Why motor traders must check their premises are properly insured

Insurance broker, Aston Lark highlights the importance of correct building insurance

Why motor traders must check their premises are properly insured
Image: Bigstock.

When it comes to buildings insurance, it’s the responsibility of the garage owner to make sure the value of the property listed on their insurance policy is correct.

This means that if anything happens to damage or destroy the garage, such as a fire or flood, there will be enough cover to reinstate or repair it.

But following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of building materials in the UK has increased significantly. As a result, it’s possible that many motor traders may no longer have adequate cover for their current property or buildings sum.

In the event of a claim, this could cause serious problems. If a building is underinsured, it could lead to a proportionately reduced claim pay-out, leaving the property owner with the responsibility of covering the remaining costs of repair or reinstatement. And for motor traders, this means a big risk to their business.

A common problem

This is a surprisingly common issue.

In fact, almost 80 per cent of buildings insured in the UK would not receive sufficient funds to reinstate if there was an insurance loss.

Meanwhile, statistics found that 77 per cent of buildings valued or surveyed on behalf of Aston Lark’s clients were incorrectly insured.

Of those, the average increase required was 36 per cent.

The impact of Covid-19 has only made this issue – and the size of that gap – worse.

Traditionally, the only way to be adequately insured was for buildings to be professionally valued every three years. Due to the pandemic, valuations now need to have been carried out within the last 12 months.

An affordable solution

To ensure customers are protected properly, Aston Lark has partnered with Barrett Corp & Harrington (BCH) to launch a new, cost-effective online valuation service for properties with reinstatement costs of up to £5m.

It represents the ‘gold standard’ of desk-based valuation services, owing to BCH’s extensive dataset of over 56,000 site-based valuations, their process and their practitioners who undertake both desk-based and visit-based assessments.

This service is designed to establish an accurate rebuild value of a property in a fraction of the time – and at a fraction of the usual cost.

To help customers take advantage of this new service, we have discounted the cost to £99 + VAT, an offer exclusive to Aston Lark customers.

For buildings with a reinstatement value of over £5m, an on-site valuation would be needed – so we have also agreed preferential rates for all our clients who will require this service.

Time to act

We recommend that any motor trade business owner who has not had a professional valuation carried out on their garage within the last 12 months should arrange for one as soon as possible.

This will help ensure that any successful claim can be paid out for the full cost of reinstatement or repair of the premises – and help keep businesses on their feet.

The Aston Lark Motor Trade team can help.

Simply get in touch with us on 0330 008 4960 or request a call back by clicking here.

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