Help Rentshield Direct Support The Prostrate Cancer Charity

This September 5th Rentshield Directs National Sales Manager, Carl Piercy will be taking part in The Prostate Cancer Charity's Tour Ride, He is helping to fight the most common cancer in men in the UK.

The money raised will help The Prostate Cancer Charity to provide men affected by prostate cancer with the best support possible. We depend on people like you - without your sponsorship, we wouldn't be able to invest in vital research and services to those that need them most.

To Sponsor Carl simply visit:

http://www.prostatecancercharity.org.uk/carlpiercy

Stage 4 of this years Tour of Britain runs from Minehead to Teignmouth at 175km(109 miles) is a long day in the saddle for pro’s and a testing course a Tour Ride sportive on Sunday 5th September.

Rolling out through the streets of Minehead, passing through Somerset early in the day riders will face the heights of Exmoor twice from sea level before heading towards pretty Somerset village of Wiveliscombe for some welcome refreshments. These two climbs are King of the Mountain climbs in The Tour of Britain and come very early in the stage.

At the halfway mark the stiff climb out of Somerset over the Blackdown Hills brings Devon in to the riders’ sights with the big hills behind the riders it’s now the turn of the short tough climbs to test the resolve throughout the closing kilometers. Peak Hill, literally rising straight out of Sidmouth, requires respect from even the fittest riders. Once breached refuelling in Otterton will revive the weary for the final 40 kilometres to Teignmouth.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Rentshield Direct is an insurance company providing Landlord and Tenant insurance products. They advertise at the jml-Property-insurance site. Find out more at http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk/landlords_insurance.htm

Kinsure Insurance now on the jml Insurance website

Kinsure insurance is a "Passport" to real peace of mind when a member of the family needs family support quickly. The insurance is very straightforward If a family member were to fall ill or have an accident and the policyholder needs to be with their oved one, all they need do is to jump on a plane to be with them.

Kinsure takes the stress out of a particularly worrying time. They offer more than just an insurance policy. They pick up the costs of ther travel including any fares to and from the hospital. They will aso make the bookings and take care of all these arrangements in the first place - making sure the policy holder can get to be with their relative as soon as possible. All it takes is phone one call. It is ideal for expatriates.

More on this News Release Here

Kiss Flights folds

Up to 70,000 travellers were facing disruption to their holiday plans after budget travel firm Kiss Flights collapsed last night. That was the story line in The Daily Telegraph.

The British-based company operated flights to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands.

Kiss Flights was a charter airline operator originally trading under the name of Meridian Aviation UK Ltd. It was sold to Flight Options before ceasing trading on the 17th August 2010
The website was not working a while ago, however a message posted on owner Flight Options' website says "As of 1700hrs on 17 August the Flight Options group of companies have ceased trading. The Civil Aviation Authority have been informed and we are awaiting further advice on the situation. Please contact the CAA for a further update".

The latest operator's demise follows the recent collapses of Goldtrail Holidays and Sun4u. It is believed Kiss picked up a large number of bookings from the collapse of Goldtrail.

The Guardian has a headline today saying "Flight Options collapse hits 70,000 holidaymakersThird failure of UK travel company in a month affects more than 70,000 customers" -

"Holiday plans are being rearranged for more than 70,000 people after the Flight Options travel group ceased trading, the third UK company to do so in just over a month.

About 13,000 customers are already thought to be abroad, most having travelled with Kiss Flights, the largest company in the group. The others have bookings with the company into next month and beyond.Flight Options launched in 1995 as a small tour operator on various routes across the Mediterranean, and bought a string of travel firms."


On Monday 9th August it was reported on "ttg live" - Kiss thanks agents for support through insurance mix-up. "Kiss Flights has thanked agents for their support last week after a message was mistakenly sent out saying that insurance cover was withdrawn from the company.

Managing director Paul Moss said agents had been proactive in helping make it clear that the seat-only operator was not affected.

The mix-up happened on Friday when insurance underwriters IGI Insurance said it would not be issuing any more cover for Viking Airlines until it had re-evaluated whether Viking met the criteria for being given cover."

