ExpressNewsThe Newsletter for Commercial Express Agents www.ceqonline.co.uk

Issue 11 June 2014

Why not CALL US?Don’t just accept the system price, we are your flexible insurance partner. We are looking for good quality risk for the right price. So whether it be a product query, premium flexibility or general advice, we need you to give us a go and give us a call.

Plus

Hello, my name is Siobhan Penlington. I have recently joined Commercial Express as an underwriter primarily focussed on liability. I bring with me 10 years of commercial combined, liability and package underwriting experience with composite insurers Aviva and RSA including 7 years’ experience as an on-site underwriter at numerous brokerages around the West Midlands.

In this underwriting feature of the newsletter I will be focussing on the CX Liability (Wages & Turnover) scheme which provides the right level of protection for larger businesses or more diverse business activities.

Popular trades at the moment within this scheme include Builders, Plumbing and Heating (Domestic & Commercial) using both plastic push fit plumbing and use of heat, Property Maintenance and repair and Haulage/Drivers of HGVs. Out of these popular trades I will be concentrating on Builders and Property Maintenance.

Our preference is for Builders using their own established workforce working on-site as a main contractor (thereby retaining overall responsibility for site safety) to work up to a maximum of 10 metres in height. We can consider a small percentage of work above 10 metres with our absolute maximum being 20 metres by looking at each risk on its own merits. We would take in to account the insured’s experience in the trade with full details of height working methods and health and safety procedures for height work.

One of the main features of this scheme is that we automatically include an allowance of up to 20% of the insured’s total turnover for the following ancillary activities: •Plumbing,heating,gasfittingorboilerservicing • Airconditioning •Roofing,re-roofingorcladding • Windowfitting •Groundworkorsiteclearancewherenodemolitionworkisundertaken

Where a builder is getting involved with other activities that do not quite fit the online system such as working with electrics or if their turnover splits do not fit within the above 20% allowance we can still consider these risks with full details of activities undertaken and respective percentage splits.

If you wish to discuss a risk in more detail with Siobhan please feel free to contact our dedicated liability team on 0845 094 2077 (option 2)

CX Liability (Wages & Turnover)

The changes we have already made include:• Expandingtheunderwritingteamtoensuremoretimecanbetakenovermorecomplexcases.• Employinghighlyexperiencedunderwriterstoprovideahighqualityservice.• Agreeingincreasedauthoritywithourinsurerswhichmeanswecanofferfavourableterms beyondthesystempricefortherighttypeofrisk–ouraimistoattractandretaingood qualitybusiness.• IncreasingthenumberofBusinessDevelopmentManagersplusaBDMsupportpersonbased at our offices.

CALL NOW 0845 094 2077 (option 2)

www.ceqonline.co.uk

Hobby & Club

CX Hobby & Club CX Hobby & Club is CX’s latest ‘niche’ product and is a liability contract for organisations where members meet to discuss and/or participate in activities related to the club type.

Acceptableclubsinclude:AmateurDramatics,Art,Bridge,Camera,Collectors,CollectorClubs,Home,ModelRailway,Music,Needlework,NetworkingClubs,PrayerGroups,ParentTeacher Association,Singingandmanymoresocialactivitygroups.Sportsclubsareunacceptable except for dance and excercise groups.

The facility covers up to 250 members for Public & Products Liability and Employers Liability £5m limit of indemnity. The policy wording automatically includes member to member cover.

AmajorbenefittothisfacilityistheMaterialDamageextensionwhichprovidescoverforup to £5,000 worth of items owned by the club anywhere in the world for only an additional £50. Perfect for clubs that attend exhibitions and road shows.

This product is extremely flexible, so if you have a club, organisation or even an individual with a hobby that requires liability insurance and/or a small amount of property insurance, then we can accommodate this at very reasonable rates. Gone are the days where you have to arrange a commercial combined policy and pay inflated minimum premiums.

Premiums start from only £120.

NEW Product

Faraday Join CX CommercialExpresshasaddedFaradayReinsuranceCo. Limited to our growing list of insurers. Faraday is providing the insurance on a number of Commercial Express’ niche schemes.

This follows the addition of a panel of branded insurers at the beginningoftheyearthatincludesRoyal&SunAllianceplc, AIGEuropeLtd,AvivaInsuranceLtdandCoveaPlc.

Wearedelightedtobeaninsurer on the Commercial Expresspanelandwelookforwardtobuildinga strong relationship with Duncanandhisteam.

