Here are the most frequently asked questions customers ask us on their policy cover. You may well find the answer you require by clicking onto one of the links below.
Motor
Casualty
Additional Covers
Property
ALL RISKS
GLASS
INSURED PERILS
MONEY
POLICY DEFINITIONS
PROPERTY LISTS
TERRORISM
THEFT
UNOCCUPIED PROPERTIES
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Premises that are vacant, empty, untenanted or not in use.
Under the Local Authorities Property Owners policy cover for malicious damage and escape of water from any tank, apparatus or pipe is withdrawn as soon as a building becomes unoccupied.
Under the Property Module of our combined SELECT policy cover for malicious damage and escape of water is not withdrawn until the building has been unoccupied for more than 30 consecutive days.
The numbers used for property perils are unique to each of our contracts. Full details are provided in the policy book rather than on each schedule. You may need to speak with your underwriter for a copy policy wording if your original documentation has been mislaid. Below is an overview of the perils for the two policies issued most frequently.
Property Module of combined SELECT policy (policies prefixed QLA) :
- Fire, Lightning and domestic Explosion
- Fire, Lightning, Explosion and Aircraft damage to private dwellings
- Non-domestic Explosion
- Aircraft
- Riot Fire
- Riot and Civil Commotion
- Riot, Civil Commotion and Malicious Damage
- Earthquake
- Subterranean Fire
- Spontaneous Combustion
- Storm only
- Storm or Flood
- Escape of Water
- Third Party Impact
- Full Impact
- Sprinkler Leakage
- Houseowners’ perils
- Subsidence
- Accidental Damage
Local Authorities Property Owners policy (policies prefixed F) :
- Fire, Lightning and domestic Explosion
- Non-domestic Explosion
- Aircraft
- Riot and Civil Commotion
- Riot, Civil Commotion and Malicious Damage
- Earthquake
- Storm only
- Storm or Flood
- Escape of Water
- Third Party Impact
- Full Impact
- Sprinkler Leakage
- Theft
- Breakage of Fixed Glass
- Escape of Oil
- Breakage or collapse of aerials
- Subsidence
- Accidental Damage
Zurich is fully committed to supporting the needs of our customers and has been working with reinsurers to improve the quality of exposure data used in their modelling systems. The sole purpose of this data collection exercise is to maintain cover at the most economically advantageous prices.
In order to improve their level of understanding we need as much information as possible on the location of your properties, rebuilding costs for each location and the number of storeys any individual property has. We can then enhance this with more detailed construction data and estimated maximum losses gathered as part of our ongoing survey programme.
For housing properties our modelling is done at two levels. Firstly we need to know the number of individual housing units attaching to each individual post-code (split between housing and flats). Flats are regarded as any property above two storeys of multiple occupancy. Secondly, the total rebuilding cost for larger blocks of flats (any premises of six storeys or more) need to be included in the list of locations valued £50,000 and more.
There is no property cover for terrorist acts provided under any of our policies. Zurich is a member of Pool Re, a reinsurance company backed by the government that enables policyholders to buy back terrorism insurance through their insurer where this is wanted. In common with other members of Pool Re Zurich can only offer cover through this scheme.
The property list you supply with address and postcode details will provide the information that we need identifying major locations and the rating zones. Cover must be arranged on all your insured properties, but you have the option to exclude cover for housing property.
In addition to buildings and contents you can also buy-back terrorism insurance for business interruption risks.
Where gross revenue cover is based on a ‘first loss’ sum, full revenue amounts over the indemnity period are required.
Very roughly Pool Re divide Great Britain into four Zones:
Zone A – Central London
Zone B – Inner London and Central Business Districts
Zone C – The rest of England (excluding Devon and Cornwall)
Zone D – The rest of Great Britain (excluding Scottish Central Business Districts).
If you have a question about a specific postcode on your property portfolio your underwriter can provide assistance.
Whilst there are alternative markets for terrorism insurance, Zurich as a member of Pool Re can only offer cover through this scheme. If you do seek a quotation from another provider please be aware of the following factors:
- Cover may be restricted to selected properties
- A restricted limit of liability may apply
- Reinstatement cover following a loss may not be guaranteed
- A cancellation condition may apply
- There is no government backing for alternative markets in respect of catastrophic losses.
Damage resulting from fire, lightning or explosion is specifically excluded from our All Risks insurance.
If the items are contents usually kept within Council buildings the sum insured should be included within the Material Damage cover for that location. As such in the event of a fire, lightning or explosion you can still make a claim under your Material Damage cover.
If items are permanently outside or used away from Council buildings we can extend cover to include fire, lightning or explosion losses for a small additional cost. This is done by adding Endorsement 13 for the specific item(s) on the policy schedule.
Damage to computer equipment is specifically excluded under the All Risks part of our SELECT property module. We offer a more tailored insurance for computers and ancillary equipment under our Additional Covers module.
Before arranging the cover we will need to know:
- Details of the property in your custody and control
- Sums insured for the property, particularly for the most expensive items
- The dates that the cover is required
- Where the items will be located and the security arrangements in place there
- Whether transit cover is required to and from the Authority’s premises and if so who will be transporting the property
- Any other material fact that may be of use to us in assessing the risk.
