At M & C Towers, we’ve just been chatting about a potential client and the kind of cover he should have in place to protect himself and his enterprise. He runs a massive toy manufacturing facility and a distribution service with a global reach. Well, the distribution aspect is very seasonal but the manufacturing is 24/7, 365 days a year (366 next year!)
You’ll know of him. Based in the far north. Very secretive – like Willy Wonka or the one person who knows the Coca-Cola recipe. Goes by many names, too: Kris Kringle, Père Noël, Chimney John, St Nicholas, Sinterklaas – and of course, Father Christmas.
I say potential client… we’ve not actually heard back from him yet, but we’ve all written to him, so fingers crossed. We’d love M & C Risk Solutions to be on his Nice (short)list to provide his insurance cover. Because just like with any other business, this guy has a million things on his mind: feeding reindeer, checking his lists (if only it really was just twice!), ironing his outfit… And also, just like with any other business, this guy will hardly give a thought to insurance – but really does need protection.
When, we actually get to meet this elusive, yet visionary and philanthropic, Captain of Industry, the sorts of provisions we’ll be discussing are:
Liability Insurance: it’s a no-brainer. There’s a legal requirement for Employers’ Liability insurance and this is a staple in our offering. He has a staff of 1000s, working all year round in shifts, and often using tools. You’re not telling me there are never any accidents? And what if something fell off his delivery vehicle? If a skateboard hits a member of the public from height and at speed, our money’s on the skateboard!
Fleet Cover: I say vehicle – there must be a fleet of them. Surely? It’s a global service he provides. Imagine if he only had one and it broke down, or it was hit by another vehicle changing lanes without checking? (We’d be suggesting Dash Cams, too.)
Directors & Officers Cover: As large as it is, it’s still basically a husband and wife set up, so any claims against them for breach of trust or duty, neglect or errors, could result in having to shut the business down. He operates old-school style and uses a two-list system. Naughty and Nice. Imagine if someone accidentally ended up on the wrong one? That could be an eye-watering claim. Well… there’d certainly be a lot of tears!
Cyber Insurance: Which segways nicely into this next cover. What if the two lists were hacked? Fixing the systems and rebuilding the lists would be an expensive job. Not to mention disruptive to the whole operation. This cover can help mitigate a lot of this hassle.
But it’s not just the types of cover we’d be looking at, we’d also review some often overlooked, basics when setting up insurance:
Insurable interest: As I say, this client is known by many names. Which one is on the policy and schedule? And are they even the same? If we don’t have the correct entity, the cover is basically worthless. Many companies fall foul of this and only find out when a claim is submitted. Costly.
Sums Insured: This goes for both buildings and contents. This enterprise grows at a remarkably similar rate to the global population, which means the building of new workshops and production facilities, every year. The rebuild costs will be increasing too and especially so, so far north. Underinsurance will result in an insurer ‘applying average’ and only making a partial payment on a claim.
Contents value will vary too – increasing throughout the year and then dropping considerably just before the year’s end. How is this valued? We can help out here by ensuring there is enough flexibility on cover.
Material Facts: As mentioned, I can’t believe there’ve been no Elf & Safety issues in several hundred years of workshop production. If they’re not declared, philanthropist or not, this guy would be committing fraud.
We could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture. There are many ways a business could find itself financially challenged, and it doesn’t have to be the ‘at fault’ party. Just like this guy and his whole enterprise, for years we’ve been protecting businesses, their owners, directors, employees and customers. We’d love to be able to apply our knowledge and experience and bring him the peace of mind he deserves.
But in the meantime, as his Out-of-Office is on until December 26th, we’d love to hear from any other businesses who may be looking to review their insurance cover. And we don’t just work with super-large, manufacturing businesses based in the north. We have clients of all sizes, across a huge range of sectors, throughout the UK. Let us prove to you that we’re worthy of being on your Nice List when it comes to insurance and providing the peace of mind that you deserve.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, goodnight!
Image Credit: Cottonbro Studio via Pexels