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Blog - Latest postings07 December 2010Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 What is this and why is it important. It says that if money changes hands it is probably a contract between you and the person who has paid the money or goods and therefore you will fall under Consumer Protection Regulations. In essence this regulation says that you have to deliver exactly what you say you will and not treat customers unfairly. Most of this is little more than common sense and good trading practice, but some of it requires careful scrutiny. Individual Trading Standards Offices will interpret the guidance as they see fit. In the event of a complaint the outcome may well be overly influenced by the investigating individual's interpretation of these Regulations. Many Spiritualist churches believe the new regulations will not affect them because they work on donations. Providing they only hold their services and do not hold any other events where they charge people then they are right. However, if they hold any other events where they do charge money they will then come under the new regulations. These include, but are not limited to, psychic Suppers, clairvoyant evenings, workshops or development groups and Mind Body and Spirit Fairs where private readings are offered, even if it is for charity. If free healing is offered as part of the price of entrance then that too may cause problems. The following is an extract from one Trading Standards Officer's interpretation of the new legislation: By using the words heal or healer you are suggesting that you can cure, this is not an acceptable term within the new legislation unless you can give proof of such claims. Anecdotal evidence on your abilities is now not enough, you will need to be able to justify any claim you are making. So – whatever you practice, it will be worth your while to make a study of this legislation. A number of the practices we cover use the word “heal”. If you practice one of these – be sure that make clear to your clients what you mean. Believing you can do something is one thing – to provide and demonstrate it empirically is quite another. Ref: 12136 21 November 2010 Why insurance for me? What is your business? The assumption made here is that you’re providing a professional service of some kind, trained to a high standard, offering your clients the benefits your practice provides. At the very least – providing your clients with better inner knowledge and using that knowledge to make their life better. Whatever “better” may be. An offer of a service is a business. In return the client / customer both benefits from the service and pays you for it. The moment you offer a service a contact is created. The instant a contact is created there is the expectation that a service will be provided, and that’s where the potential problems occur. Most business relationships start well, with good grace on both sides. There is expectation on both sides, especially on the customer side. Unless this is carefully managed the customer expectation can sometimes be higher than is reasonable in the circumstances. Hopefully that expectation is set out in terms of business, or a document of engagement (setting out the basis of the contract and what the client may expect) and a fee structure (what the practitioner expects of the client). No one starts a business relationship in the expectation that things will go wrong. As with many aspects of life, it’s better to expect the best but plan for the worst, and that’s where Professional Liability insurance comes in. Professional Claims Claims fall broadly into 3 categories, but before we look at those let us establish exactly what a claim is. A claim is that you made some professional error or omission in your dealings with your client / customer and that caused them a lost. Such a loss maybe wholly emotional in nature, although it could be substantially physical, which brings about the financial claim. The second part of a claim is the redress sought by the client / customer. A complaint is not really a complaint without the issue of redress. Before we investigate that let us return to the 3 categories of claims we come across. The least serious: A complaint that “your service” was not up to scratch in some way - and the usual claim is a refund of charges made. At best a disgruntled customer who is unlikely ever to come back to you. The most serious: The complainant makes outrageous claims, and then starts litigation. If a claimant wants to go to court, there is little or nothing you can do to stop them. Trouble is the high cost of litigation even if it never goes to law. Lawyer’s costs can run into thousands just to review and prepare cases. If you do not respond appropriately and/or you do not engage a lawyer to defend you and it does go to Court, poor defence or NO defence can ruin your case and mean defeat, even if, in reality, you had right on your side The third category is a claim that falls somewhere between these two extremes. What to do if you are insured and receive a claim 1. Tell the insurer IMMEDIATELY you are aware. To delay could invalidate your claim 2. Be absolutely sure you receive receipt of claim notification 3. Do NOT make a settlement offer 4. Do NOT hire legal representation – let the underwriter do it What’s in it for you? The benefit to you is that an insurer takes financial responsibility (up to the limit of your coverage) Minimum with our coverage is $1Million. Insurance should be about covering those eventualities that