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Press Releases |
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Exciting press releases to follow! |
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News |
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20/04/2006 - Cybhr - New On Line Guide To Employment Matters
In the care sector you are more likely to face a compensation claim from a disgruntled employee, than a fire or indeed most other types of claims. This fact has long been recognised by us and the reason why we include a comprehensive legal expenses section, with twenty four hour telephone legal support, in our Care Concept 2000 + policy.
However, the potential employment tribunal claim is only the tip of the iceberg – we are all acutely aware of the myriad of employment law rules, changes and procedural requirements that we are expected to have a working knowledge of and despite the Governments protestations that they are seeking to cut back on red tape and beauracracy, 2006 will see over a dozen new pieces of Employment Legislation and Regulatory changes. Examples are: The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, The Transfer of Undertakings Regulations 2006 and The Working Time (Amendments) Regulations 2006.
So how does the hard-pressed Care Home Proprietor or Manager keep up to date? Abbey Legal Protection, who provide our legal expenses cover and help line have created ‘Cybhr’, the on-line guide to Employment Law and HR matters which all our policy holders can access at any time.
Key Features
·Regular email employment news alert briefings (fourteen in 2006 to date)
·Comprehensive guide to Employment Law, split into digestible bite size chunks – and written in jargon free English
·Fully interactive suite of over one hundred Employment and H R documents all of which are constantly updated – including recruitment forms, policies, procedures, employment contracts, agreements and a staff handbook
·A fully secure employee data base, where the employee details, including a record of contracts and policies issued to individual employees, can be stored
The Cybhr web site has over 10,000 user sessions a month, with an average length of time on the site of ten minutes. The most popular area of the site is the document download suite, which enables the home owner to ensure their employment contracts and similar documents are up to date, closely followed by the Employment Law guide.
We have arranged with Abbey Legal Protection that all our Care Concept 2000 + policy holders have access to the Cybhr site – with the added value benefit of clients being able to book the services of one of Abbey’s specialist employment lawyers for one to one consultations.
( Policy holders - if you have not already logged in to Cybhr please take a moment to look at your last renewal document which provided simple instructions for registering. If you still need assistance please do not hesitate to ring us.)
Adrian Carter Director - G R Patrick & Co Ltd
Tel 0208 336 0099 Fax 0208 336 0099
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20/04/2006 - Are You Fully Covered?
Geoff Patrick, Managing Director of GR Patrick & Company Ltd, discusses the situation facing care home owners who may not be aware of what their insurance policies cover and what they exclude.
Q. With almost 25 years experience of providing insurance for care homes, what are the most significant changes you have noticed during the last year or so?
G.P. There have been several major changes that have occurred in what is a fairly specialist market. As an industry we have become more regulated and in order to protect the client from mis-selling, general insurance contracts are now regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Secondly, although costs have always been important, policies are increasingly being both sold, and bought, on price alone – irrespective of the cover provided. This will almost certainly have serious repercussions, particularly for care home owners without vital areas of cover.
Q. What do you mean by ‘serious repercussions’?
G.P. Well, historically care home insurance provided comprehensive cover including important areas such as abuse without restriction. With the introduction of POVA residents of care homes, and other such establishments, are clearly better protected against physical, mental and sexual abuse but home owners are responsible for the actions of their employees whether deliberate or accidental. However, in the last couple of years and brought about by the pressure to reduce premiums, care home policies from some companies have specifically excluded abuse cover – no doubt fearing the risk of higher numbers of cases with large awards occurring in our increasingly litigious society. If the care home owner is not covered then any such claim could be personally ruinous.
Q. Are ‘abuse’ exclusions the only examples of incomplete cover?
G.P. No, abuse is just one of two prime examples of cutting the cover to fit the premium. The other is malpractice or the "treatment cover" as it is sometimes referred to. Some policies have malpractice cover which is subject to the condition that all medication is administered by qualified medical staff and this alone may prejudice the insured's position where unqualified care assistants are involved with the administering of drugs and medicines.
