The problems we are all facing just now, in business and on a personal level, are unprecedented in our time. We want all of our customers and the wider business community to know that we’re here to help.

Some customers have been in touch recently and have apologised for troubling us. We know many financial services businesses are telling people not to contact them unless it’s an emergency as they’re very busy. We’re busy too, but we’ll never be so busy that we can’t speak to our customers. You’re the reason for our business not an interruption to it.

COVID-19 has changed everything very quickly. We are following all the relevant guidance regarding the safety and wellbeing of our staff and have temporarily closed our office. All our staff are working from home with full access to our usual IT systems.

E-mail addresses and mobile telephone contact details are all operating as normal. Telephone calls to our general switchboard number will go to voicemail and will be electronically re-routed to the correct staff member for an immediate call back.

Your usual Blue Rock contact will be in touch with you as soon as they can but please don’t hesitate to call us with any questions or issues in the meantime.

We know you are dealing with the difficulties and challenges of this epidemic just the same as we are. If we can help on the insurance side or in any other way, we’re here for you.

Thanks for your business. Please stay safe and healthy.

Clients experiencing financial difficulties

On the 18th May 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority introduced new measures for insurance and premium finance firms to help clients in financial difficulty.  Should you be experiencing financial hardship, or if things change at work or home, we may be able to help by:

• Re-assessing your demands & needs
• Reviewing levels of cover
• Adding or removing optional covers such as legal expenses
• Adding or removing people on your policy

Where amendments to your insurance cover does not alleviate your payment difficulties, you should contact your finance provider directly as further support may be available, which could potentially include:

• The possibility of deferring payments (refer to FAQ’s)

• Reduced repayments, or rescheduled term
• Waiving missed or late payment fees
• Amending your repayment date without any cost
• Reducing interest payments

It is important that customers do not leave themselves uninsured, so we encourage you to contact us to discuss the options available if you are struggling to afford your payments during this uncertain time.

FAQ’s on Payment Deferrals

Q - What is a payment deferral?

A – A payment deferral is an arrangement under which a firm permits a customer that pays their insurance premium in instalments to make no payments for a specified period

Q – How do I apply for a payment deferral?

A – You should contact your insurer or finance provider direct

Q – If I am granted payment deferral, will I be classed as being in arrears on my payments?

A – No, nor would the provider or any third party such as broker or debt collector be allowed to cancel the policy or collect payment during the deferral period

Q – How long can I defer payments?

A – One to three months however, the provider can grant a longer extension should they wish

Q – Will I have to pay a fee?

A – The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) would not expect a customer to be liable to pay any charge or fee in connection with the granting of a payment deferral

We are reminding our customers to keep us informed about the changes in their business activities during the Coronavirus pandemic.

It’s not just a case of working from home or ceasing operations altogether, some of our customers are finding opportunities in new markets or generating revenue from new activities.

To make sure your insurance policies will pay out in the event of a claim, please let us know how your business is coping during the crisis. Examples might include;

- Staff working from home

- Changes in trade

- Voluntary work being undertaken to assist the NHS or local community

- Unattended manufacturing processes

It's been inspiring to see the creative ways some businesses are finding to stay trading through the problems. For our part, we'll do everything we can to help and we are finding most insurance companies will bend over backwards to do likewise.

It is normally the case that insurance companies apply stricter terms to unoccupied commercial property. Policy wording typically reduce cover to only the main Fire perils and require policyholders to notify them whenever a business premises becomes unoccupied.

We now find ourselves in a situation where most business premises are closed and the major insurers are responding to that in different ways.

We have detailed below the response we have received from some of our insurer partners to our questions on this issue. Please get in touch to discuss your own particular situation.

NOTE: Any premises that were already unoccupied prior to the lockdown will still be subject to normal policy terms.

RSA
RSA would consider business premises closed due to coronavirus to be temporarily unoccupied (as defined in the policy). However, certain standard restrictions in RSA policies for unoccupied properties will not be applied, provided that the period of closure does not exceed 90 days. What this means for such premises is that, for the period that they may be closed for the above reasons or for up to 90 days maximum (whichever is the shorter period):
1) Where the policy wording excludes Malicious Damage, Escape of Water or Theft with respect to buildings that are empty or not in use, such exclusions will not apply
2) Security and Inspection conditions applicable to Unoccupied Properties will not apply