could financially ruin you if they occurred, in return for a modest fee (premium). Trouble with professional claims is that you do not know how much it will cost. Unfortunately those costs can be extremely high. And finally Being insured does not remove the claim from you. It is still your claim and your responsibility. What is does in “indemnify” you against the costs incurred. Because the insurer takes responsibility for your costs they do impose rules, and those are broadly that they take over the management of the claim. Only fair really – they pay so they say how it will go. You may investigate the coverage on offer and obtain a price negotiated especially for …. Ref: 12140 21 October 2010 What’s the difference between gambling and insurance? The answer is a huge amount. The Life Assurance Act of 1774 (it’s still in force and is also knows as the Gambling Act) was the first act to set out specifics, in particular with regards to Life Insurance. For a thorough explanation look up Life Insurance in Wikipedia and then read the text of the actual act. Wow - all that time ago and powered wigs – they did a good job with this act. To address the question - there are a number of differences. You may profit from gambling by correctly predicting the outcome of an event. When you gamble, apart from the stake – you have no other interest. In order to legally insure something you have to have an interest in it. That means the outcome you insure against would cause a financial loss. The premium you pay for this cover is not the issue – it’s about the cost to you (regarding something you own or control) if the event you insure against were to occur. It is perhaps easier with an example: You may bet on a horse to win. If it wins you win some money – if it losses you forfeit your stake. You may insure your house against fire destroying it because the potential loss (the replacement of your house) relates to an asset you own. The key issue is insurable interest. For insurance to be valid there must be an insurable interest – in gambling there is no insurable interest. With an insurance cover you cannot make a profit. Insurance (liability meaning your costs of reinstatement) puts you back where you were before the event. Gambling is about making a profit. Insurance and gambling – never the twain shall meet. Ref: 12134 09 September 2010 Can we actually speak to someone at your firm? This is an Internet driven business and the Internet creates the efficiencies that enable us to provide very competitive premiums, very high quality insurance cover and stay in business to continue doing so. We do NOT offer advice but we do offer competitively priced business insurance. As far as telephone contact is concerned - we do have people to talk to, if you remain with important questions unanswered. We do our best to provide all of the information you need to make a decision on this site, but we are aware that sometimes there is the need to talk to a real live person. Perhaps the most important question you should ask is "What happens in the event of a claim". It is here that we excel ourselves. If you have a claim or the threat of a claim you will be allocated a person who will be with you every step of the way. Clearly we cannot predict the outcome - but we know how stressful and unpleasant it can be when claims and accusations start flying about. In the event of a claim we revert back to old technology. You will deal with a real person on the phone - someone knowledgeable and dedicated to helping YOU through the claim process. So you will, in the course of a claim, always know who you are dealing with, and that person will stay with you through to the final conclusion. With regard to queries not answered on site or queries of a specialised nature. In the first instance we would ask you to check that the question is not answered on the FAQ. If need be please contact us by email in the first instance. But if need be you can telephone. You will deal with a real person not a robot. You'll soon find that out when they speak with you on the telephone. Our office number is manned during normal office hours Monday - Friday: 01305 839 939 Or email: mail@westminster-indemnity.co.uk Ref: 12141 25 August 2010 So exactly what am I covered for This is an attempt to provide a very short answer to what could be a long question. A thorough answer could go on for pages – but here are some simple thoughts to capture the essence of this cover. Professional Indemnity insurance, sometimes called errors and omissions or professional liability (in USA), is insurance cover to protect you against the financial consequences of a valid claim made against you. That means claims that arise as a result of your business practice (those you are covered for on the policy). In essence the claimant alledges they suffered a loss as result of your actions. It could be as a result of your professional services, those that you are insured for. So it becomes difficult to see how anyone other than a client (or their personal representative|) can make a claim. Or a person who is not a client but claims they suffered loss as a result of you being where you were, doing what you did, whilst in the course of your business. This policy covered several other instances – such as slander and libel and copyright issues, but the principle cover protects you against the financial consequences of a claim under Professional Indemnity or Public Liability aspect of the cover. One of the key issues to remember is the insurer will not tell you what to practice, or what to do, but