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Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover

Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover
Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover

This story was sponsored by MGA Insurance Brokers

With the season changing and winter just around the corner, it might be timely to conduct a health check on your home, business or property insurance policies to ensure you are covered for any unexpected situations that may arise.

These days, business and property owners need to be prepared for just about anything, at any time, with the climate delivering up a range of weather events that have taken many by surprise.

Steven McInerney, a director at MGA Insurance Brokers, said people need to ensure their policies will stand up to today’s challenges. 

“Whether you agree with climate change or not, the facts are that we are seeing more extreme weather events, on a more regular basis, causing more widespread damage than ever before,” Mr McInerney said. 

“Events such as fire, flood, windstorm and hail have increased in frequency and severity by such an extent that all insurers are looking at the premiums being charged, this makes the change of season a perfect time to get a health check on your covers.” 

He said a good course of action was to request an on property meeting, particularly if you own land, a farm or a business.  

Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover
Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover

“When this occurs insurance professionals can go through your current schedule and obtain the details of all the risks that are present in your particular business. 

“And for example as a broker, businesses like ours can then obtain quotes and make recommendations for a customer’s particular situation.”

Mr McInerney warned there were still some areas where consumers failed to understand exactly what their cover included.

“A couple of areas that are generally found to be lacking is ‘under-insurance’, or not insuring for the real replacement value of buildings – this could include things like the costs of removal of debris and professional fees for architects if they are required,” he said. 

“There are also what we call ‘catastrophie’ costs and what occurs here is that the repairer cost can increase substantially in the event of a widespread damage area where repairers are stretched and as a result may quote higher than normal rates for the work required.”

But it’s not all bad news. 

Mr McInerney said policies have come a long way in the past decade and most providers should have moved with the times (and if they haven’t, switch!)

“As an example farm policies can now provide things like unspecified machinery and farm building covers, accidental damage covers on machinery and buildings, flood cover on residential buildings and theft of farm property (in the open air).

Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover
Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover

“We can also provide management liability cover and things like farm continuation costs which are costs incurred after a claim that wouldn’t have been otherwise incurred. For example hiring a contract harvester to finish reaping after the clients header has been damaged.”

He said the most important thing to do was take the time to engage with your provider, ask some key questions and consider using a professionally qualified insurance broker to get the best value cover for your needs.

“That’s why there are businesses around like MGA Insurance Brokers – we can make what might seem like a daunting task a lot simpler and easier, Mr McInerney said”

Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover
Change of season is a good time for a health check on insurance cover

So, health check booked: tick! But what do you ask? Here are a few of MGA Insurance’s top picks if you are dealing with a broker:

How do I work out the market value of vehicles and replacement value of sheds and buildings?

  • What can I do to minimise risks?
  • What ways can I reduce the premium costs?
  • Why have you chosen a particular insurance company to place my business?
  • What services do you provide to me after the insurance has been placed?

This story was sponsored by MGA Insurance Brokers