There are a lot of companies in the travel business facing problems this summer. If you have booked a holiday or are thinking of doing so consider very seriously taking out Financial Failure Travel Insurance from as little as £5 per person.


To find out more go to http://www.jml-insurance.co.uk/displayproduct.php?id=319&sec=8

Travel Medical Insurance now available

Travel Insurance Medical is now being promoting on the jml-insurance site at http://www.jml-insurance.co.uk/displayproduct.php?id=343&sec=8

Need travel insurance and have a pre-existing medical condition? - They should be able to help.

Travel Insurance Medical specialises in providing great value, quality travel cover for those of all ages who may be travelling with a pre-existing medical condition. Prices are exceptionally low and cover can be offered at either basic or comprehensive level.

TravelInsuranceMedical.co.uk can cover 220 pre-existing conditions free of charge and more serious medical conditions including cancer, circulation problems and heart conditions can be covered with ease via online medical screening.

Policies are underwritten by Mapfre Assistance

What makes HomeLet landlord’s insurance so good?

"What makes our landlord’s insurance so good?" One of the articles in the current HomeLet E newsletter for their agents. - I wanted to know why so I read on and this is what the article said.-

"We’ve been providing landlords with insurance for over a decade and our Landlord’s Insurance+ product has been specially designed for landlords to take the risk out of property rental.

Landlord’s Insurance+ is full of great features

There are lots of landlords’ insurance products on the market but does your landlord’s current buildings or contents insurance policy include Free Emergency Assistance?

What’s Emergency Assistance?

If there’s an emergency at your landlord’s property such as the loss of electricity, lost keys or plumbing emergencies, the tenant simply calls the 24/7 Emergency Assistance helpline – not you or your landlord. We’ll sort everything for them and an approved contractor will contact the tenant to begin resolving the problem within four hours – even if it’s 3am! Emergency Assistance covers the cost of calling out the contractor, parts, labour and materials for up to £500 per emergency. This is a great additional service that’s included as standard!

What else is included as standard?

Landlords get cover for loss of rent or re-letting costs for two years (or £50,000) should the tenants have to move out following an insured incident
We automatically provide buildings insurance up to £500,000
We provide £5 million property owner’s liability, so if a tenant trips and injures themselves for example and the landlord is found to be liable we’ll protect them
We provide also provide £10 million employer’s liability so if an employee, such as a gardener, cleaner or plumber working in a property injures themselves and the landlord is found to be liable we’ll protect them

Great optional extras
As well as offering great cover as standard we also offer…

Legal Expenses (with no excess)
Boiler cover (emergency breakdown of your boiler and heating system) for just £5 a month
Prestige Rent Guarantee covering the rent up to 12 months after any breach of tenancy

Get it for less!
A policy with us this year costs on average 29% less than it would have done a year ago! That’s because we also offer discounts for:

Good no claims history
Properties managed by letting agents
New properties
Professional tenants
Self-employed landlords
Retired landlords

Want to know more? Visit the HomeLet Land and Tenant insurance website Here

Information supplied by e newsletter August 2010 by HomeLet

Is the Private rented sector set to grow?

HomeLet the Landlord and Tenant rental insurance company has just sent its August "e" newsletter to their agents. We are Premier HomeLet Agents and this story would be of interest to Landlords.

Is the Private rented sector set to grow?

The Tenure Trends in the UK Housing System study indicated that the Private Rented Sector (PRS) could soon outgrow the social rented sector, as buy-to-let investor numbers grow.

Did you know that if the PRS continues to grow at the same rate it will be larger than the social rented sector by 2013?

The belief that the PRS could expand significantly was reiterated by those who took part in a survey for the study which showed that:

Eight in ten people expect to see a rise in the number of people renting rather than buying
93% of 16 to 19 year olds expect to see a rise in the number of people renting rather than buying
This supports the cultural shift that we’ve seen towards renting which has been impacted by a number of factors including government legislation, investment constraints, the affordability of housing and lifestyle changes, taxation and rental supply levels.