In normal circumstances the Authority’s property is only insured whilst in the territorial limits for the policy – Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Occasionally we provide wider cover for property that is taken outside the territorial limits on a regular basis, for example All Risks insurance for civic regalia, at the request of the policyholder. Cover can be extended on a one-off basis but to do so you must notify your underwriter in advance so that the extent of cover, security arrangements and premium due can be agreed.
Local Authorities are major property owners with requirements for new buildings, extensions and maintenance of existing structures. Appropriate insurance will be required when engaging contractors to carry out works such as the building of a new leisure centre or refurbishment of a school. The requirement for and extent of insurance depends upon the type of building contract being used.
The main contracts used are those established by the Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT). These are standard contract documents used by the employer and the contractor to set out the various responsibilities for the works. Insurance clauses are one part of the contract.
Amongst the JCT contracts used are:
- JCT Standard Form of Contract 1998 (JCT98) – insurance clause either 22a or 22b or 22c
- JCT Minor Works Contract 1998 (MW98) – insurance clause either 5.4a or 5.4b
- JCT Intermediate Contract 1998 (IFC98) – insurance clause either 6.3a or 6.3b or 6.3c
In recent years other standard forms of contract have begun to be used by local authorities. Please contact your underwriter for clarification of insurance requirements.
Cover can be arranged on either an annual or specific basis. Annual cover is provided on a blanket basis with the premium adjustable on the value of contracts during the year, subject to a notification limit for single contracts. Cover may be extended to provide supplementary cover for existing buildings and contents within the single contract limit.
Cover in respect of specific contracts may be arranged where there is no annual cover in force, or wider cover is needed than is provided under your blanket arrangements. To provide a quote for such a contract the following information will be required:
- The sum insured (contract value)
- The contract period
- The cover required (type of contract and insurance clause that is operative)
- Summary of the works to be undertaken
- Name of the contractor
- Security arrangements in place at the site
We can and do insure contracts with a value in excess of £1m but in order to do so we need to know more about the risk – the type of work being done, duration of the contract, security arrangements at the premises.
Our surveyors may need to visit the site and report back to you with required or recommended improvements to the risk. If you have terrorism insurance we will need to notify Pool Re about the location of the works. The £1m limit is effectively a notification limit.
The Capital Additions Clause allows automatic cover for new buildings and contents added to the authority’s property portfolio without prior notification. It is subject to a limit per property and notification of acquired properties above this limit to ZM.
Our definition of a building is not wide enough to include artificial sports surfaces. Where cover is required for this type of property cover needs to be specified on a policy schedule. These facilities need special consideration to understand any specific exposure to malicious damage or water damage by storm or flood.
To obtain a quotation, in addition to the sum insured, you will need to advise your underwriter about:
- the full address of the facility or facilities
- the loss history for each site
- security in place at each facility, eg type and height of fencing, CCTV coverage
- the standards has the facility been built to.
If your policy schedule shows the deductible marked alongside the letter ‘A’ it will apply per property. A deductible marked alongside the letter ‘B’ applies per event.
It is possible to have policies where some perils are insured on a per property basis and some (often storm and flood) are insured on an event basis. Whilst we are able to provide cover on either basis but the premium is higher when cover is purchased with an event deductible rather than a per property deductible. In addition, an event deductible will also be accompanied by a lower deductible per property.
This section of our property cover provides for reinstatement of fixed glass following accidental damage, malicious damage and theft/attempted theft damage if not already insured as part of Material Damage of Theft covers purchased.
Where anAuthority leases or hires a building there may be a contractual requirement for them to take out this cover.
In our SELECT contract loss of or damage to computer equipment resulting from theft is specifically excluded under the Theft part of the property module. This is consistent with a similar exclusion on the All Risks part of the property module.
It is normal for us to provide this insurance, however, within the Computer part of the additional covers module. There the cover for theft is without the restriction to forcible & violent entry/exit and falls within the peril termed “Accident”.
Cash ratings for individual makes and models can be advised by your underwriter. These inner limits reflect the level of security that individual safes provide. Our original terms for this cover will have required you to send us a list of safe and strongroom details so that the range of limits can be agreed between us. The limit appearing on your schedule will be the maximum amount payable in relation to your most secure safe only.
We would expect an Authority to set minimum standards for cash carrying in order to reduce the risk of exposing personnel to attack and/or personal injury whilst carrying money on your behalf.
The limits set out below have been provided on enquiry in the past, but if you can enhance them with additional precautions you should seek to do so. Variations to routes taken, times of delivery/collection and personnel used can also be considered as ways of further reducing the risk:
| Up to £2,500 |
One person carrying mobile phone |
| £2,500 to £5,000 |
Two people carrying with a dye discharge bag or three people carrying plus mobile phone |
| £5,001 to £7,500 |
Three people carrying with dye discharge cases plus mobile phone and alarm |
| £7,501 to £10,000 |
Three people carrying with dye discharge cases and a transalarm and/or radio/mobile phone and alarm |
| £10,001 + |
Transit by specialist security vehicle or security company only |
The specification for any specialist security vehicle used by an Authority must be agreed with your underwriter. We will normally ask for this at the time of the tender quotation.
