Following on from last months feature, ‘Insurance in the Waste Management Industry – Past, Present & Future’, The Skip magazine brings you four top skip hire insurance tips.
Whether the market stays ‘soft’ for a while longer or premiums increase – try the following and it will help your business in the long run.
Invest in a comprehensive Health and Safety policy and consider using an external Health & Safety consultant to audit the policy and to provide guidance on changes in legislation on an ongoing basis.
Use a broker who wants to work with you and insurers (and who understands the industry). Direct access to Lloyds is also very handy, so look for a Lloyds Accredited brokers.
Make sure the Third Party Working Risk is covered – either by your Fleet (or commercial vehicle) policy or the Liability policy. Third Party Working Risk is where the wheels of the vehicle are not rolling but the vehicle is working, i.e. the FEL is in motion or the skip loader arms are hoisting the skip on. If property is damaged or persons injured a policy needs to respond – it’s no good the Liability insurer looking at the Fleet insurer and vice versa.
Get your broker to explain the warranties, terms and conditions applicable to your Material Damage (Building and Contents) policy. There’s no point storing combustible materials against your building if the policy states you should store them no more than four metres. Another popular and oft broken warranty is the exclusion of portable heaters. Work to the policy terms or try and change them – but don’t ignore or be unaware of them.
To get a skip hire insurance quote, click on the link.
This article originally appeared in Issue 20 of The Skip magazine