While letting your property out to tenants can be a very successful business, there are plenty of pitfalls for the unwary. One you might not have thought of is a tenant running a cannabis farm from your property.

With an “industry” estimated to be worth £2.4 billion in England and Wales during 2021, there’s plenty of incentive to grow the drug. Unfortunately, this can be extremely expensive for the owner. Quite apart from any problems proving that you’re not legally responsible, a cannabis farm can cause plenty of damage. And, if you make an insurance claim to recover your costs, you could find the insurer’s loss adjuster turning you down.

One owner, who suffered £15,000 worth of damage in 2018, found herself unable to get any recompense, even though the letting agency she’d hired had failed to take note of the warning signs. Due to the police being unable to establish beyond reasonable doubt who had actually set up the farm, no-one was ever charged over the case — meaning that she was told she’d have no chance of reclaiming the money from either tenant or agency.

What Can You Do About It?

In 2020, 445 cannabis farms were found in London alone, with the West Midlands, Lancashire and West Yorkshire other hotspots. Nationally, 48% of investigations into electricity theft, a common part of the operation, are related to cannabis production.

If you’re a landlord, you can protect yourself against this kind of abuse in two ways. Firstly, you can ensure you work with a good letting agency, who’ll identify obvious warning signs. These might include:

• Tenants who want to pay several months in advance in cash.
• Tenants who fail to cooperate with inspections and who change locks.
• Blacked-out windows and sealed vents.
• Large amounts of condensation on the windows.
• Electric fans running all the time.
• Tampering with electricity meters and electric cabling.
• A distinctive sickly-sweet smell inside the house.

At the same time, it’s important to make sure your insurance policy includes adequate cover for this situation. Many policies restrict insurance claims for cannabis farm damage to as little as £5,000, or even completely exclude them.

To make sure the loss adjuster doesn’t have a reason to refuse payment, Allied Claims would advise you to check your policy thoroughly — preferably by going through a good insurance broker, who’ll help you find a more appropriate policy, if necessary.

Disclaimer

All content within this column is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the Insurance advice of your own broker or any other Insurance professional. Allied Claims is not responsible or liable for any decisions made by a user based on the content of this site.

Allied Claims is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites. Always consult your own Insurance broker if you’re in any way concerned about your insurance cover.

Are you a small business owner? The owner of a small business, that is — your personal dimensions are irrelevant. You know how difficult the current business climate is, so you need all the back-up you can get — and that includes business insurance.

So what types of insurance do you need for your business? Well, for a start, there are two that are compulsory if the conditions apply to you. If you have any employees, even a single one employed on a part-time or casual basis, you must have Employer’s Liability Insurance. This has to be worth at least £5million and obtained from authorised insurers or specialist brokers through the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.

At the same time, if your company operates one or more vehicles for business purposes, you’ll need Commercial Motor Insurance. Like normal cover, this can be for third party only, third party, fire or theft, or comprehensive, and special policies are available for vehicles such as HGV, taxies, trucks and vans.

These won’t necessarily apply to all business, however. If you’re a solopreneur, for example, you won’t need Employer’s Liability Insurance, while if you simply use your own car to get to meetings and appointments, that can be covered by normal motor insurance — as long as you inform your insurance company.

What Other Insurance Might a Small Business Need?

Those two types of insurance are legal requirements, and you can face heavy fines if you don’t have them, but there are other types of small business insurance that are just extremely advisable. These include:

• Professional Indemnity Insurance, protecting you against claims of negligence in services you offer.
• Public Liability Insurance, protecting you against claims for bodily or property injury resulting from negligence in your business.
• Product Liability Insurance, protecting you against claims of damage or injury caused by your products. This is obviously unnecessary if you only provide services.
• Business Interruption Insurance, protecting you against downtime after fire, flooding or other damage. This may be a clause of the commercial property insurance for your premises.
• Cyber Insurance, protecting you against loss resulting from cyber attacks — today, one of the most dangerous threats to a business.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. As mentioned, you’ll need commercial property insurance for any premises, and you may want to offer perks for your employees, such as income protection insurance or private medical insurance. There are also insurance policies available against financial risks.

Allied Claims would strongly recommend that you go through an insurance broker specialising in small business insurance, who will explain what you need and what you don’t. And then, if you need to make an insurance claim on one of the policies, we can help ensure that the insurer’s loss adjuster has no reason to turn you down.

Disclaimer

All content within this column is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the Insurance advice of your own broker or any other Insurance professional. Allied Claims is not responsible or liable for any decisions made by a user based on the content of this site.

Allied Claims is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites. Always consult your own Insurance broker if you’re in any way concerned about your insurance cover.

If you’re a dog owner, you know how much mayhem they can cause when they’re in the mood. Sometimes, in fact, it can lead to owners having to make insurance claims.

According to one insurer, they handled almost 4,000 insurance claims during the five years to the end of 2022 that involved damage by dogs. And the average cost of the claims, which ranged from breaking a laptop to eating a set of dentures, was £1,200.

So, while you might assume the insurer’s loss adjuster might be sceptical about a dog-related claim, it’s likely they’ve seen something similar before. Some are pure accidents, such as a dog falling into a swimming pool and damaging the pool liner (though fortunately the dog was unhurt), while another involved a nine-stone Rottweiler standing on a phone. Inevitably, the Rottweiler came off best.

On the other hand, some of the incidents were those feats only a dog can achieve. Like walking through spilt paint and trailing it all over the living-room carpets. Or chewing a pen that leaked onto the sofa.

Then again, some dog-related claims are a little simpler. Watches, wallets and jewellery are all among the items that have been lost while walking or playing with a dog.

Are Dog-Related Incidents Covered by Your Insurance Policy?

