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EmmaReed84
31-12-2013, 03:48 PM
DH and I rent our property and stupidily enough we have never had content insurance. The only insurance we have is car and PACEY.

We recently had our car broken in to and had my phone, his wallet and Sat Nav stolen, there have been quite a few break ins around the area, mainly cars, but also several houses. Because of this DH has started looking in to getting contents insurance, but apparently they all ask if we run a business from the home, to which he obviously puts yes.

Can anyone give me advice about insurance, as I have never really had to deal with this before. Are they asking about businesses, to insure that side as well, or because it will be more expensive, even though we have PACEY cover?

christine e
31-12-2013, 04:05 PM
They will ask questions about the business - how many children at any one time is the main question - my contents insurance will only allow up to 6 children at any one time and some I understand will not let you have the accidental damage extension but mine does. There is another post running on the subject

http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/general-childminding-chat/127355-house-contents-insurers-limit-child-ratios.html

I would ring round a few and see what they come up with

cathtee
31-12-2013, 04:49 PM
I'm insured with More Than for contents and buildings and the are very comparable :thumbsup:

tulip0803
31-12-2013, 05:00 PM
I am insured with Churchill. Direct Line and More than have insured me before without restrictions

hectors house
31-12-2013, 05:56 PM
I have a clause on my contents/building insurance due to childminding saying that I am not insured for accidental damage done by childminded children and that I am not insured for burglary/theft unless there is signs of forced break in - I suppose just in case a parent slips my purse or camera or ipad into their bag on way out.

I would try on line comparison websites but then make sure you talk to an advisor for the companies you are considering to find out what you are and aren't insured for - also to find out if they limit the number of children you can have in the house - im with Aviva who say I can only have 6 children in the house including my own (luckily mine are grown up) so aren't included in that figure. I did try price comparisions but found that Aviva were nearly £100 cheaper than most other companies (when I put in I was running a business from home), I tried the Direct line website as they aren't included in comparison sites but there wasn't an option for running a business, so whilst they looked competitive I wouldn't have been properly covered.

bunyip
31-12-2013, 06:54 PM
You will need to say that you run a CMing business from the property.

Some insurers will then refuse to insure your house/contents or will bump up the premium as a result. Others may stipulate whether or not damage caused by mindees is covered.

Some will just insure you anyway.

I was with Direct Line for a year. They were happy with me minding, but did expect me to declare it as 'business use' even though they didn't actually treat it as 'business use.'

I now insure the house through Bluefin who specialise in insurance for CMs.

EmmaReed84
01-01-2014, 11:19 AM
Okay this may sound stupid now, I blame... okay I have nothing to blame, I am just a tad stupid LOL!!!

The insurance through PACEY is for what exactly? If we get sued by parents? Does it cover other CMing aspects of the business such as equiptment?

I have a Keter mid-store at the front of my house with a pad-lock, I use it to store all my pushchairs and car seats, when they are all stored at once, there is probably about £700 worth of stuff in there. If that was to get stolen would that go through house/content insurance?

I know our personal items such as laptops, tablets etc would be covered by household, but I am just a bit confused as to what insurance would cover what...


Oh and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! :clapping:

Simona
01-01-2014, 11:37 AM
Okay this may sound stupid now, I blame... okay I have nothing to blame, I am just a tad stupid LOL!!!

The insurance through PACEY is for what exactly? If we get sued by parents? Does it cover other CMing aspects of the business such as equiptment?

I have a Keter mid-store at the front of my house with a pad-lock, I use it to store all my pushchairs and car seats, when they are all stored at once, there is probably about £700 worth of stuff in there. If that was to get stolen would that go through house/content insurance?

I know our personal items such as laptops, tablets etc would be covered by household, but I am just a bit confused as to what insurance would cover what...


Oh and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! :clapping:

If you are a pacey member...or a member of any association... you pay a certain amount for their m'ship...you then can buy their PLI ...this covers you for people being in your home, the public and employees if you have an Employer Liability and have assistants.

The household insurance is to cover the contents of your home for your belongings and also the business stock: furniture and resources...this is not the same as PLI
Some household insurances are very aware of the fact cms run a business from home and their terms cover us...such as Bluefin because their policy is geared around our home based business

Other insurers add premiums or deny cms 'accidental damage' simply because we have children in our homes and see this as an added risk...they also limit the number of children you can care for.

