a reminder of the health and safety responsibilities of all firms involved in any part of the construction supply chain, not just the contractor.

The companies were – between them – fined over £300,000 following a fall of over 6 metres by a worker on to a concrete floor. The accident happened when the worker was installing a security system. The companies that were fined were the customer, the contractor firm and the firm to which the job had been sub-contracted – which was the injured man’s employer.

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the customer had not requested a written risk assessment of the work from either the contractor or the sub-contractor. The contractor was understood to have carried out a general risk assessment relating to working at height but not one that related to this particular project. It’s understood that the sub-contracted firm was not aware of the contractor’s risk assessment. It was reported that neither company had a method statement detailing how the work was to be safely conducted.

Furthermore, the customer did not conduct safety inductions for contractors before the commencement of work on site or hold safety meetings once work was underway to check the ongoing safety of the work.

This comes as a salutary warning to construction firms of the extent of their health and safety responsibilities.

As ever, the HSE provides useful information:

• about working at height http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/
• about risk assessments http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/
• example risk assessments http://www.hse.gov.uk/risk/casestudies/ 

For further information on insurance and risk management solutions for the construction industry, please contact Richard Gibson on 0116 2720770 or richard.gibson@abourne.com

David Cameron on behalf of the Government has confirmed this morning in Parliament that the Riot (Damages) Act 1886, police compensation schemes will operate as normal and that the time frame for notifying claims under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 has been relaxed from 14 days to 42 days from the date of damage or injury to property. This is a very welcome concession from the Government and will allow for a more comprehensive assessment of the quantum of the loss to be included on the form.

The Prime Minister commenting on the recent rioting and looting in London and other cities, announced:

• The 14-day time limit to make compensation claims to their local police force under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 will be extended to 42 days
• The Bellwin Scheme will be in operation to support Local Authorities
• To meet any short term funding problems the Government will set up a £10m recovery fund for Local Authorities

Claims under the Riot (Damages) Act

The majority, if not all insurance claims, following the disturbances, will be dealt with under the peril of Riot. While customers who have this cover will have their claims dealt with in the normal manner, there is still a need for these claims to be notified to the insurer within 7 days.

In cases of Riot (as defined by Section 1 of the Public Order Act), certain compensation is available under the provisions of the Riot (Damages) Act, for loss of, or damage to, property. Any such claims are made against the local Police Authority and following todays announcement within 42 days of the damage.

Next steps for your customers who wish to pursue uninsured losses

For customers in areas affected by the riots we recommend the following actions be undertaken as a matter of urgency:

1. Where it’s safe to do, carry out an immediate investigation and establish any loss or damage – we understand that this may be difficult but it is better to present as much information as possible to the Police Authority.
2. Customers should inform their broker of the outcome of the loss and damage assessment and, if an uninsured loss claim is being made, decide who will make the submission, to ensure it is made in the prescribed format  (Riot Damages Act Claim form) and within the timescale.
3. If applicable, contact the Police Authority, advising them of the circumstances, nature and extent of the claim to be pursued under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886. The customer will need to provide the Police Authority with following information:

1. Once all details have been completed, all the details should be return to:

If you have any questions regarding this please do not hesitate to contact Richard Gibson or your usual account executive on 0116 2720770

The Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) regulations were signed by Parliament on Friday 4th February 2011 and it is now an offence to be the registered keeper of a vehicle which may not be covered by insurance following a check against the Motor Insurance Database (MID), even if the vehicle is not driven on the road.

Process
The DVLA and MIB are working in partnership to identify uninsured vehicles by comparing insurance and registered keeper records on their respective databases. Under CIE, the registered keeper of a vehicle will be responsible for ensuring that insurance is in place and will be contacted if the vehicle does not appear on the MID.  It is anticipated that the first letters will be issued around June 2011.

Upon receipt of an advisory letter, keepers will be asked  to:

• update their DVLA record (if vehicle has been sold or transferred)
• declare vehicle SORN (statutory off road notice)
• buy insurance

If the vehicle is insured and does not appear on Motor Insurance Database accessible then the insurance provider should be contacted. Enforcement, in the form of a fine, will only follow if the keeper fails to comply with one of the above.

Exemptions
CIE does not apply in Northern Ireland. NI has a separate registration and licensing authority and they will make a decision whether or not to adopt CIE.

Vehicles are exempt from CIE, if

• Vehicle has a valid SORN (Statutory off road notice)
• Vehicle is exempted from SORN (as untaxed before 31/01/98 and has had no tax or SORN activity since)
• Vehicle recorded as scrapped
• Vehicle recorded as stolen and not recovered
• Vehicle recorded as disposed to the trade
• Vehicle recorded as disposed
• Vehicle recorded as exported
• Vehicle is owned by the crown, tax class (60)

Further information
Further details will be available at www.directgov.co.uk   The DVLA and MIB have also prepared a question and answer document . if you would like a copy of this please contact your usual  account executive on 0116 272 0770 or enquiries@abourne.com

Insurers paid out £1.4bn in ‘big freeze’ insurance claims in the UK between 24 November and 31 December 2010, according to the ABI.   There were 467,000 claims for motor, home and business during the period:

• 190,000 claims were for damage to homes and businesses (75% domestic; 25% commercial), costing £900m.
• There were 278,000 motor insurance claims, costing £530m.
• Property claims included 103,000 for burst pipe damage, costing £680m. This was up 35% on the amount paid out for burst pipes during the whole of the previous winter.
• Northern Ireland suffered 6,400 burst pipe claims, worth £40m. In Scotland, 31,000 property damage claims cost £90m.