Roger NashLiability Underwriting Manager

Faraday

NEW Insurer

Cover in an Instant

You Spoke, We Listened…In order for us to continue to improve our service to you, we will regularly be asking for your feedback on how we’re doing. We recently issued you with an online Service Survey, asking about the service we provide. Your feedback has enabled us to pinpoint those areas where we excel and those elements of our service that require attention. We have used your feedback to further improve our service:

A knowledgeable and experienced underwriting teamOne area of improvement is the knowledge and experience of our underwriters – we have addressed this in appointing a further four highly experienced underwriters and also by separating out our underwriters into teams dedicated to specific Commercial Express products, therefore increasing their product knowledge in those areas.

A Traditional Underwriting StyleWe have underwriters with the power to underwrite! We have a ten-strong team on hand to consider the more complex cases in greater detail. We are exchanging an element of speed for quality and service and are fully utilising the skills and tools around us to make educated and informed decisions.

Improved SupportAnotherkeyareaforimprovementistheserviceprovidedbyourBusiness DevelopmentManagers.AnewRegionalSalesManager,PaulPrice,has recentlybeenappointed,alongwithanadditionalBDMwhojoinedusinApril.

TheCommercialExpressNewWayofWorkingisajourney that we want you to be a part of. This new process will take time to fully materialise so we do ask for your patience whilst we get to where we want to be.

Give us the opportunityWeneedyoutogiveusagoandgiveusacall-don’tjustaccepttheonlinesystem–wecanonlyapplyourNewWayofWorkingifyougiveustheopportunity!

Call us on 0845 094 2077 (option 2)

www.ceqonline.co.uk

UpdateUnderwriting

CX Public House insurance for your clients

Public House

For more information, call0845 094 2077

Key Benefits to Standard Policy • Upto6lettingroomsincluded • Pubswithdiningareaacceptable • Damagetogardenfurnitureforinsured perils up to a maximum of £500 included at no extra cost

Key Optional Extensions without referral • Children’soutdoorplayarea • OutsideCateringupto£25,000 • LossofLicenceupto£100,000

There have been a number of product updates since our last underwriting e-shot. These include:

CX Tenants Contents • Twonewcoverlevelsof£10,000and£20,000 are now available.

CX Fast Food & Restaurant • Minimumpremiumshavebeenreducedby£25.

CX Commercial Property Owners • Ratesforshopsandofficeshavebeenreduced by up to 10%.

CX Commercial Combined We have added some new food trades to the already extensive list of available trades: • BakersSundriesManufacturer • BiscuitManufacturer • CakeMixtureManufacturer • DairyProductManufacture • FruitSyrupManufacturer • MeatProductsManufacturer

Cover in an Instant

The missing piece of

the jigsaw

Abespoke business insurance policy

Download full product information guides from our website

•PickandMixtherightsectionsofcover

•Attractive20%commission

•Directaccesstoadedicatedunderwriter

•Online&Manualpresentationsaccepted

CommercialCombined

CX Contractors All Risk The scheme has been improved to include:

• Thecontractvaluereferrallimithasincreased from £1,000,000 to £1,500,000. • Twonewlevelsofrates(sizediscounts)up to £100,000 and £250,000 sum insured for Owned Plant. • ReductioninOwnedPlantbaserates. • Twonewlevelsofratesupto£50,000and £100,000 annual hire fees for Hired in Plant. • ExtensionavailabletoincreaseToolslimitof indemnity from £500 to £1,000 per employee . • New‘Groundworkers’trade.

CX Event How to hold cover in excess of 30 days...

The system will automatically produce an ‘Invalid Date’ warning when trying to hold cover. In order to incept a policy with an effective date in excess of 30 days simply email srowley@ceqonline.co.uk confirming the quote reference and inception date.

Please note the entry will be added to your statement of account unless credit card details are provided.

There have been a number of product updates since our last underwriting e-shot. These include:

CX Tenants Contents • Twonewcoverlevelsof£10,000and£20,000 are now available.

CX Fast Food & Restaurant • Minimumpremiumshavebeenreducedby£25.

CX Commercial Property Owners • Ratesforshopsandofficeshavebeenreduced by up to 10%.

CX Commercial Combined We have added some new food trades to the already extensive list of available trades: • BakersSundriesManufacturer • BiscuitManufacturer • CakeMixtureManufacturer • DairyProductManufacture • FruitSyrupManufacturer • MeatProductsManufacturer

www.ceqonline.co.uk

Paul Price Regional Sales Manager & North London & Essex

PaulcoverstheNorthLondon&Essexregionsandhasover30years’experience in the insurance industry in roles such as Business Development Manager for Covéa.

Contact Paul 07990 833877 pprice@ceqonline.co.uk

Phil Lackie BDM for the West Country, South Wales, Northern Ireland & Scotland

Phil joined Commercial Express 3 years ago and splits his time between Bristol, BelfastandScotland.Philhasover16years’experienceintheinsuranceindustry, including underwriting, claims and broking.

Contact Phill 07901 040 402 plackie@ceqonline.co.uk

Colin West North West & South Yorkshire

Colin has been with Commercial Express since February 2009, following previous rolesatAllianzandAviva.HisareacoversthewholeoftheNorth,andprovides him with the opportunity to identify broker needs, and to work together to promote a profitable account.

Contact Colin 07825 279 200 cwest@ceqonline.co.uk

Rob Kirkpatrick BDM for the Midlands

RobjoinedCommercialExpressasanunderwriterinOctober2012andhassince become BDM for the Midlands. He has worked in the insurance industry since 2004 with both broker and underwriting experience.

Contact Rob 07920 142937 rkirkpatrick@ceqonline.co.uk

The CX Business Development ManagersWe’ve expanded our team of Business Development Managers to improve our level of service fromeveryangle.OurteamarebasedthroughouttheUKtoprovideapersonalservicetoyou.

Cover in an Instant

Caroline Fisher BDM for London & South East

Caroline is our newest recruit and has worked in the insurance industry for over 20 years. Caroline’s career began in personal lines broking however for the last 8 years she has been extremely successful in Broker Development Manager roles. In her last position at Covéa she worked with a panel of 150 brokers across the South East.

Contact Caroline 07825 610950 cfisher@ceqonline.co.uk

Shalman Ahmed BDM Support

Sham is office-based and looks after over 200 brokers whilst also supporting the BDM’s who are out on the road. Sham has over 7 years’ experience within the insurance industry. If you have any queries or issues please contact Sham under option 5.

Contact Sham 0845 094 2077 (option 5) sahmed@ceqonline.co.uk

New Starters in UnderwritingPeter Reed Bringing over 5 years’ experience working with brokers at Swinton Insurance, Footman James and Coversure Insurance, Peter joins the Property Owners underwriting team.

Warren Gibbs Havingover10yearsinsuranceexperience,beginninghiscareerasamotorunderwriterwithRSAbefore moving into packages and commercial combined. He then spent 4 and a half years at Fusion. Before joining CX Warren spent two years as the commercial marine underwriter for Birmingham.WarrenisnowworkingontheCXSME,LiabilityandCARschemes.

Barrington Kerr With over 7 years’ experience working in the insurance industry, previously working for JLT, PremiumChoiceandthenAIGInsuranceasUnderwritingServiceAdvisorbeforejoiningCXinMarch.Barrington works on the Property Owners schemes.

www.ceqonline.co.uk

Product Updates

CX Let has been improved with the following updates:•AccidentalDamagetoBuildingsisnowincluded forprofessionals,studentsandDSSnonreferrals, atnoextracostontheCXLet-RSAscheme.

•A5%discounthasbeenintroduced,ifthe BuildingsSumInsuredismorethan£500,000 andunder£1,000,000.

LetL t

CX Let, it just keeps getting better!

•Theprofessionalratehasbeen reducedby10%incertainregions.

•CXLetnowalsoincludes£5,000 complimentaryLandlords’Contents coverasstandard.

The CX Street Food scheme has been removed from the Catering category, meaning no new business quotes can now be processed. However, the scheme will remain in theRetrieveQuotes&Policiesdropdownofthewebsite, should you require access to existing quotes or policies.

Instead, quotes and cover can be organised through the trade “Street Food Operator” which has been added to the CX Outside Caterer scheme.

Street Food

Changes to CX Street Food

Cover in an Instant

Changes to CX Street Food

Aspartofourcontinueddrivetoimprovethequalityofour products we are delighted to announce that with immediate effectFREEProtectedNoClaimsBonusontheCXCateringVanschemewithAviva,foranylevelofNCBisautomaticallyincluded!This is a unique benefit to this type of policy, as many other providersonlyofferProtectedNoClaimsBonusoncethe policyholder has reached five years without a claim.

Benefits of the CX Catering Van policy are: •Freeprotectednoclaimsbonus •AppliesforanylevelofNCB •Allows2‘faultclaims’ina5yearperiodbeforetheNCB is reduced

Catering Van

FREE Protected NoClaimsBonus on CX Catering Van

CX CaravanWith summer around the corner the season is fast approaching when your clients will be looking to insure their caravans. Commercial Express offers insurance for both static and touring caravans, and both schemes have recently been improved.

Touring Caravan The referral limit on the sum insured has been increased from £30,000 to £50,000, plus the policy excess has been reduced from £100 to £50.

