Be Prepared for the New Insurance Act

Posted: 19th September 2016

By: WiRE Team

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5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – change is on the horizon!

For more information contact Jenny at Henshalls

They say that forewarned is forearmed…. Well consider this your five minute warning!

There are huge changes afoot in the world of insurance and if you’re in business, you won’t be able to ignore them.

Now this might sound worrying – but in fact, the changes to The Insurance Act (which come into force on August 12th) could bring some real clarity and reduce lengthy and expensive legal disputes.

The Act itself was designed to modernise and support the growth of Britain’s insurance industry and, at last, it will transform the current 100-year-old regulations that govern contracts between businesses and insurers.

It aims to make the industry more transparent, and to help UK insurers survive against their global competitors – many of whom have already introduced more modern and flexible regimes.

This is all well and good of course, but as a business, I’m sure you just want to know what it means for you and your company.

Well the Act is split into three key areas.

  1. Business owners will be required to make honest and fair assessments of the potential risks associated with their business before they take out insurance. And if they don’t, insurers will be able to refuse to pay out on any claim and keep the company’s paid premiums too.
  2. Information given to insurers will no longer be automatically transformed into warranties which will help protect providers from increased risks
  3. If a business makes a false claim, the insurer will have the option to terminate their cover immediately and keep their premiums too.

As much as increasing legislation can be annoying for all of us in the world of business, this new Act will actually clarify some rather grey areas that have been left open for too long.

As an insurance broker, we’re very pleased the rules will be clearer and less complicated, and we’ll make sure all our business customers are kept fully up-to-date on how they will be affected.

This means you can have “peace of mind” that you don’t need to spend hours swotting up on the new guidelines – we’ll do all the hard work for you!

So, warning over, it’s time to keep calm and carry on – rest assured, we’re on the case!