Insurance company recommendations please?

[Robert Lambie]

A good start would be SignElite as they have tailored packages for the sign industry.

http://www.signelite.co.uk
info@signelite.co.uk
01623 397300

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[Paul Stenning]

I recently changed over to SignElite after seeing recommendations on here. Fortunately haven’t needed to make a claim yet but actually arranging the insurance through someone who seemed to understand this industry made it quite reassuring I was getting the right cover.

[Chris Wilson]

Ditto to what Paul has said. New building so went with
Sign elite after seeing them mentioned on here. It is nice to hear someone tell you or ask questions about certain jobs. Turns out we wouldn’t of been covered for some things with AXA despite trying to give them as much information as possible when signing up with them.

[Denise Goodfellow]

Get quotes from local companies too, while we have also been with sign elite we went with a local brokers. They were a tad more, but on our door step. They sent a chap around and we went through everything.

It’s very important that you are not underinsured. If you make a claim and you are found to be underinsured your claim can be reduced.

[karen gamble]

G’day,
we have found out the very long and hard way about insurance. Our printing and manufacturing business was on the ground floor of a building that had a fire on the top floor. 15 fire appliances later and 5000 litres of water a minute for an hour!!!!!!! we were flooded. The level of the river dropped considerably.

Fortunately we were fully insured, but that is more by good luck than particular management. Remember – they replace old with new SOOOOOOOOO!!!! If you bought something second hand on ebay for £300 5 years ago, but the replacement cost for the equivalent new item would be £2,800 THINK what that does to the the amount you need to be covered for.

To hammer home the point – If you are covered for £100,000 but the insurance company works out the total replacement costs of all the items in your shop to be £200,000 – and you suffer an event and sustain £50,000 damage – THEY WILL ONLY PAY YOU £25,000. (i.e you are only half covered so they only pay half)

also a couple of points – EXAMINE THE EXCLUSIONS IN THE INCREDIBLY FINE PRINT –
Insurance assessor walks in to ruins when we were allowed in a week or so later. "Hello, My name is Joe Bloggs. What kind of heating do you have? Can I see it please?"

We were kind of bemused by this for a little while. The fire was in the middle of summer. Then we twigged – Our policy excludes any gas cylinders on the premises. Even though we were flooded, if we had any gas cylinders on the premises we would have had no claim at all!

Our policy also excluded any stock items damaged in a flood that were stored less than 12 inches above the floor – fortunately our damage was deemed to be fire not flood!

We reviewed experiences with many of the other businesses affected. All the stories are just about the same. One upholsterer was under insured because of the deemed value of sample rolls of fabric. Another second-hand/Vintage business found out after the fire that clothing was not covered although furniture and jewellery etc were.

Also, from another company that had a burglary, if you say you have CCTV, Alarms etc, Make sure they actually work, otherwise you may not have a claim.

Dont ask about how friendly an insurance company is when taking your money, ask around from people who have had the misfortune to actually make a claim.

[Carl Jackson]

These are great replies. Thanks for the info guys. I’ll work on things this week and let you know how I get on. Cheers for now

[James Boden]

+1 for Sign Elite. It does seem to be a more tailored service and they are very helpful.

Thanks for the post Karen, I’d be keen to hear from more people who have actually had to claim as you never really know the level of service until you claim.