The Financial Conduct Authority has released their Consultation paper, Guaranteed
Asset Protection Insurance: A Competition Remedy. Part of their proposals are to limit
the point-of-sale offer of GAP insurance when product is sold by a dealer or distributor of
motor vehicles.

The FCA intends for the new rules to come into force in September 2015.
The FCA’s key proposals for motor dealers who wish to sell GAP Insurance are:-
 to provide information that will encourage customers to shop around;
 to advise customer’s that they can purchase GAP Insurance elsewhere;
 to introduce a deferred opt-in or break in the sale, whereby a dealership’s salesperson can start the sales
process but cannot conclude the sale for a defined period of time. Allowing customers time to consider
whether the product is of benefit to them and provide the opportunity to shop.

The FCA said it wants to promote competition in the £160 million guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance
market, including limiting the point of sale advantage for GAP sales made on the vehicle showroom floor and
making it easier for consumers to explore alternative options available to them.
GAP insurance is usually offered alongside car sales. The study found that consumers were often buying without
having previously considered the product or shopping around for alternatives, concluding were customers getting
the best deal.

Christopher Woolard, director of policy, risk and research at the FCA, said: “Earlier this year we said that firms must
put consumers’ interests first. It’s important that people are able to make informed decisions about whether they
need GAP, and if they do, the best place to buy it.”

“Today’s proposed rules are intended to help consumers from paying too much for a product that may not be
offering good value for money.”

This would indicate that consumers are buying products that offer poor value for money, the monopoly that motor
dealers enjoy puts them in a very strong position. With little competition at point of sale there is no pressure on
motor dealers to reduce price.

This is in stark contrast to GAP insurance sold via an insurance broker where the FCA has confirmed:- “Where
GAP insurance is not sold as part of a motor vehicle sale, we propose that these sales should be excluded from the
new requirements. For example, if GAP insurance is sold as an add-on to motor insurance (and not sold at the
same time as the motor vehicle) then we propose this circumstance should be excluded from the scope of the
proposals”.

We are delighted to confirm that following our annual audit, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) have confirmed renewal of our Chartered Insurance Broker status.

We remain one of only 150 Chartered firms in the UK and the CII confirm:

“Chartered titles are jealously guarded by professional bodies and are not awarded lightly. Chartered status therefore brings with it a number of serious obligations. A Chartered title is not simply recognition for staff having passed examinations.

The title Chartered Insurance Brokers is a public declaration that the advice given by your firm:

– is of the highest quality
– is based solely on the researched needs of the consumer
– is provided by someone not exceeding their level of competency”

At a gala evening at Stanley House in Mellor, Garratts walked away with the Best Social Media Presence title for 2014 and were finalists in the Best Business category.

We are delighted that our efforts and service to our clients is recognised by the wider business community and acknowledge the role played by our staff in helping our reputation continue to flourish and grow.

We are delighted to confirm that both Matt Garratt and James Grindley have successfully achieved their first professional qualifications within 12 months of entering the industry.

As part of their Apprenticeships they have both achieved the Cert CII title following 12 months intensive learning and three external examinations. Whilst their daily learning continues, this is a huge positive step in their professional careers.

Well done to them both.

cyber-protection1-300x227Data breaches happen all the time, so it’s important for your business to manage the risks related to a data breach and reduce the significant cost that is the result from it. The simple answer to this problem is to get insurance.

Your business and standard property insurance doesn’t cover certain important data, which includes all of your customer information and their contact details alongside employee security numbers. This information is perfect for a cyber-hacker, but Cyber Liability Insurance will cover these things for you.

Imagine not being able to take orders or collect any payments due to your system being down – Cyber Liability insurance covers this, too. This insurance will cover loss of profits due to a system fail that is caused by any virus or an attack.

Some people believe that cyber insurance is only suitable for large corporations, but it is also beneficial for small businesses.  Most hack attacks actually target businesses with less than 250 employees.

Here are a few reasons why you should consider investing:

  • It probably covers more than you think
    Many policies offer “first party” coverage, meaning they will pay you for things like business interruption and the cost of notifying customers of a breach as a result of a cyber-attack. Without this insurance, you could be held liable and face severe penalties.