However a far more serious situation is the limitation of malpractice or treatment cover to include only the errors and omissions in the administration of drugs and medicines. Consider the residential or nursing home that has a patient with MRSA. Effective barrier nursing is not enforced correctly and the patient mixes with other residents and even family and children visiting the Home. Within a couple of weeks three other residents are infected, as is one of the children directly as a result of the failure of professional care but crucially not involving drugs and / or medicines. Our undiluted malpractice cover would provide all the protection the Home owner would expect however I am equally certain that some insurers would provide no cover whatsoever.
Q. Why, in light of the risk, would a home owner purchase a policy that included such exclusions? Is it simply down to cost?
G.P. Some owners may well purchase policies knowingly because of perceived lower premiums. Yet the comparative cost of policies with or without exclusions is relatively small, perhaps 10% - 20%, and I feel this is a small price to pay for the peace of mind it provides. However, I believe the real reason owners purchase policies offering incomplete cover is that they are simply unaware that this is the case. This is partly their own fault but often their insurance broker or advisor will be unaware of the potentially very serious failings of some, apparently, similar covers and clearly there is sometimes a reluctance to discuss the absence of important areas of cover especially where a particular insurer is not prepared to offer that cover at the premium being quoted.
Q. Are you saying that you think brokers are guilty of mis-selling?
G.P. In certain instances, yes, although many just do not understand the peculiarities of the care home market. Both they and their clients should be aware of any exclusions but too often they are not. In fact it is the duty of the broker to highlight any shortcomings of a policy he is selling that he believes may affect a care home owner or his ability to make an informed decision about the merits of the policy. Unfortunately this does not always happen. The broker should advise his client and identify a product which meets his client’s needs – and under the new FSA regulations each quotation should be accompanied by a full pack of information regarding the insurer and a summary of the policy cover. Again the quality and detail of information provided by some insurers' is often woeful and very often the home owner will not study it as carefully as perhaps they should. Some clients even request that we simply send the premium indication and forget the rest – clear confirmation that price is the only concern.
Q. If all policies were truly comprehensive, and with claims likely to increase due to more ‘no win, no fee’ cases, wont insurance costs rise?
G.P. Costs should not increase unduly although much will depend on the broader insurance cycle, the general financial markets and the attitude of the re-insurers who suffered large losses as a result of the New York terrorist attacks and natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina. Employers’ liability claims have been reduced as a result of better risk management by owners through improved staff training, safer working environments, better record keeping and incident logging. All such action helps to reduce the possibility of a claim and provide a defence where one occurs, which in turn keeps policy costs in check. Having said that those insurers that are excluding abuse and not providing full malpractice cover will be forced to increase premiums when their clients understand the current shortcomings of their policies and insist on truly comprehensive cover.
Q. How can care home owners be sure they have comprehensive insurance cover?
G.P. They should deal with reputable brokers who provide sound advice and give full policy summaries in writing. They should read the information provided and ask pertinent questions regarding exclusions and the like and not be solely driven by premium costs – cheapest is very rarely best. If you were buying a car most people would not automatically regard the cheapest as being the best. Some of the "must haves" will be missing and the same is true of care home policies. Just because it is called a "care home" policy does not mean that it provides all the essential cover that you need. Check your policy details not only when changing from one insurer to another but at every renewal even if remaining with the same insurer, as the terms of a policy can, and do, change. Care home owners may rely on brokers but they must also take some responsibility themselves – after all, they are the ones who will be liable if a claim arises and there is no cover forthcoming. Most would prefer to be comforted by the knowledge that they are fully covered for all the essential areas of operating a care home and not have to live in fear of a severe financial penalty which could destroy their business.
Geoff Patrick
Managing Director
G R Patrick & Company Ltd
Tel: 020 8336 0099
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20/04/2006 - Health & Safety CD
All our clients (both new and existing) will receive a brand new 27 section Health & Safety CD from the 1st of November 2005 onwards.
Topics include: Risk assessment, Infection Control, Laundry, MRSA, Hot & Cold Water Safety, Electrical Safety, Asbestos, Stress and Food Safety.
There are numerous templates for recording information such as risk assessment, training, fire alarm and emergency lighting testing, flow charts for accident reporting and register of portable electrical appliances to name but a few.
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