If your dog has caused loss or damage, you’d expect that you could make an insurance claim on your home insurance policy. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. Many policies specifically exclude damaged caused by chewing, scratching, tearing or fouling by domestic animals.

So how can you make sure the loss adjuster will accept your claim for canine damage? The best way is to add on a personal belongings section to your policy. This will certainly cover all those losses while out with your dog, as well as many other losses away from home, and it may also apply to damage done by dogs at home. However, it’s vital to check the wording carefully, to make sure this isn’t excluded.

And no, we’re not aware of any case of a dog eating an insurance policy. Maybe they aren’t as appetising as homework. But, if you make sure you have the appropriate cover in place, Allied Claims will be able to help you get recompense for your dog’s mischief — or accidents.

Disclaimer

All content within this column is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the Insurance advice of your own broker or any other Insurance professional. Allied Claims is not responsible or liable for any decisions made by a user based on the content of this site.

Allied Claims is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites. Always consult your own Insurance broker if you’re in any way concerned about your insurance cover.

Right now, we’re all particularly conscious of the need to save energy, but there can be problems with talking that too far. Over this winter, insurance firms have recorded a substantial increase in insurance claims for burst pipes — and, with more cold snaps possible before spring, the danger isn’t over yet.

The problem comes when pipes have no hot water flowing through them for extended periods. Even if the temperature doesn’t get down to zero at night, the water in the pipes can freeze up, creating cracks. When the ice thaws, the pressure on the cracks can burst the pipes and flood your home.

This is an ongoing issue every winter, especially when a property is left empty  and unheated, and the insurer’s loss adjuster may sometimes take the view that this constitutes negligence and refuse the claim. This year, however, it’s worse. With energy bills reaching terrifying heights, many people are taking any opportunity to keep their heating off, and each case of this is a potential burst pipe.

Even if we don’t have any further cold spells, the damage could still have been already done. If you’ve had your heating off over the winter, you could see your pipes bursting as they thaw out. So you’ll need to keep your eyes open.

How to Protect Your Pipes

Obviously, you don’t want burst pipes in your home. Quite apart from the disruption to your life, there’s always the risk that, if you have to make an insurance claim for it, you could be left to foot the bill, because the loss adjuster turns you down.

However, there are precautions you can take:

• Make sure all visible pipes and cold water tanks are insulated or lagged, especially if they’re in a small space, such as an attic.

• If you have any tanks or pipes shut away, open them up to the warm air flow every so often.

• Even if you don’t want your heating on full when you’re going to be away for a while, you don’t have to switch it off entirely. Instead, either set your thermostat low or set your timer to come on periodically, so there’s warm water flowing.

• If you have outside taps, shut them off while you don’t need them and then drain off the supply, so there’ll be no water in the pipes to freeze.

• Leaking taps can fill your pipes, leaving them at risk of freezing, so check if any of your taps are leaky and repair them.

• If you’re going to be away for any extended period, turning the water supply off will mean there’s no water in the pipes to freeze.

These steps should ensure that your pipes are safe from bursting. However, if that does happen in spite of everything, you’ll have done enough that Allied Claims can be sure of getting a full pay-out for you when you make a claim.

Disclaimer

All content within this column is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the Insurance advice of your own broker or any other Insurance professional. Allied Claims is not responsible or liable for any decisions made by a user based on the content of this site.

Allied Claims is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites. Always consult your own Insurance broker if you’re in any way concerned about your insurance cover.

Back in the days of Downton Abbey, a wealthy family might well own both a London townhouse and a country seat. Although that might seem like another world, a surprising number of UK families today own a second residential property. Maybe you’re one of them.

Government data suggests that about 2.4 million households in England own a second home of some kind. The majority of these are rented out, but some are used as holiday homes or let to friends or family, while others may be inherited properties that are currently unoccupied.

While there’s no legal requirement to insure your second home, you could lose a lot of money if it’s damaged while uninsured. In any case, if you have a mortgage, it’s likely to be a requirement to have at least Building cover.

The problem is that second homes generally face different threats from your main home, and this needs to be reflected in the insurance cover needed. Otherwise, the insurer’s loss adjuster may turn you down if you have to make an insurance claim on this property.

What Kind of Insurance Do You Need?

You’ll normally need both Building and Contents insurance, unless you’re renting the property out unfurnished, in which case it’s up to the tenant to arrange Contents insurance. If you’re using it as a holiday home, on the other hand, it’s generally advisable to have Contents cover for the items you leave in the property while you’re not using it.

However, the policies you use for your main home won’t necessarily be appropriate for a second home. If the property tends to be left empty for long periods, you’ll need  a special policy allowing this, while a rented-out property may need cover for public liability, legal costs, alternative accommodation or loss of income or rent. You may also require employer’s liability insurance if you have a housekeeper, gardener etc., as well as cover for emergency travel to sort out problems.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that some insurers may not offer certain types of cover. This might include insuring a large building or a listed building (not only a problem if you’ve inherited a stately home), while policies for second homes may exclude pets, stag or hen parties or unplanned guests.

You can generally get a better deal for your second home insurance if you combine Building and Contents policies and pay annually. Improving security measures and keeping the property well maintained will also help.

However, Allied Claims would always recommend going through an insurance broker, who will advise you on exactly what you need and find you the right cover and the best deal. That way, if you need to make an insurance claim, the loss adjuster will have no reason to object to anything, and we can ensure you get a full pay-out.

Disclaimer

All content within this column is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the Insurance advice of your own broker or any other Insurance professional. Allied Claims is not responsible or liable for any decisions made by a user based on the content of this site.

Allied Claims is not liable for the contents of any external internet sites listed, nor does it endorse any commercial product or service mentioned or advised on any of the sites. Always consult your own Insurance broker if you’re in any way concerned about your insurance cover.