they will only cover you for those practices noted on the Certificate. Ref: 12138 02 July 2010 Why Medical Malpractice QUESTION: Why do I see the words: Medical Malpractice and what are the implications if my business has no medical content whatsoever? ANSWER: The policy is designed to cover a very wide range of business practices. The wording is therefore crafted to suit many circumstances so it is always possible that some clauses will have no relevance to some of the practices we cover. For some of the business practices we cover - clauses of a "medical nature" are required by the underwriters to be in the policy wording. Therefore if the business practice you wish to cover has no "medical" elment at all (and many we cover have NO medical element) then those clauses have no relevance to cover and can be safely ignored. If a clause does not apply then the fact that it is within the wording has and implies no detrimenatal effect. The benefit of what may be "surplus wording" in some circumstances is that one standard set of wording can be used across many different business practices. The fundamental cover provided does not change because of surplus words. Ref: 12139 30 June 2010 Exactly who should be insured? The insurance we provide covers valid claims made against the supplier of services provided. In order to get to the bottom of who should be insured, let's start at the contractual relationship. We offer insurance to basically two types of person ('person' can mean an individual - flesh and blood or a corporate entity like a limited company). If an individual "trades as" using a trading name - the trading name is not a legal entity is just words or style - the legal entity is the individual who is "trading as". This means that the "insured" person should be either be the individual (even if trading as) or a corporate (or other) clearly defined legal entity (like a limited company). The following question will help determine which of these is appropriate. Exactly which legal entity do your clients (customers) deal with? It is important there is no ambiguity here. This relationship as to who is dealing with who is often set out in Terms of Business. Further clarified by the Fee Structure (or the document that sets out how you charge) and any service agreement (like ... this is what I provide and what you can expect of me and what I expect of you ... type of document). Once this is established then it is generally easier to answer the question - who should be insured? I will now address the issue of other people included in insurance cover. In order to do this we need to start as to whom is the legal entity insured? Now ... we deal with any suitably qualified person while acting on behalf of the insured at their request. If this person were the cause of a complaint and or claim then any complaint or claim who would be directed at the insured, because that is the contractual relationship between customer and supplier. What this does NOT mean is that any other person is insured as well as the insured (on the one policy) just because they work together sometimes. And this underlines why the contractual relationship is so important and should be crystal clear to both parties. Ref: 12137 23 May 2010 Another of the many practices we cover: Pilates Readers will note that we cover a very wide range of business practices. They are many and varied - and yet there is a common theme. In some way each and every one deals with assisting the individual to improve themselves. Sometimes with an element of the physical - as here - and some times a combination of physical and menetal and sometimes purely using a mental process. Sometimes learning sometimes just experiencing. Pilates is a technique invented 70 years ago by Joseph H. Pilates. According to The Pilates Studio, pilates (pronounced puh-LAH-teez) focuses on improving flexibility and strength for the overall body, but doesn't build bulk. Some of the first people to use pilates were legendary dancers Martha Graham and George Balanchine. More than just exercise, pilates are a series of controlled movements to engage one's body and mind. If you have not tried this - go try a class. You may even enjoy it. Ref: 12135 20 May 2010 Duty of Care: What is it? Duty of Care is taking into account something (that could harm others) that an expert may know about but a client or customer may not. It means that you cannot misuse or withhold information that you know about and are aware of its (adverse) consequences without informing your customer or client of the consequences. It is a legal obligation. In many professions it is implicitly stated and imposed on a professional person requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeable harm others. If it can be shown that an action was performed without a duty of care - that could lead to an action of negligence. The test of reasonableness may need to be applied and in any legal action the Judge is likely to side with the plaintiff (that is the person bringing the claim) unless the accused is able to show they had acted with more than reasonable care in the circumstances - bearing in mind the services provided. So: If you have information of any sort as a result of your professional dealings with a customer or client – be very sure if you choose NOT to disclose information you have that you do NOT set yourself up for a negligence claim – just because you didn’t do or say something. Ref: 12133 30 April 2010 What is the difference between Errors and Omissions (E&O) insurance, Medical Malpractice Cover and