BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
A specialist insurance provider with clients largely based within the cycle trade has this morning handed BikeBiz a statement that will hopefully help clarify where those affected by rioting stand when making a claim. The full, unedited statement is found below:
Comments on the insurance aspects of the current civil disobedience.
The following information is provided as a guide only and individual businesses are advised to speak to their usual insurance advisor to clarify their own particular policy cover.
Most insurance policies cover damage caused by Fire, theft, malicious damage/vandalism, subject to the policy terms and any excess, normally a minimum of £250.
The current unrest in several cities is resulting in:
1) Breakage of windows/shop fronts. In many cases a shop will be leased from a property owner, and the lease provisions will decide who is liable to pay for such building damage. If the tenant is responsible, most shop policies will pay for this.
2) Theft of stock etc. following a break in. This should be covered by a shop insurance policy, provided theft has not been excluded.
3) Fire caused by intruders or a petrol bomb through a window – again this should be covered.
4) Losses caused by an inability to trade following damage. This is known as Business Interruption or Loss of Profits insurance and many shop policies include the cover as standard. It can get a bit more complex here as there may be circumstances where the shop is undamaged, but access to it is prevented by damage to nearby buildings and in this case an extension to the standard cover – Denial of Access should apply. Some shop policies may not have this cover as standard.
What you should do in the event of suffering damage:
Do not confront any perpetrators – keep yourself and any of your staff safe.
1) Call the police and follow any advice they may give you. Keep a note of when you called them, and obtain a Crime Reference number and details of the officer you have reported it to.
2) Report the loss to your Insurance Broker or Insurance Company as soon as you can, and again follow any advice they give you.
3) Contact your landlord or his agents to report damage to the building.
4) If safe to do so, take photographs of the damage both externally and internally.
This information is provided by Butterworth Spengler Insurance Group.
