These are well recognised risks that are known to heating engnieers and whilst exercising due care and diligence can without doubt diminish the likelihood of causing such damage or injury, it is within the nature of the business to be powerless to completely eliminate the risk of such losses occurring.

When injury or damage occurs, you may find yourself threatened with a claim in respect of your legal responsibility for such loss and the consequences of defending such a  claim or any damages that may be awarded if you are found responsible can have a severe financial impact upon you and your business.

Most plumbers will be aware that they can cover themselves in respect such financial consequences by arranging an appropriate third party or public liability insurance policy.

The plumbing and heating engineers public liability insurance policy is intended to protect the insured in respect claims in respect of their legal liability for property damage or personal injuries to third parties.

As well as offering an indemnity to the insured in regard of any legal settlement made against them, the cover also provides for the legal defence expenses incurred in defending any action against the insured; whether or not they are eventually found to be liable or not.

When arranging your cover you should ensure that the business description under the contract is a factual and correct reflection of your business activities and that the insurance company would believe your business activities to be within the reasonable consideration of that trade or occupation.

An appropriate case of this would be that a plumber maybe likely on occasion to undertake some building work relation with work they are undertaking, this would be acceptable to an insurer, but the insurance company may not presume a plumber to be engaged in a contract solely for the building works or property development.. This is the job of a builder. Presented with a loss of this type an insurer may well be entitled to avoid the claim.

Contracts in the United Kingdom have a limit of indemnity which represents the highest amount the insurance company will pay in the event of a legal action being found against the policyholder. The limit under plumbing and heating engineers liability insurance contracts are generally to be £1M, £2M, £5M or £10M although higher levels are sometimes necessary.

The limit you choose for the policy will be a matter of your own personal opinion of what the maximum exposure you envisage or as is frequently the situation a limit dictated to you by contractual obligation from an employer or main contractor. Obviously the greater the limit under the policy, the more premiums will be required by the insurer.

Insurance companies will also try to narrow the field of activities and reduce the probability of losses under a contract by the introduction of endorsements and warranties under the contract. These adjustments to the cover may restrict certain aspects of work, such as height levels or may specify the health and safety and risk management methods that need to be used in relation with certain kinds of job.

As with all insurance policies, it is essential that you read the policy with care and ensure that it meets with your requirements and that the endorsements and warranties on your policy are satisfactory to you. You insurance broker will be able to assist you with any questions regarding this.

The market for plumbing and heating engineers liability cover is a highly competitive one, with many insurers and brokers offering instant access to very cost efficient insurance over the world wide web. Blackfriars provides an instant online quote service offering you detailed quotations from leading insurance providers.

With an effective personal insurance programme, as with any other, the starting place is to identify the areas where claims may occur and assess the economic effect of a claim on the individual. You are then in a position to decide whether you wish to transfer this risk to an insurance company and whether the premium the insurer requires for providing the cover is cost effective to you.

There are of course exceptions to this, certainly in the case where you have a mandatory duty to hold insurance, the most relevant and often the only case of this applying to the individual is in the legal requirement for motor insurance if you own and operate a car or any other motor vehicle.

Even with motor insurance, you still have to consider the risks that apply you beyond the legally required cover, such as whether you want to protected against losses arising from theft of the vehicle, before deciding which policy to actually purchase.

Most people’s approach to insurance is not based on this early consideration in the decision process but is simply based on an acceptance that they should have motor insurance and probably should have home insurance and beyond that, what is the lowest price they can buy it for.

This approach does not really help you to appreciate the value of the insurance product as a risk transfer tool and does lend itself to cutting corners in the level of cover and leaving yourself open to economic risks along with perhaps not gaining a full understanding of what cover is actually available to you. For most people spending the amounts of money that is spent on say car insurance without a consideration of why you are buying it and what are you actually getting for your money compare to what may be available is a total unusual concept for almost any other product.

Proper consideration of your insurance requirements does lend itself to a greater understanding of the product you are purchasing and a much clearer sense of the value that you actually receive from the policy.

It is the individual alone that can make the decision as to what risks they face and whether they should arrange insurance to mitigate these losses, yes it can be assisted by discussions with a professional insurance intermediary, such as Blackfriars, who can offer potential solutions to the areas you have identified and raise issues that perhaps been relevant to others in your position previously, but it is only the individual that is fully aware of their own circumstances.

This is not to say that price is not a important factor, it is extremely important and indeed forms a central part of your decision making process but it is certainly not the only factor that you should be considering when you purchase personal insurance and it should not be the starting place for your considerations.

It is for this reason that businesses should have in place a suitable van insurance policy that offers the level of protection that is required to ensure that your interests in the vehicle are fully protected, and this may not just mean the value of the vehicle or its potential for causing third party property damage.

In common with other types of motor insurance, commercial vehicle insurance policies are divided into three principal types of policy cover. third party, third party fire and theft and comprehensive.

The cost of the van insurance will be based upon the cover you select along with a range of other factors.

Third Party Insurance covers the vehicle in respect of claims made against the owner or operator of the vehicle in respect of their legal liability for  third party property damage or person injury caused in connection with the road use of the vehicle. A third party is recognised and anyone other than the driver of he vehicle. This is the cover offered by insurance companies to provide the minimum level of cover to comply with the requirements of the law.

Third party fire and theft insurance is the next cover level up from third party only insurance and in addition to the third party cover as described above it also offers the policyholder cover in respect of loss or damage to the vehicle arising from theft, attempted theft or fire. Some policies may offer additional benefits in respect of cover for contents in the event of fire and theft, but this tends to be the exception rather than the norm.

Comprehensive van insurance policies provide the same cover as third party fire and theft but include accidental damage to the vehicle. This significant addition includes damage caused to the van whilst being driven on the road as well as malicious damage. Windscreen damage cover should also be included under comprehensive polices, although it may also be available under a third party fire and theft policy.

For the business owner who relies on the commercial vehicle for the effective operation of their business, they should be aware of what is not covered under the standard policy cover provided by the main classifications of van insurance cover.

Breakdown of the vehicle is not covered as standard by policies although this is generally available as an additional product or as an extension to the comprehensive van insurance products offered by some insurers. Again the cover  provided by a breakdown policy will vary from product to product much as it does in the standard private car insurance product, largely dependent on where you want the policy to apply.

There is no cover for goods in transit insurance under standard comprehensive policies, some insurers may offer it as an option, but generally it can be arranged as a stand alone policy or as part of a commercial insurance package. Goods in transit insurance is designed to protect the policyholder against loss or damage to property being carried in the vehicle and for the most appropriate cover you are generally best advise to arrange this insurance as a separate cover.

The market for van insurance is a very competitive one with quotes being widely available across the internet, if you want to ensure that your requirements are being fully met it is often the case that it is better to discuss your needs with an independent insurance broker who specialises in commercial motor insurance products and more general business insurance

For more information visit the careers site.

Established for over 30 years, Blackfriars, the Sandbach office provides a full range of personal and business insurance services on site with dedicated teams handling;

• Personal Insurance
• Liability Insurance
• Shop Insurance
• Liability Insurance
• Professional Indemnity Insurance

Call into our offices at 6 Congleton Road Sandbach today to discuss your requirements or call us direct on 01270 767327.