Professional Indemnity insurance? In short the answer is not a lot in the practical world. They are expressions that effectively means the same thing but tend to be used in different types of business. The insurance they provide covers essentially the same thing - the consequences of a claim that you did something wrong or didn't do what you should have done. E&O Tends to be used in business. Where a claim might be as a result of something the business did or didn't do. Clearly there's no medical component and no advice in the "professional" sense. Medical Malpractice Tends to be used wherever there is a medical element, Doctors, nurses, dentists etc. Professional Indemnity Tends to be used in the "professions". Now this is where language can tie you up, because - should a Medial Consultant be covered for Medical Malpractice or Professional Indemnity. It's perhaps easier to answer the question by asking should an Architect call his cover - Medical Malpractice - (clearly no) Errors and Omissions (well maybe - but E&O doesn't include "advice") Clearly professional Indemnity would be the answer. For the medical consultant it would actually be medical malpractice. This is an easy one to get tied up with the words of the title. What's really important is what the cover provides. In all of the cases used to illustrate this here the answer is - the cover provides for a claim against you for getting some part of your business wrong. Be it an error, omission, incorrect procedure - the claim that you "plain and simple" made a mistake. Public Liability - on the other hand is quite different. Ref: 12132 28 April 2010 Assertiveness training for work This is just one of the many business practices we provide professional indemnity and public liability insurance for. Our definition is set out below. Training the individual for work situations where the individual may have been prone to saying Yes when assertiveness may have been better employed. Learning in particular the difference between assertiveness and aggression, when to be assertive and when not to, the beliefs underlying assertive and non - assertive behaviour, what makes people behave the way they do, the characteristics of assertive behaviour - what to do and what to say, why body language is crucial and how to use it and how to handle other peoples reactions. We cover many business practices and over the coming months we will set each of them out. Some of the more esoteric you may never have come across before. Each has its place as a business practice. Many business people do not realise that many people at work need assertiveness training. This is not about being bossy or necessarily aggressive. It's about standing up for yourself. About being able to say No when you should and not permitting others to put on you when they should not. To the controller type personality - it all comes naturally - but we not all controllers and those that are not are an important element of every organisation. Think chiefs and indians. We cannot all be chiefs - nothing would work. We cannot all be bossy and controlling - some folk need to be asserting themselves in the best possible way. A discipline we could all do to improve. Ref: 12127 25 April 2010 How can I make a pdf from web page We often find the need to create a pdf from a web page we view. This is very straightforward. First you need to add a pdf writer onto your PC. This assumes the PC you are using is yours and you have permission to download programs onto it. There are several free programs - we use Bullzip. This is a FREE PDF Printer that allows you to print to a PDF document from any Microsoft Windows application There is an important matter to get your head round. You do not just "save" your document as a pdf - what you do is print it - NOT with a ink on paper printer but with a printer driver. If you use Bullzip for instance the site will explain the process of installing their pdf printer. It's installed just like an inkjet printer. Once installed you'll see it in your list of printers. Then when you want to make a pdf - what you do is call the page you want to convert - maybe it's our Certificate - and then go to the print options and when the PDF printer is installed - just click on that and the pdf docuemnt will be pinted. Save it in a folder of your choice. Hey Presto - Your Certificate as a pdf file. But first - download the printer. Go to: www.bullzip.com On their Home page you will see "Freeware Products" and the "PDF Printer". Download it as normal - when complete you will find Bullzip printer in your list of printers. Now you can print to a pdf any documents you have on your PC or look at over the web. Just view the document on screen and use the printer menu to print it to a pdf. Ref: 12125 22 April 2010 Disclosure - why is it important? In any insurance contract the underwriter will rely upon the information you provide. If "for instance" you knowingly provided information that was factually incorrect or that could easily be construed as a breach of contract on your part. That is withholding a matter of importance and is treated very seriously. Whenever you complete the detail on an application for insurance be very sure to answer the questions correctly to the best of your knowledge and belief. Insurance is really about the protection that you receive when a claim occurs. It is foolish in the extreme to NOT provide information (because you thought the underwriter may increase the premium or that it might mitigate against you). Insurance is about the ability to claim when a claim arises. Do