Every single business insurance policy contains a different range of clauses, warranties, excesses and conditions. If you have a policy, you will have been advised by your insurer, or your broker, to read through the policy and if there are any parts which you do not understand or cannot comply with, to discuss this immediately.

In reality though, this may be one of the jobs that you decide to leave until you have more time and you never really get round to reading the policy until you have a claim.

It is vital though that you take the time to review any policy you have. The policy should have a clear index and this should tell you where the conditions/warranties etc are. Different trades though have bespoke warranties.

If you have a wholesalers insurance policy, the conditions and warranties are going to refer in the main to protection for the stock and the products liability. As far as the stock protection is concerned, you will more than likely have a waste removal warranty. Whilst these may seem innocuous enough, you need to consider the content of the warranty carefully. If you do not comply and there is a loss, certain insurers may try to repudiate any claim you make.

A waste removal warranty will cover two points. Firstly, the frequency with which you must remove rubbish and waste from the premises and secondly, where this must be stored.

Some warranties say that all waste must be removed “from the premises” daily and others weekly. We have had a recent request to have a warranty changed, because although the company were storing the waste in an aluminium wheeled bin, they kept this on the premises overnight, to stop it being stolen.

The insurers changed the warranty to reflect this, but if they hadn’t and there was a fire in the waste bin, whilst inside the building overnight, this could have caused some issues.

As far as frequency is concerned, a week is normal, daily is a bit too much, unless you are a printer, woodworker or involved in some form of chemical/plastics industry.

Similar Posts:

Share