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| ‘OUR NAME IS YOUR PROTECTION’ |
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The Celtic never-ending knot
symbolises the relationships between the various forms of insurance protection
- where each segment of the knot represents an essential part of the whole.
In ancient Celtic times Barley was used for protection and for prosperity.
Barley water was and is used for medicinal purposes.
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DIRECTORS/EXECUTIVES
INSURANCE CHECKLIST
In Issue No. 76 of the Independent Business Weekly, we noticed an article
“Ferret Out Insurance Unknowns”. It discusses various potential insurance
minefields and provides the following Annual Managerial Corporate Governance
or Compliance Questionnaire which you may find worthwhile completing yourself.
- Have all insurance claims been advised to the insurers? YES/NO
- Have any claims been declined or taken time to settle? YES/NO
- Are all liability claims, whether insured or not, advised to the company’s legal advisers or head office? YES/NO
- Have you had to pay any costly claim which was not insured? YES/NO
- Do you have a listing of all insurance claims paid and outstanding for the insurance year to date? YES/NO
- Have any previous insurance claims resulted in remedial action being required or recommended? YES/NO
- Do you have the current insurance policies or an insurance summary or register in your possession? YES/NO
- Are you involved in any annual review of your insurance programme for your branch/company/ or area of responsibility? YES/NO
- Over the past year have your premiums increased or decreased or remained constant? UNDERLINE ANSWER.
- Have claims deductibles, eg you pay the first $2,000 for the principal insurances, eg property or motor vehicle – increased or decreased or remained the same? UNDERLINE ANSWER.
- Are there any increased risks or potential claims which should be advised to the insurers? YES/NO
- Does the insurance programme (insofar as you are aware) fully cover the principal risks you consider the company is exposed to? YES/NO
- Do you agree that the risks currently self insured (insofar as you are aware of them) should remain so? YES/NO
- Are your premises/facilities/operations annually inspected by your insurer’s loss control executives? YES/NO
- Have any insurance policies been recently cancelled by you or the insurers? YES/NO
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MOTOR PLUS INSURANCE
PACKAGE FOR
MECHANICAL PROTECTION
INSURANCE AND PAYMENT
PROTECTION
Barley Insurances Ltd have been presented with a new product which many of you
have been requesting, due to insufficient limits being provided by the motor
trade for mechanical warranties.
Motor Plus NZ Ltd is a new company who use an American insurer, Autosure.
Autosure have been operating in New Zealand for some time and they have an
AM Best security rating of ‘A’. The warranty can be supplied for diesel,
turbo and four wheel drive vehicles, exotic vehicles and European vehicles.
There is also the added benefit of having a small life cover provided with
a redundancy clause.
Should you wish to enquire about this exciting new product, please contact
us. We would be delighted to forward to you the required information.
EXCELLENT VALUE IN
HOME SECURITY
We bring to your attention the current offer being made by ADT Armourguard Security.
ADT offer a monitored alarm service in conjunction with the purchase of
an alarm system.
Should your premises suffer a loss whilst utilising the services of ADT
Armourguard Security they will refund your excess up to a maximum of $1,000.
(Special conditions apply).
Barley Insurances Ltd currently use the services of ADT to monitor our
premises and consider this to be an exceptional offer.
Should you wish to discuss this offer further please phone John Barley
on 827-7266 or Red Eye Detection on 0800 RED EYE.
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DIRECTORS & OFFICERS EXPOSURE TO CLAIMS BY OSH
This issue has been raised in the light of the article below that has been kindly
presented by John Hamilton. It is important to realise that under the Health &
Safety in Employment Act there is a section of the Act which stipulates that the
directors and officers of a company are responsible for the health and welfare of
their staff. They are also responsible for ensuring that there is a Health & Safety
Procedure Manual in place and in operation. Thus should there be a claim and a fine
under this specific Act, then it is very clear that a claim can be brought against
the director/officer of that company as an individual. Therefore, not only will the
entity be fined and penalised – but the person responsible can also be sued. The
Directors & Officers Liability Policy covers this specific aspect and will
indemnify the director or officer accordingly.
If you have any questions in regard to this specific cover, or require the
assistance of Willis New Zealand to formulate a Health & Safety Plan for you,
please contact us.
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EMPLOYERS EXPOSED TO HEARING LOSS CLAIMS!
John Hamilton
Injury Prevention Manager
Willis New Zealand
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Changes to the Health and Safety in Employment Act expected to come into effect
next year are likely to raise the profile of noise in the workplace. The
Government is likely to allow prosecutions to be taken by parties other than
just OSH. This may result in unions and individuals taking action against
offending companies. Presently OSH is more interested in the more acute
serious harm injuries and there have been few cases of noise related prosecutions.
