SignElite

As previously discussed, Specialist Insurance is now available for the Sign and Graphics Industry and this can be tailor made to fit the needs of the individual Sign Business. Over the last few months we have been looking at individual topics in greater detail; Hazardous Premises, Height limits, Liabilities, and Directors & Officers Liability. We still have a number of topics to discuss, however, for today we are going back to basics.

The reason for this is due to the number of businesses we have seen recently that have policies which do not exactly meet their needs. This includes policies without the key covers and with exclusions for the type of work they actually undertake. Until these policies are looked at in greater depth, the Business will often be unaware of their potential exposure to claims being declined. As far as they are concerned they have a policy in place and it covers everything they need.

So for the next few Blog posts we thought we would examine the key points to refresh everyone what to look for when purchasing insurance.

For Manufacturers and Installers, which most of the Sign Industry falls into, a “Commercial Combined” policy is the order of the day. Whilst Shop policies are available, these are not generally designed to meet the Sign Industry’s requirements as they mostly provide cover for businesses selling things over the counter. The Public Liability cover on a Retailers policy may not extend to cover you for work away from your premises so do check your policy. Imagine fitting a sign on the front of a customer’s shop in town and your Public Liability cover does not extend outside of your business premises, you drop the sign whilst fitting it causing injury to a passerby, or worse causing permanent injury to them?……..We don’t want to even contemplate the consequences without Insurance! So a Commercial Combined policy would be the more appropriate policy to look at for the Signs Industry. Let us move on…

It is important to mention to your Broker that you apply and remove graphics. To do this you will need to use hot air guns or hot air strippers away from your business premises. If this is not mentioned you may end up with a heat exclusion on the policy and no cover in the event of a claim.

Insurance policies differ with different insurers but in general the cover is very similar. Essentially there are two basic types of policy; Fire, Perils, Theft and Accidental Damage, which covers more or less what it says and is specific on the perils, perils being Fire, Storm, Flood, etc…………. and accidental damage. The alternative is an All Risks policy which basically gives you a small list of what isn’t covered rather than what is.

So, now we have what type of policy you need to be looking at taking, we need to know which individual covers you will need to include under that policy. In Part 2 we will be listing and explaining those covers and how they relate to your circumstances.

The above is for information and guidance only and should not be relied on for individual circumstances and professional advice must always be sought specific to your individual circumstances and requirements. Finally any and all comments referred to anywhere on this site is for the United Kingdom (UK) market only.