The ABI estimated that insurers dealt with more than 12,000 claims a day, at a cost of £38m, during the coldest December on record.

ABI director of general insurance and health Nick Starling said: “The big freeze highlighted that, when bad weather strikes, there is no substitute for insurance.”

For a FREE impartial review of your current business insurance needs,  please contact Richard Gibson on  0116 272 8821.

Do you accurately check your Buildings sums each renewal, or do you renew your policy without much thought to it?

The only time you may discover that your buildings are under insured is when you need to make a claim?  How much would it really cost to reinstate your business investments?

Five pointers:

1. Make sure you know what is included in the insurance policy definitions as this may include a range of ancillary terms such as walls, gates, fences, garages and other outbuildings. These items are frequently forgotton about, but must be taken into consideration when calculating sums insured.
2. Include the cost of removing debris, as well as architects’ and surveyors’ fees when calculating the reinstatement figure.
3. You may also need to consider other reconstruction expenses such as site decontamination or demolition or a fire-damaged building.
4. Keep up-to-date with current building requirements and local planning criteria , as new demands can significantly increase rebuilding costs. For example, owners are increasingly properties with improved thermal efficiency or on-site power generation.
5. The best way to obtain an accurate sum insured is by commissioning a regulated surveyor  – to carry out a professional valuation every three to five years. That way, you will be less at risk of a claim shortfall.

For further details on this article please contact Richard Gibson on 0116 272 0770

With around 20% of UK warehouses and factories currently unoccupied, Insurance group Aviva is warning commercial property owners of the need to secure vacant buildings.

According to the insurer, there are around 9,000 fires in unoccupied buildings each year in the UK, and empty commercial premises, particularly in out-of-town areas, are high risk.

If not fire, other common problems with unoccupied properties include theft of fixtures and fittings fly tipping and occupation by squatters or travellers.

Property owners are therefore advised to inform their insurance company, the fire service and police when premises are empty, having first accounted for all keys and produced a list of key holders.

They should also cut off utilities and redirect mail, but at the same time keep the building looking occupied.

Rubbish and combustible materials should be cleared away leaving nothing that could be used to start a fire, or might appear to be of value.

“It also makes sense to make a note of the building’s condition when it first becomes unoccupied and maintaining a log of weekly inspections to provide evidence, should the need for a claim arise” comment’s Andrew Bourne’s David Crowther.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed the extent to which trade credit insurance helped UK businesses in 2009. During the year, insurers dealt with 22,791 claims, with the total amount paid out rising from £164 million in 2008, to £320 million.

According to the ABI survey, the 95% year-on-year increase reflects the ongoing effects of the global recession and the liquidity crisis on UK business.

However, figures for the final quarter of 2009 showed a significant improvement, with the number of new claims received down 23% on the previous three months.

The Associations director of general insurance and health, Nick Starling, comments: “This is consistent with the end of the downward trends observed in various sectors of the economy and the corresponding reduction in levels of corporate failures observed in Q4 2009.”

He adds: “The outlook for 2010, although improved from 2009, remains highly uncertain, which reinforces the importance of protection and risk management services provided by trade credit insurers.”

Andrew Bourne & Company has learnt that VOSA has vowed to implement stringent vehicle checks as part of a crack down on rogue HGV/ Haulage drivers.  It has emerged that VOSA are barred from having permanent vehicle inspection facilities at the port of Liverpool and three other ports across the U.K due to private ownership. A spokesperson from the Port of Liverpool refuted the claim and confirmed that VOSA did indeed carry out regular inspections on site.

A recent vehicle inspection led to three drivers being arrested and several vehicles taken off the road. The drivers were arrested under suspicion of driving outside of the licensing authority. Several vehicles were seized due to being unroadworthy or uninsured.
Andrew Bourne & Company are a leading haulage insurance brokers in Leicester.

For further information please contact our Haulage specialist David Crowther on 07536 117804 or david.crowther@abourne.com

BUPA’s “How Are You Britain” report indicates that almost half of the country’s workforce is less than happy. In a poll of over 2,000 people, 49% said they were feeling “unfulfilled” in their jobs, and 21% were annoyed by a lack of career progression. The health insurer is therefore recommending some simple changes that can make a big difference, starting out with healthcare advice and support for employees.

Subsidised fitness facilities, either on or off-site, can also raise the spirits and employers can easily enhance the working day by providing free fruit. BUPA’s clinical director occupational health, Dr Jenny Leeser, comments: “Dissatisfaction at work can lead to problems for businesses with employees taking more sick days than necessary … as well as looking at job content, there are a few simple health–related changes companies can take to minimise short-term absence, improve productivity and maintain good health and wellbeing among the workforce.”

A suggested relaxation related to the delivery curfews could see emmisions reduced by up to 300%.  By not travelling at peak times, it would mean reduced congestion on the roads with less traffic for HGV’s to compete with journey times could be cut quite drastically.

With ever growing pressure to cut our carbon foot print, haulage firms are continually looking for ways to be more “green” on our highways. The suggestion is that with the relaxation on deliveries the roads would become far less congested. Driving HGV vehicles during the night would in turn reduce the amount of time it takes between deliveries.

The main argument against the proposals suggest that whilst night time deliveries may reduce carbon emissions and help delivery times, the noise of a HGV vehicle passing through the streets in the early hours will be a pollution in itself.

For further information please contact our Haulage specialist David Crowther on 07536 117804 or david.crowther@abourne.com