not jeopardise that protection. Ref: 12124 21 April 2010 Doing business overseas: Doing business overseas: If the business service you provide is provided wholly from UK or Eire, say by telephone, correspondence or Internet based then this would not normally be considered as doing business abroad, even if the currency you received for your services were not GB pounds(for UK) or Euro(for Eire). Usually business conducted overseas means that the service(s) you provide are provided IN another Country (other than UK or Eire), and this is usually associated with a physical visit. The cover we provide is strictly subject to UK or Eire legal jurisdiction (as appropriate) and subject to the following: Your business actually operates from UK or Eire You provide a UK or Eire address to your clients All contact, terms of business and contract information in relation to your clients refers to the UK or Eire address You confirm to your clients that all your dealings with them in every matter is subject to UK or Eire jurisdiction Please note: Cover is NOT provided for ANY work undertaken in Canada or USA. There is an additional premium if the percentage of overseas business is above 10% of your total business. Ref: 12123 18 April 2010 Exactly what does "After Full enquiry" mean? The question requires the applicant to have given proper thought to the question. It does not require the applicant to approach any person outside of the business to be covered. If you are a sole trader and there is effectively no other person involved in your business then there is no other person to make enquiry of. If you are the applicant for a small firm then it could be another person in your business that deals with complaints and that they would not necessarily inform you if there had been a complaint. The questions asks the applicant to confirm that they have made "enquiry" and have not just said "No" because they personally are not aware. The underwriter expects the applicant to know the answer, or know where to find the answer, and to provide an answer that is true. To say when questioned "Well I didn't know" is not good enough when the applicant should have known that they had to enquire of another person to get the answer. An insurance application is an important legal document and no person should complete or submit an application without knowing enough of the business making the application to fully and completely answer each question. An associated concept is "Utmost Good Faith" and the reader may find the answer to that question helpful in understanding these concepts. All contracts of insurance are subject to utmost good faith in that people are obliged to disclose any detail which may be of importance to the insurers whether or not it is requested. Whilst the words may seem simple and straightforward there is much written on this important element of insurance contract. In short it means you must disclose anything that MIGHT be considered as material. Take special note of the last few words of the last paragraph. - WHETHER OR NOT IT IS REQUESTED. Therefore it's no argument to use "Well you didn't ask me THAT question? Utmost good faith is therefore about Non disclosure. To consider non-disclosure further it may be helpful to consider what the financial ombudsman has to say about it. Click here to read it -> http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/46/46_non_disclosure_insurance.htm The insurance industry also has something useful to add - read it here -> https://vault2.secured-url.com/iib/encyclopeadia_item.asp?encyclopedia_id=190 Ref: 12114 09 April 2010 So just why is insurance so important? Many years ago probably the best definition of insurance was coined. Back then it was described as "A mechanism whereby the burden of the few falls upon the many". It was true then and it's true today. Many forms of insurance are a legal requirement. Take car insurance for instance. Many forms are rightly considered utterly necessary. Would you NOT have fire insurance on your house? I remember many years ago I discovered my house insurance had lapsed and nothing had been done about it. Those made me go cold. I immediately set about putting that right. Insurance is important because we just do not know what is around the corner. As you read this in the future you will be then know the final outcome of the volcanic ash that has devastated air travel in UK and Europe in the past few days. As this is written we do not know what will happen. This incident is so unusual and so unexpected that there are no known insurances available to specifically cover the consequences. Some folk who experiences financial loss as a result of this may be covered, but many will not. Some folk, me included, may not be able to travel by air having already paid for the tickets. The worst case for me is a financial penalty I would rather not suffer, but it will not break me financially. Some folk however have much more severe problems and it is forecast a number of businesses may go out of business completely. It will break them. All this potential grief as a consequence of the unknown. Insurance cannot cover everything. Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance cover the financial consequences of a valid claim against you. It's all very well saying that you cannot think of anything that could give rise to a claim – but believe me – it could happen. The consequences of professional claims can be financially disastrous. Not just for the high profile professionals like medicine, law and finance. A claim can be laid against anyone in any profession. Are you covered? Click on the links on this page and see how easy and cheap it is to provide substantial peace of mind. Ref: 12112 01 April 2010 Need answers to questions? We pride ourselves on a written answer to most insurance questions. But check out the answers we have already provided. See FAQ - the link above. If the question you want answered is not there, and you let us know, we will very seriously consider adding another item to the FAQ to fully answer the question. Ref: 12113 20 March 2010 Who is covered on this policy and what does that mean? The policy covers valid claims notified to the insurer (in timely fashion) during the policy period where the claim relates to the actions of anyone acting on behalf of the insured. The insured can be any legal entity - that means it could be an individual, partnership or limited company. The person covered under this policy is the person insured and anyone acting for the insured when the incident that gave rise to the claim. Anyone that is, providing they would otherwise qualify for cover. That is they meet the age criteria, and are trained and qualified in the business practices they engage in on your behalf and are able to answer the qualifying questions regarding their insurance history. Please note use of the word person. In insurance speak the word person can mean either an individual or an entity (like a company). An individual is not a company or entity and only ever means human being – flesh and blood. The important issue, in addition to those noted above, is that they were acting on your behalf, at your request, when the incident which gave rise to the claim. In other words they were acting for you. Also it is important to remember that the insured is covered for those business practices listed on the Certificate. So it important to ensure there are none missing from the list. This implies correctly that you are NOT covered for business practices that are NOT listed on the Certificate. Therefore it is not necessary to have everyone noted on the policy Certificate. Also, of course, people may act for you in the future, that you know nothing about now. What this means and the effects are as follows: The Policy provides financial protection for YOU (or your business - whichever is stated on the Certificate - whoever is the insured) should you receive a valid claim - that is YOU receive the claim - not a claim upon someone else. So, in summary, if YOU received a claim (or your business if that is who is covered) during the policy period, as a result of someone engaged by you, acting on your authority on your behalf (and they would in all respects meet the acceptance criteria set out in the first paragraph) then you would be protected against a valid claim where it is claimed they were the cause. It is not necessary for these "other people" to be specifically noted on the policy. The final point is that your should immediately inform the insurer, or us, of any circumstances that you may reasonably believe could lead to a claim, or any notification you receive that could be a claim. Ref: 12118 19 March 2010 Numerology Numerology is one of the business practices we provide insurance cover for. It is the study of the symbolism of numbers. It is claimed that it can be used to determine a personality, strengths and talents, obstacles, inner needs, emotional reactions and ways of dealing with others. Whether you use numerology to examine your life, take advantage of unexplored opportunities, confirm your talents or simply figure out where to go next, practitioners claim numerology can be a penetrating tool that helps you understand yourself and loved ones better presenting the whole picture, revealing all the diverse parts of your personality and how they come together to create the person you are. Now whether you believe this or not - this really has no relevance. Some people do believe, but even if you do not by consulting with a Numerologist they will be talking about you, and in so doing, if you have an open mind, you may well find out something about yourself. Knowing yourself is an important issue, and it is claimed that the more you know yourself - the more likely you are to have an inner peace. Is that not what everyone human is seeking? If you practive Numerology consider professional insurance. You do not know what lays around the corner - and insurance is about providing for the unknown. Ref: 12128 17 March 2010 Why do I see the words Medical Malpractice in your documents and what are the implications if my business has no medical content whatsoever? The policy is designed to cover a very wide range of business practices. The wording is therefore crafted to suit many circumstances so it is always possible that some clauses will have no relevance to some of the practices we cover. For some of the business practices we cover - clauses of a "medical nature" are required by the underwriters to be in the policy wording. Therefore if the business practice you wish to cover has no "medical" elment at all (and many we cover have NO medical element) then those clauses have no relevance to cover and can be safely ignored. If a clause does not apply then the fact that it is within the wording has and implies no detrimenatal effect. The benefit of what may be "surplus wording" in some circumstances is that one standard set of wording can be used across many different business practices. The fundamental cover provided does not change because of surplus words. Ref: 12115 |
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