All removal companies need to have adequate insurance to protect themselves and their customers if the unthinkable happens. But how can you be sure insurance for your customers’ goods in storage and transit, will pay out if disaster strikes? Dan Reynolds of Reason Global explains how they make sure you have the right cover in place.

 

“It’s all a matter of asking the right questions and making sure the customer answers them fully and honestly,” said Dan. “That’s not to say anyone would deliberately mislead their insurers, but it’s our job as a specialist broker to treat every business individually and ensure all the company’s activities are declared accurately in the contract.  There’s no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ insurance policy.”

All insurance brokers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and there are strict rules in place to make sure customers are treated fairly.  One of the requirements of a broker is to adhere to a Statement of Demands and Needs, an extract from the FCA guidelines is shown below: 

Prior to the conclusion of a contract, a firm must specify, in particular on the basis of information provided by the customer, the demands and the needs of that customer as well as the underlying reasons for any advice given to the customer on that policy.

This means that the broker needs to know his customers and the insurance contract must be suitable for their needs. Asking probing questions based on experience is also the job of the specialist insurance broker.

“Simple things like making sure the company’s full legal name is correct is very important,” said Dan. “A company may be trading as say, ABC Removals, but is actually owned by XYZ Removals Ltd.  If that wasn’t the name on the policy there could be a problem if a claim was made.  Also we need to know if any of the directors have criminal convictions or have run companies that have gone into liquidation. If any ‘material information’ is not disclosed it could cause difficulties later.”

“With a Block and Marine policy it’s important to ask, for example, whether or not work other than household removals is undertaken. If a company undertakes haulage/distribution as well as household removals that needs to be declared on the proposal,” said Dan.

As a specialist broker with many years’ experience Reason Global has gained a wealth of knowledge of the removals business and works very closely with its customers to help make sure material information that could influence a claim is fully disclosed and kept up to date.

“We’ve been in this business for a long time and we know how things can go wrong if customers are not guided properly regarding insurance contracts,” said Dan.  “Insurance companies will always pay out if a claim is valid, but if relevant material information is inaccurate or incomplete they have every right to reject it.”

Reason Global is the only Lloyds of London broker solely dedicated to the moving and self storage industries and, as such, is uniquely qualified to provide insurance solutions for the industry.

 

Picture: Dan Reynolds

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