The expected changes to the legislation will open up the opportunities for
prosecution by other parties.
It may not be well understood, but occupational hearing loss is 100% preventable.
However, once a worker is afflicted with the problem, it is irreversible. Hearing
aids can provide some recovery but in most circumstances the results are far
from satisfactory.
Industrial noise is clearly a hazard for many workers in many different industries.
In most cases the adverse affects of exposure to excessive workplace noise are not
realised until many years after the damaging exposure. Usually the damage is
gradual over a long period of time. “At risk” industries include agriculture,
construction, mining, manufacturing and utilities, transportation and the military.
Some workers (including carpenters and plumbers) are exhibiting signs of hearing
loss by the time they are 25 years old.
The latest ACC statistics for year 2000 report 2254 new claims at a cost to the
country of $4.4 million. As the awareness of the problem becomes more widespread,
the claim numbers and costs are likely to increase. Similarly instances of
litigation are also likely to increase.
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What can be done?
Prevention programmes can be effective. Management can:
- Increase awareness of problem at workplace
- Assess and evaluate noisy work areas
- Investigate noise reduction options
- Implement noise reduction programmes
- Design and purchase quieter plant and equipment
- Provide hearing protection (muffs or ear plugs)
- Educate employees in the use and care of protective equipment
- Implement suitable workplace standards to reduce exposure
- Seek advice from expert sources
Consultants are available who can provide evaluation and advisory services.
There is also a lot of information available via government organisations
and websites eg
OSH: www.dol.govt.nz
NIOSH (the US National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health):
www.cdc.gov/niosh
The message is, take action now and improve the workplace environment. The
spin-off is likely to be a happier and more productive workforce with a
reduced risk of exposure to prosecution.
Note: Some age related hearing loss usually occurs when people get beyond
the age of 60 years.
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It may come as a surprise to some of you that there is the necessity to continue
professional training in order to remain a member of the Independent Insurance Brokers
Association.
Recently we had a seminar on managing fraud risk and business ethics within an
organisation. The insurance cover has been termed ‘Fidelity Guarantee’ and it
is a very difficult issue to address.
We would all like to think that our staff would not steal - whether it be in the
form of money or stock. However, statistics have shown that there is a high
level of staff theft and the following statistics have revealed that:
- Over 50% of leading companies and public bodies have been victims of fraud in the past year.
- 42% of fraud has been detected through internal controls and 21% by whistle blowers.
- Only 40% of organisations had a structured and documented approach to managing the risk of fraud through prevention and training programmes.
- Non-management employees were responsible for 57% of fraud including theft of inventory, plant, misappropriation of funds.
- Management fraud counted for 21% of fraud including expense accounts, conflict of interest, purchase for personal use, misappropriation of funds.
- 71% of Senior Managers felt that risk of fraud will increase.
There are different types of employee fraud and they can cover stock and/or asset
theft, payroll fraud, misappropriation, false invoicing/accounting, credit card
abuse, secret commissions, intellectual property and computer trespass. When we
consider the sums insured required for Fidelity Guarantee Cover we often
under-estimate the total amount of money that can be stolen at any one time.
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If staff theft can occur in banks and insurance companies with high levels of risk
assessment and security, then your business could be considered as “easy meat”.
After investigation into the loss it is often discovered to be far greater in dollar terms than ever expected – in excess of $10,000 or even $100,000. If staff theft can occur in banks and insurance companies with high levels of risk assessment and security, then your business could be considered as “easy meat”.
As mentioned previously, this is a very delicate and difficult cover to assess
because we are dealing with:
i) Human nature, and
ii) Addressing the issues of corporate culture.
Management of a company may be well aware that staff are taking money or stock,
but do not wish to do anything about it because of the embarrassment or the
difficulties that it may cause to the organisation.
....the person who makes the decision to buy the insurance within an
organisation, may in fact be the same person who is stealing....
The other issue is that the person who makes the decision to buy the insurance
within an organisation, may in fact be the same person who is stealing and
therefore the decision to purchase this cover should be at the highest level.
However, when purchasing the cover there are requirements upon the insured to
identify and measure the risk and deal with it accordingly. There need to be
controls put in place to minimise and reduce the loss and this could mean
removing the suspect from his/her position or role immediately. To do this
correctly would require legal advice and also referral to employment contracts.
Should you wish to obtain a quote for this cover, please contact me. We wish to
advise, however, that this is a relatively expensive cover and is dependent upon
the required limits.
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Phone (09) 827-7266
Fax (09) 827-7269
Mobile (025) 289-3162 Email
insure@barley.co.nz |