Static Caravan The base rate on this scheme has been reduced by 5% and the policy excess has also been reduced from £100 to £50.

Caravan

www.ceqonline.co.uk

RecentNewsImprovements to our Claims ServiceWe have made a number of improvements to our claims facility over recent years, and we wanted to make you aware of the intended plans for increased performance in the future.

Our claims service was originally outsourced and after appointing a number of companies, who each performed poorly, the decision was made in 2010 to invest in a Claims Manager to improve the claims service and to offer agents a point of contact for dealing with any complaints or issues.

Atthispointafullauditandreviewoftheclaimsprocess for the majority of schemes was undertaken, resulting in revised service standards and a reorganised claims process, which included:

• AdedicatedCommercialExpressclaimsteam was formed which included 13 hand-picked and approved loss adjusters

• Extensiveproduct&policywordingtraining undertaken by each claims handler

• Newclaimshandlingproceduresandrigidservice standards implemented

By 2012 this meant that we were providing an acceptable claims service and throughout that year further training for the desktop handling team was undertaken, along with a revision of the loss adjusting panel which included a full day’s training on Commercial Express policy wordings and procedures.

This improvement meant we were in a position to enhance our offering. The desktop claim limit was increased from £2,500 to £5,000 meaning more claims could be handled without the appointment of a loss adjuster, which in turn resulted in faster conclusions onclaims.Newprocedureswere implemented, along with further training on communicating decisions on declined and void cases.

Attheendof2012avalidationteam was created to assist the desktop team. This is a shorter, faster process for the less detailed claims, where a surveyor or building contractor will meet with the insured and establish the cause of the damage, take photographs and detail repair costs.

During 2013 we focused on improving the finer aspects of claims handling, with the core focus on communication - ensuring the agents, therefore their customers, were kept up to date with thepositionofaclaim.Asecondary loss adjusting panel was also introduced who assist at any time when claim levels are high.

Cover in an Instant

We are now positioned to launch our ‘improved broker claim communication’ initiative, where you will see improved communication as we roll out stage one. On all material damage claims handled by Cunningham Lindsey and Certo, you will receive:

• Notificationofanewlossincludingbriefdetails.

• Letterinformingwhoisdirectlyhandlingtheclaim.

• Confirmationletterdetailingpaymentdetails or declination.

Further enhancements of the initiative will be released throughout the year and your feedback will be the driving force behind this.

To close, we are now at a point where we have rigid service standards however we are working to further enhance both the quality and efficiency of the claims facility, and also to bring the remaining schemes in line with this high level. We are aiming to offer one of the best claims services in the market. We see this facility as one of the most vital aspects of our business and our focus is that you, the agent, has the confidence to place business with us due to our excellent claims service.

We will keep you further updated as the improvements in this service come into force.

www.ceqonline.co.uk Cover in an Instant

Liability (Wages & Turnover)

Hello, my name is Siobhan Penlington. I have recently joined Commercial Express as an underwriter primarily focussed on liability. I bring with me 10 years of commercial combined, liability and package underwriting experience with composite insurers Aviva and RSA including 7 years’ experience as an on-site underwriter at numerous brokerages around the West Midlands.

In this underwriting feature of the newsletter I will be focussing on the CX Liability (Wages & Turnover) scheme which provides the right level of protection for larger businesses or more diverse business activities.

Popular trades at the moment within this scheme include Builders, Plumbing and Heating (Domestic & Commercial) using both plastic push fit plumbing and use of heat, Property Maintenance and repair and Haulage/Drivers of HGVs. Out of these popular trades I will be concentrating on Builders and Property Maintenance.

Our preference is for Builders using their own established workforce working on-site as a main contractor (thereby retaining overall responsibility for site safety) to work up to a maximum of 10 metres in height. We can consider a small percentage of work above 10 metres with our absolute maximum being 20 metres by looking at each risk on its own merits. We would take in to account the insured’s experience in the trade with full details of height working methods and health and safety procedures for height work.

One of the main features of this scheme is that we automatically include an allowance of up to 20% of the insured’s total turnover for the following ancillary activities: •Plumbing,heating,gasfittingorboilerservicing • Airconditioning •Roofing,re-roofingorcladding • Windowfitting •Groundworkorsiteclearancewherenodemolitionworkisundertaken

Where a builder is getting involved with other activities that do not quite fit the online system such as working with electrics or if their turnover splits do not fit within the above 20% allowance we can still consider these risks with full details of activities undertaken and respective percentage splits.

If you wish to discuss a risk in more detail with Siobhan please feel free to contact our dedicated liability team on 0845 094 2077 (option 2)

CX Liability (Wages & Turnover)

Sp tlight on Underwriting