Don’t be alarmed if you’re under-insured

There’s nothing worse is there? You think you’ve got your paperwork all sorted and your policies in place until you come to make a claim and the small print raises its ugly head.

At the time you need it most, how devastating to find your insurance policy doesn’t actually cover you for the difficult situation you’re in.

Take the case of fire alarm system company System 2 Security (S2S) who have been hit by a bill for £30 million interim damages after they were deemed to be negligent when Weston-Super-Mare Grand Pier went up in flames.

A judge has ruled that the security firm had failed to insist the pier owners provide the name and contact details of more than one key holder, and failed to warn the new owners that the fire alarm system had been altered while a previous fault was fixed.

System 2 Security (S2S) even went into administration just before the case came to court, but the decision still went against them.

The owners said it had cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds to pursue the judgement and they did so knowing that System 2 Security was just a shell of a company with little or no assets, so there was little chance of seeing any compensation.

But the courts stepped in and ordered the security firm to pay up how would you cope if a multi-million pound bill landed at your door? Are you covered to a high enough value?

Let Henshalls check the small print for you so you’ve got real peace of mind.

Martin