NIG
The recent Government announcement means more businesses will close and many will be working from home. Therefore, many more properties will be unoccupied for the next few weeks, and potentially beyond.
Within NIG's standard policies, cover will continue to be in force for any Commercial premises temporarily unoccupied for a period of up to 30 consecutive days, and 90 days for premises insured under our Property Owners contract. From 24th March 2020, we are extending this period to 60 consecutive days for Commercial premises or 90 days for Property Owners temporarily closing during to COVID-19, before we ask to be notified. For any clients whose premises is going to be out of use for longer than this, you need to notify us.
Any building left unoccupied naturally poses a greater insurance risk and we therefore need businesses to take the following additional measures for the above extension to apply:
• That the Premises is secured, by putting all protective, locking devices and any alarm protection, in effective operation.
• Where practical, turn off the gas, water and electricity supplies at the mains (except electricity needed to maintain any fire or intruder alarm systems, or water and heating systems for sprinklered Premises).
• Where possible, the Insured or their representative should visit once every 7 days to physically check the premises and carry out immediately any work necessary to maintain the security of the premises in all respects.
• Remove all trade refuse and waste materials from the interior of the Premises, allowing no accumulation of refuse or waste in the adjoining yards or spaces owned by the Insured.
All other Conditions requiring Policyholders to take action or respond to intruder alarm activations, faults or other maintenance-related matters will continue to apply unless otherwise agreed to be impractical due to COVID19 Government-directed actions limiting or restricting the movement of people.

ALLIANZ
Given the current situation, we appreciate that your customers may have had to temporarily leave their premises unoccupied due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
We usually ask that you notify us if the premises are going to be unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days for Allianz Commercial standard policy wordings, or 45 days for SME wordings. We’re now extending this period to 60 days, so you only need to let us know at the end of the 60 day period if the premises will still be unoccupied. During that 60 day period your customer’s existing cover will remain in place.
If your customer’s premises were already unoccupied before the Covid-19 outbreak, and your customer is unable to meet the terms of our unoccupied conditions due to the current restrictions, please get in touch.
We’ll continue to review this position as the situation develops.

Many businesses, like us, have had to very quickly transition to some or all staff working from home during the Coronavirus epidemic. This has led to a sudden increase in business property being used away from the premises and, in some cases, a significant investment has been made in purchasing new IT equipment to enable homeworking.

Whether or not the equipment is covered away from your business premises will depend on the cover that you already had in place and also, to some extent, on what adjustments insurers might have made to their policies in light of current circumstances.

The position varies from insurer to insurer. As an example, two responses we received from major insurers were as follows;

NIG
As we are all being encouraged to work from home, we would remind clients that the Temporary Removal extensions within our policies will apply for any Business Contents Risks to the limits stated where employees are working from home with Business Equipment.
Similarly, we understand clients may wish to move stock to employees' homes due to a closure as a result of COVID-19. This would probably be safer than leaving the stock within an unoccupied property. In these cases, we shall deem policies to have the Third Party Storage Sites extension, and that for the duration of the crisis this is operative on all policies where a Material Damage section is included.

AVIVA
To support you and your clients, we’re automatically extending our existing policy cover to provide the same level of protection your business clients currently enjoy so they can carry out their normal business activities at their home and the homes of their employees.
This extension applies to the following covers where they’re insured under their existing policies;
1. Business Equipment
2. Employers Liability
3. Public Liability
We’ll also provide cover for their business equipment whilst in transit to and from their homes.
All we ask is that your clients and their employees take reasonable precautions to protect their assets and employees during this time.
Any existing policy terms, conditions and exclusions will remain unaltered and apply to their respective homes. There will of course be no additional charge for this cover.
This extension will apply until further notice and we’ll contact you so you can let your business clients know 30 days prior to this extension of cover being withdrawn.

Both these approaches show a willingness to help but are very different in their application so please check with us for your particular insurers response.

If you have purchased additional IT equipment then you should let us know straight away so that we can add the necessary cover to your policy.

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre recently published a helpful article on reducing fire risk for unoccupied premises. We have reproduced the article here. The original can be found at https://www.sbrcentre.co.uk/news/2020/april/protect-the-building-protect-the-business/

With many business premises temporarily closed due to the current Government restrictions on Covid-19, many premises will now be unoccupied. Watch Commander Gary Wood, seconded Scottish Fire & Rescue Service officer to the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, affords the following guidance and advice on reducing fire risk within your unoccupied premises.

1. Update risk assessments
Your current FSRA – Fire Safety Risk Assessment may not reflect the current situation within your premises during periods of temporary closure. It should be reviewed and updated to take into account any changes or impact upon risk a closure can result in. An example of this is business premises which are not classed as ‘sleeping accommodation’ are very unlikely to have the correct provision of fire safety measures within to ensure the safety of staff who may be tempted to sleep overnight on the premises to avoid travelling restrictions.
You should also give consideration on how reduced maintenance and testing provision could impact upon the fire risk within the premises.
Fire Safety Risk Assessment information can be found on the SFRS website

2. Inspect weekly
Your premises should be where possible, inspected on a weekly basis, provided this is in accordance with the current government guidance on travel. If restrictions on travel mean this is not possible, inspection should be reinstated as soon as possible if restrictions are lifted.
You may wish to issue any staff travelling to inspect the premises an official letter or note on company headed paper which has contact details and authorises them to do so, should they be challenged by anyone such as a police or security officer.
During inspection if any damage to the building infrastructure is noted it should be repaired as soon as practicable. Pay particular attention to access doors, windows and gates, electrical equipment, security devices/lighting and intruder alarms, fire detection systems and fire suppression systems.
You should also remove any piles of mail from any letterbox during each inspection, along with any other action considered appropriate to minimise the risk the property can be easily identified as being temporarily closed.