For the first time in 100 years the number of owner-occupier homes in the UK has declined and the PRS has increased significantly. But will this trend continue? We take a quick look at some of the factors that will shape the future of the PRS.

Government legislation

The coalition Government still supports the ideal of home ownership and has no immediate plans to regulate or stimulate the growth of the PRS. The recent cuts to Housing Benefit could cause a downward trend in rental prices, especially in areas with a high level of social housing or tenants who rely on Housing Benefit.

Investment and lending

In order to grow the PRS needs more investment, but at the moment the limitations on the number of available buy-to-let mortgages could stifle the growth of lettings stock. On the other side of the coin lending constraints are forcing many would be first time buyers to turn to the PRS for housing.

Did you know that last year the number of buy-to-let loans dropped by 58% when compared to 2008?

Rental supply levels

The latest ARLA members survey showed that in many areas of the UK there is already a shortage in the number of rental properties on the market which only reiterates the need for stimulation and government support. The population of the UK has increased at a quicker rate than the forecasts made by The Office of National Statistics. Currently over 62 million people in the UK and this figure is expected to rise to over 64 million in just 5 years. This means that demand for affordable housing will not decrease for the foreseeable future.

The affordability of housing and lifestyle changes

For some the shift towards renting rather than buying is a necessity rather than a choice. In many cases potential buyers simply can’t afford to secure a deposit for a new home. But for others the choice to rent is proving to be a more attractive option. The crash in housing prices caused many people to lose confidence in the ideal of home ownership and see renting as a long term housing option that allows them more freedom when compared to home ownership.

The big question is - will the housing market pick up and if it does will the emphasis move away from the PRS?

The housing market is still in a fragile state but the PRS is an extremely important sector which provides much-needed affordable housing to the UK and we believe that it will continue to do so in the near future.

What does this now mean?

The potential market is still expanding which represents a good opportunity
However, tenancy lengths are increasing this means that although more people are renting – they are not moving as frequently.

At the moment more landlords are using letting agents when compared to a decade ago, however to save money an increasing number of landlords are using tenant find services only.

There are also more properties and the longer a landlord has a property the less likely they are to use a letting agent.

The current demand for rented property is high, which is great news, but more rental stock is needed in many areas.

Finally a note for Landlords - Agents - Tenants
The threshold of ASTs will increase from October 1st. This means that compulsory tenancy deposit schemes will be extended to properties with annual rents of up to £100,000

Looking for HomeLet Landlord - Tenant insurance products? Click Here

Source: HomeLet (with certain details edited)

The top five tenant’s contents claims

HomeLet the Tenant and Landlord specialist rental insurance company has just sent round it's August 10 e-newsletter to agent.

One story caught my eye. "The top five tenant’s contents claims"

"For lots of students or younger tenants the property they’re about to move into will be the first home they’ve ever had away from their family. Sometimes this means that tenant’s contents insurance can be over looked. But this can also be the case for tenants who’ve lived in rented homes for many years, especially if they’ve been fortunate enough never to need contents insurance or make a claim. But we know that all too often accidents can happen and if your tenants’ aren’t covered they could lose thousands of pounds worth of their valuable possessions. So next time you talk to them about contents insurance why not mention the top five HomeLet claims, which are…

1. A dropped or spilt drink on a laptop
2. Accidental damage to their TV
3. Theft or burglary
4. Fire or burn damage to landlord’s property (including candles, irons, hair straighteners)
5. Water damage to the property (such as a leak from the tenant’s washing machine)

As you can imagine some of these claims can be substantial and without contents cover your tenants are risking everything they own. But that’s where we come in because we can offer affordable cover and full peace of mind.

Sadly many tenants learn the value of tenants contents the hard way because they didn’t have it when they needed it. Did you know that being asked about insurance by their letting agent is the most common reason tenants give for buying insurance?

It’s easy…
There are lots of ways that your tenants can arrange Tenant’s Contents Insurance+. They can simply visit the HomeLet website HERE"

Information from Homelet newsletter August 2010

Quotedesk now on jml insurance sites

Quotedesk offers an extensive range of commercial insurance policies for businesses in The UK.

