Wholesale Insurance

A wholesale business is one which doesn’t by its very nature often deal with the consumer. Wholesale businesses act as middle men sitting between the manufacturer and final consumer of their product. And because it is a unique business, getting the right sort of wholesale insurance cover is vitally important.

Wholesale insurance does in some respects differ from other types of policies, but it’s basis is still rooted in getting the best sort of cover for the business. The end consumer might not be a priority, but there are many other considerations.

One of the main elements to a fully rounded wholesale insurance policy is providing your business with full liability cover. This deals with most of the issues when it comes to the often tricky matter of liability. And as society is increasingly litigious in nature, with the blame game being played regularly and with skill, good liability cover will allow a business owner to sleep at night.

There’s also another consideration when it comes to organising wholesale insurance. And that is what’s known as Fidelity Cover. It’s specific protection against dishonest employees. It’s a sad case that not all employees can be trusted and that there are always some who think that the odd bit of pilfering will do no harm.

The problem is of course, that theft from a wholesale business is much like any other theft, and if not checked, can quickly threaten a company’s livelihood.

So, the moral of the tale is, get the best wholesale insurance cover you can afford; it could save you a fortune.

Manufacturers Insurance – It’s a Breeze

You ever heard the old joke about manufacturing? It’s worth telling the joke again, just in case you’re filling out your manufacturers insurance form and need some diversion!

It goes something like this. A young, keen apprentice starts at an engineering firm and gets put under the wing of an older hand who’s nearing retirement, and has seen it all, done it all and has got the t-shirt. And no doubt also seen many a manufacturers insurance policy.

So the apprentice turns up, bright new overalls, a big, nervous smile and is anxious to please his allotted workmate. Not for him (yet) the task of filling out a manufacturers insurance questionnaire.

It’s Monday morning and the old hand meets his youthful new colleague with a wistful air, recognising himself in those eager eyes and fresh features, all those years ago when he first started as an apprentice.

So he waits until he has the young man’s attention and says: “Listen son, first job, I want you to pop down and see old Harry in the stores. As him for a long weight. I’ll need it for a job we’ve got to do this morning. Understand?”

“Okay Frank. Down the stores for a long weight...” replies the apprentice, who runs down to the said stores, finds Harry, who hears the young man’s request and nods sagely, telling the man to sit outside. Some hours pass and the bored apprentice asks Harry what’s happened to the long weight. “The long weight you say son? You’ve just had a long wait, now run back along to Frank.”

It’s a rites of passage for all apprentices. It may not be covered in the clauses of the manufacturing insurance policy, but it’s good to know.

Small Business Insurance - What Is Cashflow?

When it comes to running a company, there is a mantra that the budding executive should keep shouting in their head: “...it’s all about the cashflow dummy...” And this is why, one of the props you need for a successful operation, is sound small business insurance.

What most people learn about business is how to make a profit. You sell something, someone gives you some money, you take away what is cost to make what you’ve sold, plus the other costs, and you arrive at a profit. But those that understand the need for small business insurance, also understand that being profitable does not guarantee success.

Profitability is a theoretical accounting term. All things being well, a profit is made when the figures add up on paper. But let’s say you run a business which invoices the people you buy from and gives them, for argument sake, a couple of weeks to pay. Once the product is sold, you have a theoretical profit (if it’s a loss, then you’ve got problems and even great small business insurance won’t help you) and that gets recorded.

But although you’ve made a profit, you don’t have any money in your hands for 14 days. And if, like most purchasers, they take longer to pay, then 14 days can stretch to 30 days, and so on. In other words, on that particular product you have negative cashflow (no cash). You can’t take the promise of that customer payment (unless you use invoice factoring, or have an understanding bank) to buy anything yourself.

Cash is king and pays the bills. Paper profits look good, but pay no-one. So always get good small business insurance to ensure you have all bases covered if there’s a problem.

Insurance in UK – Wake Up Says RSA

The RSA has issued a warning to small firms that insurance in UK is vital for their well-being and that they must have the right cover at all times, and for all the key areas.

The warning – part of many issues that are currently preoccupying insurance in UK at the moment – comes after a RSA survey which discovered that a touch over 40% of companies became more complacent about insurance matters during recessionary times. The implication being that when times get tough, corners are cut and belts get tightened in the wrong areas, including insurance in UK.

The RSA Trading Director (with responsibility for small to medium sized enterprises) said: “While some business risks tend to be reduced during times of growth compared with recession, they are always present and it is important that businesses ensure they have the most appropriate cover at all times.”

The study also revealed that the most important areas for any small business insurance were twofold: business interruption and professional indemnity.

The reasons are plain. In a recession, the risk of business interruption is greater, so provision has to be made for this eventuality. Also in a recession, money is tighter and projects can be far less forgiving when it comes to potential mistakes and errors which can for example, make customers more litigious. So for any company not having proper indemnity insurance, the risk is that they are not preparing themselves for the worst case scenario.

The message is of course, when it comes to insurance UK, companies should get the best cover they can afford.

Insurance Excuses

You know one of the best things about the whole insurance industry? When it comes to the claims form and witness statements at the scene of the bump, people can be at their most creative and indeed, inventive.

Take one of the top excuses from the annals of insurance claims. This has many variations, but always the same theme: it wasn’t my fault, Gov, honest! When asked by a policeman, was there anything either driver could have done to avoid a crash, one witness came back with, yes, they could have caught the bus. You can see the idea.

Another driver wrote on his insurance form that he had collided with a cow. Where the form said, what warning was given by you, the answer was of course horn, but when the form said what warning was given by the other driver, the reply was Moo!

Another driver explained, when talking to his insurance company, that whilst driving along a suburban street, he had noticed an elephant and camel tied to a tree. This caused the driver some consternation he said, causing him to crash into a bollard. At least he missed the tree and the stationary animals.

Here’s another classic which causes much mirth amongst the motorway police fraternity and insurance companies. A driver remonstrates that it was the police car’s fault for pulling him into the hard shoulder. The problem was of course, “...I was in the middle land and there was another car in the way.”

So there we are, next time you make an insurance claim, be careful what you write on your form!