Time to renew your nursery, childminder or other early years setting insurance? In this blog, Vikki Mondovi, insurance manager at the ÎÞÂëÌìÌÃ, covers the key things you need to consider when renewing, and shares a case study on how reviewing what is covered when your renewal comes around can save a lot of hassle (and money!) should you ever need to make a claim.
We are often asked by childcare providers for help with choosing or renewing an insurance policy.
Many providers will decide to renew their policy without making any changes but it is always worth considering whether the insurance cover is still appropriate, to ensure your setting doesn't get caught out should you ever need to make a claim.
Case Study: Under-insurance (or do I have the right level of cover?)
One provider called us recently because she had just moved into a larger venue and had purchased tablets and two interactive tables. We were able to advise her to recalculate the level of contents cover needed and she increased from £5,000 to £10,000. If she had not done this, and there had been a claim for some of her equipment — maybe because of a break-in at the nursery or flood affecting one room — our insurers would not have been able to settle the full amount claimed. That's because when under-insurance occurs, a market standard condition known as the ‘average’ clause can come into play (see the example in our infographic). We were able to explain that this is a principle applied by most insurers, and to make sure the setting had the level of cover they need to protect themselves and their contents, should they ever need to make a claim.
Before you renew your childcare insurance, consider what changes there may have been in the past year.
Other things to consider are:
- Extending opening hours — increasing your income
- Change of venue
- Opening an outdoor venue
- Extending the age range of children you care for
- Change of Ofsted registration
- Enforcement action by Ofsted
- New equipment which increases overall value of your group’s equipment
- Outreach work or work with adults
- New activities that you might be considering, such as an unusual fundraising event, some sports, training or animal rides
- Child with medical condition that may involve invasive or life saving medication
- Buying a building
The is very versatile and we can find a level of cover that suits your needs.
Find out about our comprehensive insurance packages for all early years settings: