An Informal Introduction to UK Public Sector Organisations & Industries

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Planning ahead for cold conditions There are a number of protective measures you can consider taking to help prepare your commercial property for the cold conditions, including: Have a professional plumber check your plumbing joints for leaks. Remember those which are hidden and keep an eye out for green discolouration on copper pipes – this could be a sign of a leak. Review your insulation to protect your pipes from freezing. Prevent your water supply stopcock from stiffening by testing it from time to time. Perform a comprehensive risk assessment to evaluate ice, flood and snow hazards, including large falling icicles, significant slippages of snow from sloping roofs or roof collapse from the weight of the snow. Develop your Business Continuity Plan (BCP) (Disaster Recovery Plan) to cater for winter-specific conditions. Check manufacturing processes and materials to see if they’re affected by lower temperatures. Check roofs, gutters and drains to make sure they’re in good working order. Don’t forget to follow the duties and precautions under the Work at Height Regulations even if the person carrying out the work is not your employee. Review any fire risk assessment; if you need to provide any additional or different heating, remember to inform your insurance intermediary. For the external parts of your property, consider: Implement slip-related safety measures, such as gritting or diversion to less slippery walkways. Don’t forget that hard floors in entrance areas can become very slippery during wet or snowy weather. Assess the exterior lighting around your premises; with less hours of daylight, it may be harder for people visiting you to see icy and other slippery areas. Leaving your property vacant If you’re going to leave your property vacant for an extended period of time over the winter months, it’s important to consider the following: Don’t lower the heating too much. Leave it on low at around 15°C, to prevent existing water from freezing. Alternatively, you could drain the plumbing system entirely. If you’re considering doing this, you should seek professional advice. Make sure that pipes in unheated areas, such as lofts and, where accessible, under floor spaces are insulated with high quality lagging. Insulate water tanks in lofts and unheated spaces or open-sided buildings. Have someone keep an eye on your property, who’ll be able to contact you should they find a leak. Hire a professional to check if you have a condensing type central heating boiler, which has an external condensate discharge pipe, ask them to check that the pipe is the correct minimum diameter for the model of boiler involved and that the pipe is suitably lagged. Freezing water in an unlagged external pipe could cause your boiler to stop working. In areas where extremely low temperatures can occur, your heating engineer may recommend that the pipe is also electrically trace heated. Watch out for frozen pipes Tell-tale signs of a frozen pipe include no water coming from the tap, frost or ice on the outside of the pipe and if the pipe appears to be bulging. However, a frozen pipe doesn’t necessarily mean a disaster, if you act quickly enough. If you discover a water pipe which is frozen but has not burst, take the following steps to prevent it from bursting and protect your possessions: Turn off the stopcock. Remove any furniture or equipment in the area which may get damaged by any leaking or escaping water, where safe and practical to do so. Open the tap closest to the area and begin gently warming the pipe with a hairdryer or hot water bottle, starting from the end closest to the tap and working away from the faucet.  Don’t forget any outdoor taps – it may be worth insulating these to prevent water from freezing inside the cavity wall and causing an escape of water. Although pipes are inevitably damaged when they freeze, it’s only possible to see bursts when the pipe begins to thaw. If it is apparent that a pipe in your property has burst, you should: Turn off the stopcock and drain the system by opening taps in baths and sinks. Switch off your heating and, if in doubt, your electricity at the mains. Contact your plumber immediately. If possible, once the leak has been fixed, make sure you air the affected parts of the property by leaving windows and doors open. This content is by no means exhaustive and is for guidance purposes only. It’s not intended to amount to advice on which reliance should be placed. For requirements specific to your business, please seek professional advice.