Car insurance again is something we need and it must cover the children you mind...you can purchase this from Bluefin for instance who are aware the car has a business use.

Wherever you choose to buy your home insurance or car you must make the insurer aware of the fact you are a business

The contents of your storage area would be covered by your household insurance...most cover shed contents or such like but you must tell them

Hope this helps

christine e
01-01-2014, 01:38 PM
Your public liability insurance which you have through pacey covers you in the event of you personally being held liable for a third party (child) during the course of your work so if a child was injured and you were proven to be liable then your insurance kicks in it also covers third party property so in the case of a friend of mine deciding to wash a child's coat because it has got very dirty but forgetting to check pockets and therefore putting a mobile phone thru washing machine - parent held her responsible and public liability paid up. It does not cover you or your property so pushchairs belong to you not covered - if you were using child's own pushchair and it was stolen and you were proved to be negligent so maybe you left it in storage and didn't lock it then they (parents) may be able to claim against your insurance

Simona
01-01-2014, 02:02 PM
Your public liability insurance which you have through pacey covers you in the event of you personally being held liable for a third party (child) during the course of your work so if a child was injured and you were proven to be liable then your insurance kicks in it also covers third party property so in the case of a friend of mine deciding to wash a child's coat because it has got very dirty but forgetting to check pockets and therefore putting a mobile phone thru washing machine - parent held her responsible and public liability paid up. It does not cover you or your property so pushchairs belong to you not covered - if you were using child's own pushchair and it was stolen and you were proved to be negligent so maybe you left it in storage and didn't lock it then they (parents) may be able to claim against your insurance

I wonder if we could start the new year by allowing other associations to be quoted as well as we now have a wide choice open to us?

Pacey offers m'ship and PLI via RSA...they repsent cms and the wider sector
PLA offer m'ship and PLI via RSA to cms...and it is just as good...they represent cms and the wider sector
The other 2 associations Independent CM-Social Enterprise and UKCMA also offer m'ship and PLI...that I know they only cover cms at present
MMichel offer everything but it is not an association therefore no m'ship payable to them

To clarify PLI covers cms for the 'public' who enter our premises not just the minded children...hence Public Liability...if a parent tripped and hurt themselves they would be covered too.
If a cm employs an assistant that is covered by Employers' Liability

PLI is not a home or car insurance...those are bought separately as an addition to PLI.
Sorry for the repetition but we need to be clear and allow comparison with all associations not just one....my view of course

bunyip
01-01-2014, 02:32 PM
As with all forms of insurance, it's worth considering what you're getting covered and what a claim will 'cost' you, as well as just the price of the premium.

You'll need to declare that you're CMing as failure to do so may invalidate all or some parts of the insurance that you may wish to claim under.

In terms of accidental damage, particularly damage caused by mindees, think about what you might actually claim for. Sadly, insurance companies tend to hold the whip-hand with regard to policies and claims. Most policies are designed to deter us from making a claim, or at least penalising us for doing so. Most instances of damage aren't worth claiming for, simply cos you have to pay the 'excess' (first £xx.xx of any claim) yourself and lose your no-claims discount for the next few years, so you have to pay a higher premium.

Even expensive items may not be worth the claim unless you get "new for old". eg. A broken laptop might cost c£500 to replace. But if insured only to the value of the actual item that was damaged, you'll get nothing like £500 out of the insurer, as electronic equipment depreciates rapidly the moment you unpack the box. :p

christine e
01-01-2014, 09:11 PM
I wonder if we could start the new year by allowing other associations to be quoted as well as we now have a wide choice open to us?

Pacey offers m'ship and PLI via RSA...they repsent cms and the wider sector
PLA offer m'ship and PLI via RSA to cms...and it is just as good...they represent cms and the wider sector
The other 2 associations Independent CM-Social Enterprise and UKCMA also offer m'ship and PLI...that I know they only cover cms at present
MMichel offer everything but it is not an association therefore no m'ship payable to them

To clarify PLI covers cms for the 'public' who enter our premises not just the minded children...hence Public Liability...if a parent tripped and hurt themselves they would be covered too.
If a cm employs an assistant that is covered by Employers' Liability

PLI is not a home or car insurance...those are bought separately as an addition to PLI.
Sorry for the repetition but we need to be clear and allow comparison with all associations not just one....my view of course

Hi Simona - I quoted pacey in my reply to Emma because she had already said that she had her public liability insurance with them I fully appreciate that there are other options