3. Turn off and unplug electrical equipment
At times when your premises is unoccupied you should switch off and unplug electrical equipment, removing plugs from sockets. Isolate any areas of the building at the main electrical switch board if possible. Only leave critical electrical equipment which requires to be left on to enable the infrastructure to be maintained within the building, for example electrical devices required to be powered on to support the business or any staff working remotely.
Examples of electrical equipment critical to the premises infrastructure could be intruder alarms, automatic fire detection systems, AFSS – Automatic Fire Suppression Systems such as sprinkler installations or gas suppression systems.

4. Close all internal fire and smoke control doors
Ensure internal fire and smoke control doors are closed. In the event of a fire within the premises, any fire doors which are left open could substantially increase the potential for heat and smoke spread throughout resulting in an elevated risk of damage to other areas of the building. Closing these doors helps limit heat and smoke spread and could keep a fire confined to a specific area. Ensure any smoke control systems and fire dampers operate correctly.

5. Protect the premises against wilful fire raising and vandalism
All external access points such as doors and windows and gates should be locked and secured out of hours. Larger windows should be shuttered or boarded up if possible.
Intruders may look for ways to scale a building via a convenient flat roof. They may also use items at ground level which can be moved around to utilise as climbing platforms which afford access onto roofs, an example of this would be industrial waste bins – consider chaining these to an immovable object or if you have more than one, chain them together.
Consider securing any items which could be used as levers to force entry through doors, windows or skylights. Such items should ideally be held in a secure area.
More in depth guidance and advice on securing your premises against wilful fire raising can be found on the SBRC website: https://www.sbrcentre.co.uk/news/2019/september/how-to-prevent-wilful-fire-raising-in-your-business/
https://www.sbrcentre.co.uk/news/2019/september/reducing-the-risk-of-wilful-fire-raising-part-two/

6. Ensure AFD and AFSS are operational
Ensure that any AFD – Automatic Fire Detection Systems and AFSS – Automatic Fire Suppression Systems (Sprinklers, water mist or gas suppression) are active and operational. Check your AFD and AFSS indicator panels to ensure there are no faults showing on the display.
If there are any faults present during inspection, have these rectified as soon as possible. Your AFD and AFSS are your immediate first line of defence against fire, even more so when the building is unoccupied and there are no staff present to notice a fire alarm activation or a fire occurring. As such they are critical to your premises fire risk reduction at times when it is unoccupied.

7. Ensure any ARC link is operational
If your AFD system is linked to an ARC Alarm Receiving Centre which monitors for fire alarm activations within the premises, ensure the link is fully operational. Contact your ARC to ensure they are aware that your premises is unoccupied temporarily.
Ensure that anyone carrying out a weekly inspection of the premises is aware of any ARC connected to the system so that in the event of them testing the fire alarm, they can contact the ARC beforehand and have the system taken offline for test, then re-contact the ARC to inform them the test is complete.
This will help guard against UFAS – Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals being transmitted to the fire service which may result in the unneeded attendance of our fire crews during this current time, tying up resources when our crews may be required at a genuine emergency elsewhere.
You should also contact your insurance provider to advise them of the building being unoccupied.
For information on reducing UFAS see the guidance on the SFRS website: https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/your-safety/for-businesses/unwanted-fire-alarm-(ufas).aspx

8. Ensure premises key holders are available
Ensure that appointed key holders are available for the premises should they be required to attend in the event of a fire alarm activation or a fire occurring within the premises. Ensure these key holders are aware of the layout of the premises including where to isolate main services such as gas, electricity and water, as well as being familiar with the AFD system itself. Ensure your ARC has current and up to date contact details for these key holders.

9. Clear any mail from letterboxes or behind doors
Letter boxes are a commonly used access point for wilful fire raising. Consider arranging with the Post Office to have mail redirected to a premises which will be occupied. If this is not possible then consider fitting an external letterbox or a fire proof letterbox/bag to prevent any lit combustibles being pushed through to the interior of the building.

10. External combustibles moved away from the building
Many instances of wilful fire raising occur where combustible materials are readily available in the vicinity including refuse and packaging or waste stored inappropriately.
Combustible materials should be stored in a closed metal container if possible. This container should be located away from the building in such a position that it will not contribute to fire spread to adjacent buildings or outbuildings – at least 8m away is a good rule of thumb.
Chaining multiple bins together also limits the potential for intruders to move them closer to buildings.
Larger combustibles such as wooden pallets should be stored in a secure area away from the building but not so close to the perimeter fence that an intruder could set fire to them through the fence itself.

11. Prevent water damage/flooding
During the period of temporary closure, isolate water supplies at the mains. If it is possible, drain down any water systems within the premises. It may not be possible to do this and if this is the case within your premises, a minimum temperature of 7⁰C (45⁰F) should be maintained throughout if possible.
For further guidance and advice on fire risk mitigation for your premises visit the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service website.