Most advisers try to sell buildings and contents insurance and mortgage payment protection insurance alongside mortgages in standalone situations. But how many capitalise on commercial insurance opportunities?

Household insurance is complicated and transforming into fully-fledged insurance brokers is probably not the way ahead.

Many advisers have introducer arrangements with commercial brokers and following a simple referral process, hand over commercial leads to experts who deal directly with clients.

Products are wide in scope and include commercial insurance for small businesses such as shops and offices, commercial property owners, liability insurance and large risks such as factories.

While commission is lower, some premiums are substantially higher and the work involved is minimal. You will gain leads from day-to-day dealings with clients but why not ask whether they have business contacts to whom you can promote your service?

Use your involvement with local business groups to network and seek out opportunities for commercial business.

As with most general insurance commission, the earnings from this type of arrangement will be ongoing during the life of the policy delivering a useful income stream, adding long-term value to your business.

That could be anything from their clothing and laptop to iPods, iPads, iPhones, CD collections and even electric guitars in some cases.

“It is an important thing to make sure that their items are covered because they might be surprised to learn the items that they take with them are valuable,” the spokesman adds.

He also recommends checking the small print of policies to see how cover extends outside of the home.

For instance, some people’s possessions may include jewellery which, if they choose to wear it on a night out, may or may not be covered against loss, damage or theft depending on the particular policy arranged.

The ban on UK personal lines was soon eased with QIL allowed to write new motor insurance books at premium levels agreed with the regulator.

Over the last few months, QIL’s administrators have been engaged in a battle to convince the regulator to lift the ban on doing mainstream UK business.

But yesterday the Regulator announced that, having carried out at “detailed review” of the administrators’ proposals, the ban on new commercial business would remain in force.

In a statement, the Regulator last night attributed its decision to the fact that QIL has insufficient capital to support its UK book, which attracted premiums of €445m (£371.6m) last year.

“Should the company obtain sufficient capital and return to required solvency levels in the future, consideration will be given to reviewing this decision,” the statement added.

A spokeswoman declined to say how much more capital QIL would need for the ban to be lifted, while the insurer’s administrators also declined to reveal the capital demand.

QIL yesterday stressed that the development would trigger no further job losses.

According to the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, a 40-year-old man appeared at Dumfries Sheriff Court on Monday, accused of deliberately starting the fire, which gutted the building.

The inferno raged through all three floors of the historic building, reducing the pub to a smouldering shell, which clearly illustrates the crucial importance of commercial property insurance.

A member of staff from nearby bar The Lyver told the newspaper how she had raised the alarm at 1250 BST on Saturday morning.

“I was outside having a cigarette when the window blew out. Glass flew over to the other side of the road and flames starting licking up the walls,” she said.

Meanwhile, ESPC, which markets commercial property in eastern and central Scotland, recently claimed that average prices were typically lower than in other parts of the UK.

As a business owner you need to review your fleet insurance on a regular basis and make sure it adequately protects you against the risks your business could face. If youre transporting the goods to another business you will need goods-in-transit insurance.

Businesses that haul hazardous materials might be aware of this fact, but there are some business owners that dont think about such issues until it is too late. Reviewing your commercial insurance needs on an annual basis will ensure you have all the protection you need to protect your business assets. When searching for commercial insurance quotes, there are ways in which you can lower your insurance premiums without sacrificing the insurance protection that you specifically need for your business.

When reviewing your company’s commercial insurance policies, ensure that you consider every type of risk you might face in your day to day business operations. There are ways you can reduce your premiums by implementing driver safety courses or going through risk assessments that a commercial insurance carrier often provides. There are some commercial carriers that might have you perform self-audits on your fleet in an effort to reduce risks and help you keep your insurance expenses lower.

If you are unsure whether your commercial insurance package is adequate enough there are insurance representatives that can give you advice. You might want to research several commercial insurance suppliers when getting quotes. There are advantages to having the correct commercial insurance for your fleet but you may not discover them until an accident or loss takes place. It is better to knowing however that you are properly protected for most eventualities as you will protect your business assets which are one of the most important assets, if not the most important assets in your business.

He said: “The half year results in 2009 versus 2010 show a fall of £13m but underlying that are three things. Current year underwriting performance has improved significantly and we have released a lot less from prior years.

“In first half of 2009 we released around about £100m from our prior year reserves. This year we are releasing around £30m. Lastly, the weather in the first six months of the year has also slightly impacted the results.”

On Aviva’s corporate commercial arm, Mr McMillan said, from a starting point of £250m, the insurer was on track to grow its large corporate business by 20% in 2010.

Considering the wider market, Mr McMillan said there was “no doubt” that rates had hardened in the motor market and cited reports from the AA and EMB which have indicated high double digit growth.