 

  • You are protected if your cloud provider messes up
    If your website is hosted or stored in the cloud, you’re still legally responsible. You can’t fully control the way in which a cloud provider handles your data, but this insurance policy can protect you if your cloud provider makes any mistakes.

 

  • Social media sites expose information with little control
    Your business site and your employees activity on social media can trigger liability if your business is responsible for the sites. Defamatory statements, leaked information and copyright infringement can all be covered with a Cyber Liability Insurance policy. Losing the trust of your customers can be much more damaging than the financial loss you will incur to repair the effects of the breach.

 

Cyber liability insurance has been available for around 10 years. However, it’s rarely purchased. The data and information of your business is probably worth much more to you than the equipment on which it is stored.

If you’d like some more information on a Cyber Liability Insurance policy we can provide for you, please contact us today for a chat.

your-needs-image1-300x253Here are Garratts Insurance Brokers, relationships are at the heart of everything we do. Whilst providing insurance options and solutions for companies are a daily routine to us, we appreciate that to any business the topic can be extremely confusing.

We blend deep professional expertise and extensive industry knowledge. With a friendly, accessible approach to meeting our clients’ very specific insurance needs.

We keep our pricing competitive whilst using our longstanding relationships with major insurance companies to ensure that the covers we arrange effectively remove our client’s risk.

We will provide you with detail on available covers but then discuss which are most appropriate within the company’s budget.

If the worst should happen, you need peace of mind that comes from knowing your cover is watertight and your claim is being managed by hands-on professionals.

Our way of working has been tried and tested over 135 years of doing business as a family run firm. While we value our heritage and fully engaged with the dynamics of the modern business world.

We’re currently helping many businesses in many sectors – and I am, absolutely certain we can deliver significant benefits to yours.

Management Liability (D&O)

There are a number of issues that could be threatening your daily busiEmail-pic-150x133ness operations at this very moment and ignoring them could have a major impact on your professional life.
We are a team of highly-trained experts based in the local area, who specialise in helping business owners avoid common crisis situations. We are here to help you resolve and avoid workplace
problems quickly, efficiently and discreetly.
Don’t just hope it doesn’t happen to you, protect yourself against it instead. Our policy is backed by AXA, a global insurance heavyweight, and our experienced staff-members are just a phone
call away. It’s never been simpler to ensure that your business runs smoothly without any expensive hiccups along the way.

The insured can use their own solicitor for EPL claims but using Brabners would save them the £3,750 excess! Brabners also operate the free legal advice helpline – where else can you get free advice from such a well respected firm of solicitors?

 

When might you need us?

If any claims are brought against any of your current, former or future directors or employees, you may need to find the legal costs for any court proceedings, awards or settlements. You may also need to cover the costs of an official investigation. Not having insurance in place for this very costly exercise may prove to be very damaging to your business finances. Some businesses never recover! Our policy will cover you for both of these situations and provide you with peace of mind. Your business will be protected against an enormous and avoidable expense.

Another scenario in which you’re covered is if your business suffers a loss due to employee dishonesty or third party fraud. Don’t let someone else bring down the business you’ve worked so hard for through their criminal activities. We don’t cover third party fraud as standard.

Events which would lead to you being extremely pleased that you gave us a call:

  • If anything goes wrong with a pension scheme, trust fund, employee benefit scheme or public offering that was endorsed or encouraged by your company. This does not include defined benefit schemes automatically and we don’t cover public offerings as standard
  • If an employee is killed at work due to lapsed health and safety measures
  • If an employee makes an employment practise claim
  • A former, retired employee decides to put in a claim against you
  • One of your directors is mishandling trade secrets or dangerous goods
  • There is an unwanted legal issue surrounding not just your main business, but all your subsidiary companies too (our policy automatically provides cover for all your subsidiary companies)
  • Should any claims arise in the month following a management buyout (you’ll still be covered by our policy)
  • If your company is inadvertently involved with pollution and inefficient harmful waste management

Don’t let any of these scenarios happen to you. Give our team a call instead – 01772 555576