Driving in the dark Driving is significantly different in the dark and, without the correct safety precautions, potentially hazardous. At night, vision is reduced, making it much harder to see signs and other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. There are several things you can do to ensure your visibility isn’t compromised, including: Checking your lights to make sure all lights in and outside your vehicle are fully functioning. Driving slower than usual, as poor visibility means you may not see another road user or a hazard until the last few seconds. Driving at a slower speed not only means you have more time to see what’s in front of you but also more time to react. Taking regular breaks in night conditions, as the risk of falling asleep at the wheel is also greater. If driving at night is unavoidable, make sure you take regular, planned breaks and if you feel tired, stop and find somewhere safe to rest. Prepare ahead There’s no better time for a service than in the approach to winter. If a service isn’t possible, you can carry out your own tests. This should include: Routinely checking the concentration of antifreeze in the coolant system and bringing it back to the correct winter level. Making sure the windscreen and wiper blades are in working order and that the screen wash is topped up. Checking all lights are working and replacing any faulty bulbs immediately. Checking the car battery and replacing it at the first sign of trouble. Checking that the brakes are working well. Checking the tyres for any damage to the tyre walls such as cuts, cracks or bulges. These should be dealt with immediately as they could lead to slow punctures or blow-outs at high speeds. You should have a minimum tread depth of 3mm and anything less than 2mm remaining on a tyre should be replaced immediately. Never under-inflate your tyres – it’s a myth that a softer tyre means better grip. It may be worth installing winter/all season tyres. These are tyres that are specifically designed to give increased grip in winter conditions. In instances of particularly extreme winter weather, snow chains are also worth consideration. Please note that any tyre enhancements must be fitted to the manufacturer’s standard. Putting together an emergency kit It’s a good idea to put together a winter emergency kit, in case of breakdown in the winter months. You can have peace of mind knowing that you’re prepared for the worst by stocking your vehicles with the following items: Ice scraper and de-icer spray Powerful torch with spare batteries Reflective triangle First aid kit Warm clothing, wellington or other boots, blankets and/or a sleeping bag Insurance and broker documents, including any contact information for emergency claim hotlines Bottled water and non-perishable foods Jump leads Snow shovel Sat nav and maps Fully charged mobile phone(s), charger lead and auxiliary battery. Before you set off When setting off for a journey in severe conditions, make sure you: Decide if the journey can be postponed. If you are an employer then you must follow the legal duties relating to employee safety. You should consider the age and experience of your employees when it comes to making decisions about driving in potentially severe weather conditions, particularly if they will be alone. Check weather forecast and travel bulletins before leaving. Give yourself extra time for your journey and stick to main roads, where possible. Have plenty of fuel in the vehicle. In severe weather there may be less filling stations open for business. Always let someone know where you are going and when you expect to arrive. Use gentle manoeuvres, especially when braking. Be cautious with all road surfaces, even if they have been treated. Remember that stopping distances will be considerably longer in wet and icy conditions. Always try to pull away in second gear and select a higher gear such as third or fourth for travelling downhill. In the event of skidding, depress the clutch, steer into the skid and avoid the temptation to brake forcefully. Remember black ice can appear to just be a wet patch, so proceed with caution.

Having a home based business is a brilliant move, it saves you money on a costly office/work space, it allows you to work odd hours with peace and quiet (hopefully) and saves stress and money on commuting. Many entrepreneurs, start-up businesses or side hustles operate from home, but how does this impact your home insurance? Running a business from home can also increase the level of risk to your property and your contents, which is why you need to make sure you have the right business at home insurance in place. What additional risks are there when running a business at home? It will largely depend on the type of business you run and the types of activities you are undertaking, but essentially running a business from home will increase the risk of loss occurring to your buildings and contents. Some of the elements you need to consider when running your business from home are below Stock If you run a business that requires you to hold stock at your home, this can put your property at increased risk of a break-in and theft. It will also increase the amount an insurer would have to pay out in the event of a fire or flood, and the resulting damage to any stock. Your insurer would need to know if you hold stock at the premises as this is not covered under standard contents insurance. Business Equipment Again, you may have expensive or additional equipment you use for your business such as desktop computers, laptops or specialist machinery. Your insurer will need to know about any computers, laptops, or specialist machinery you have at home in the event that they need replacing due to loss or damage. Usually, if you’re just performing a clerical role from your home with a laptop/PC that doesn’t impact your home insurance. Just make sure these items are covered by the employer’s business insurance – this will avoid hefty replacement/repair costs for a cracked screen, or if you spill a drink on your keyboard. Public Liability If you run the type of business that has customers or suppliers visiting, there is an increased risk of someone injuring themselves at your property. The more visitors, the greater this risk becomes. Accidents or injuries to members of the public while at your property could result in liability claims and would only be covered if you have the correct insurance in place. It is advisable for your business to have its own public liability cover in place, as home insurance providers will often ask you to confirm you have this covered. Your home insurance will likely have limitations, exclusions or conditions will often apply within the home insurance policy. What information will I have to provide to get a quote? The first step to purchasing home business home insurance is to get in touch with a specialist home insurance provider. What kind of business do you run and what it involves? For example, are you doing clerical work or production e.g. making curtains? What equipment do you use, such as a laptop, machinery or specialist equipment If you hold stock in your home and its value If you have business visitors, such as customers or suppliers, and the frequency of those visits If you have a separate business liability policy in place How much is home business home insurance? There is no clear answer for what you’ll be paying, but this is good news! As the risk factors vary between the nature of the work, business equipment, stock and if you have visitors your insurance cover will be tailored to your unique circumstances. This means you’ll be correctly covered and not overpaying for your insurance. What is not covered? As home business home insurance is not the same as business insurance, there are a few covers which will not be covered: Public Liability Insurance Public liability insurance protects your business against compensation claims and their legal costs if you cause injury (including death) to a third party or damage to their property. Public liability insurance covers you on your premises and working off-site. Professional Indemnity Insurance Professional Indemnity Insurance provides cover for legal costs and expenses incurred in your defence, as well as any damages or costs that may be awarded if you’re alleged to have provided inadequate advice, services or designs that cause your client to lose money. Employer’s Liability Insurance This cover is compulsory if you have any employees (including any volunteers or apprentices). This is to ensure you can meet the costs of compensation for your employees’ injuries or illnesses, whether caused on or off-site. What’s Next? By now you will know if your home insurance is impacted by you running a business from home. Your next point of call will be to find an experienced insurance broker to provide you with the right advice on what types and cover you should have. Luckily you can contact your Forum Insurance account executive, email at info@foruminsurance.com or call us on 0208 909 2899 . We will then search the insurance market so you don’t have to, this secures you the best cover, policy wording and insurance premium.