“In my opinion this is very necessary to balance the rising cost of inflation and bodily injury claims and I think it will percolate through to commercial,” he said.

Mr McMillan said he had already seen “modest rate increases of low single digits” in commercial fleet.

One of the best places you will find to look for these various types of public liability and professional indemnity insurance policies will be the internet. Here you will be able to look at the different types which are available in depth and how they can work for you. You will have the opportunity of seeing the advantages and disadvantages to the different policies. As you look at these numerous insurance policies over make sure that you list down the main points they provide for you. This will be of help when you are comparing the various policies from a number of different companies, insurance brokers and providers.

Some of the public liability and professional indemnity insurance polices that you will find on the internet are based on the work they cover. For instance you can look at Builders public liability insurance covers, Painters and Decorators public liability insurance, Gas Fitters’ public liability insurance and many such others. As each of these insurance policies is based on the needs of the specific jobs you should look at each one only if they are applicable to you and your company’s needs. As you look through these numerous companies you should also make a comparison of the various benefits, payment schemes and any other relevant details which are provided on these online pages.

An important fact that you should keep in mind when you are looking at the insurance coverage and the online quotes is the reputation of the different public liability and professional indemnity insurance companies. This is important as you will need the help of an experienced company in dealing with the claims which can arise from a possible wrong which a customer, client or other third party has “suffered” at the hands of your company or staff. For this you will find that looking at some of the mainstream insurance companies is a better option.

While these companies are more expensive to your budget you will find the coverage they can provide in their public liability and professional indemnity insurance policies are a better option for you. With these facts in mind you should take the time to look at the various online pages to find the companies which can be of great help to you. Regardless of the reason behind your choosing to apply for one of these polices you will find that understanding how these insurance polices work, can work in your favour should you or your company run into legal difficulties due to a third party.

The Fuelcard company have pioneered the cards, which offer fixed prices on fuel obtained from a host of sites, including Texaco, Shell and Esso. There are individual cards for specific needs, so that fleet companies have a card suited best to them as opposed to what a HGV company might require.

Fleet companies, in particular, are most likely to benefit from the cumulative savings of the 4p a litre average cut in costs, as they will notice more drastic savings due to them being multiplied across the numerous cars and vans, therefore highlighting the significant impact of the cards to businesses.

Although fuel prices have not been affected by the emergency Budget, their increased prices over the last few years have had a detrimental effect to fleet companies. So, the Fuelcards are a much welcome antidote to these rises, as the fixed weekend costs can combat the rising pump prices as well as receiving VAT invoices and fuel analysis to aid efficiency in spending within businesses.

A spokesperson for Flint Insurance, who specialise in Commercial Fleet Insurance, said: ‘In these tough times for fleet companies, any savings are welcome. But the fact that Fuelcards also help bosses to monitor the fuel usage of their fleets as well, means that they are better equipped with more accurate figures for spending and can evaluate where they can make other savings too’.

The efficiency of the Fuelcards means that they are bound to become even more popular. The minimum spend for a company is only GBP 300 and the service is available straightaway without any cost, so that companies can start to enjoy the savings sooner rather than later.

As the current climate makes it incredibly expensive to sustain a fleet business right now, these cost efficient Fuelcards could not have come at a better time.

That was the view of Charles Binns, divisional director of professional risks at Cooper Gay, speaking to delegates at last week’s Brokers Link Global Conference.

He explained that a law passed last December made Portugese public officials personally liable for acts of “gross negligence”. As a result, the state is obliged to make use of the right of recourse against public officials. Spain has passed a similar law.

In addition, a revised article of the Portuguese Commercial Companies Act made it mandatory for directors to provide a guarantee against personal liability.

Mr Binns told delegates: “The opportunity for brokers is clear – we now have large numbers of potential clients who need to purchase specialist insurance, not out of choice, but as a result of legislation. The individual premiums may be low, but the large overall market for providing these fairly simple professional liability products will be very attractive to underwriters.

Given below are some areas which this policy covers:

• Theft
• Property damage
• Liability
• Business interruption
• Employee injury

These are a few of the common areas of cover; these policies are flexible and any business owner is free to add or delete covers depending on his concept of business. A business owner who opts to operate his business without an insurance policy puts his business at a risk of losing money and property in the event of any unfortunate incident.

Commercial Insurance is generally offered by leading insurance companies via reliable agents who specialise on this subject. Any business company should take time before deciding on buying an insurance policy. It is best that he interviews a number of agents and select the most knowledgeable agent who holds a valid licence to handle this job. This agent should be able to explain to you the different types of policies and which of those suits you best depending on your type of business and the areas that should be covered. It is also important that you feel comfortable with this agent since you need to build a good relationship to discuss and understand the entire package and also during times of claims, if it ever arises.