It has just been added to the jml Insurance websites.

Quotedesk.co.uk is a trading name of Blenheim Park Ltd and Intasure is part of the same family.

Quotedesk offers the following insurance products:

Surgery Insurance / Doctors Vets Dentist Health

Office insurance / Insurance for offices

Contract Cleaners insurance / Insurance for Cleaning Contractors

Shopkeepers - Retail Insurance / Insurance for Shops & Shopkeepers

Park Home Insurance / Insurance for park homes

Static home insurance / Insurance for static homes

Restaurant & Café insurance / Insurance for Restaurants & Cafés

Bar, Pub and Club insurance / Insurance for Bars, Pubs and Clubs

Contractors insurance / Insurance for contractors

Commercial property insurance / Insurance for Commercial Landlords in the UK

Landlords insurance / Insurance for Buy to lets - Landlords.

Take Away Insurance / Insurance for Take Aways

Hotels, Guest House and B&B insurance / Guest house, B&B & Hotel insurance.

Tradesman insurance / Insurance for tradesman

For more information visit: http://www.jml-property-insurance.co.uk/Quotedesk.htm or http://www.jml-insurance.co.uk/displayproduct.php?id=342&sec=9

Intasure holiday home insurance for Germany and in German too

Just came acroos this on the Intasure Holiday homes insurance site.

"Der umfassende Versicherungsschutz für Ihre Ferienimmobilie" - "The comprehensive insurance for your holiday home"

Not only does this company provide holiday home insurance for Germany (as well as a vast number of countries in Europe and Africa, but a German language version for German speaking owners of holiday homes in those countries.

So if you are a German speaking person with Versicherung für Ihr Ferienhaus in Irland - holiday home in Ireland Versicherung für Ihr Ferienhaus in Frankreich - holiday home in France this is a company that cater for you.

They say on their English language version of the website "We are building a significant international brand by offering a range of innovative insurance products
and services that combine locally-tailored cover with the highest standards of UK knowledge and support.All our policy documents are in English and you will talk directly to a UK based English speaking support team.

There are a lot of German speaking holiday home owners as well from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The company is growing fast with Holiday Home Insurance and Second home insurance for Overseas, Foreign and main residence - Austrian, Belgian, Bulgarian, Cape Verdean, Cypriot, Czech, Danish, Egyptian, Estonian, Finish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Liechtenstein, Lithuanian, Luxembourg, Maltese, Monaco, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Irish, Romanian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Dubai.

They also offer:
Listed Buildings Insurance in the UK UK Blocks of Flats UK Landlords Insurance Main Homes insurance Overseas holiday home insurance and Car hire Excess Insurance

Which language next? French - Spanish?

Dealing with Insurance Problems - Criminal Convictions

THE PROBLEM
Clients are often unaware that criminal convictions are a material fact that must be disclosed. It is “the duty of the policyholder to disclose material facts that could affect the policy”

THE ISSUE
There are insurance issues for:
• Anyone with a criminal conviction.
• Bankrupts and those with adverse credit history
This is because the Insurer may either:
• Refuse them Insurance or
• Restrict cover, including Public Liability and Employers Liability cover, (which is a requirement by Law), as well as cover for their business premises and equipment .

This may create difficulties for clients entering self employment or starting a business.
When Insurance is bought via the internet or call centres, staff that may not know the importance of disclosing a criminal record.
Internet or call centre policies are often offered at low rates without checking on convictions. Insurers take on risks that are invalidated when claims occur and the conviction is brought to light.

THE SOLUTION
Neil Cook and his team at Equity and General are specialists in this area and have organised special terms for those with a Criminal record.

They have already helped a number of Startup Clients.

To find out more:
Contact Neil Cook - Head of Specialist Risks Here

How do we work out the rebuild value of our home?

Although most clients can get a quote from the web or a call centre BUT those who have had issues getting cover because of a number of reasons, such as being flooded or in a new flood plain. the house has suffered underpinning/subsidence or is vacant, or you have a bad claims record, a bad credit history (any more you can think of ?) and need specialist insurance help please remember too give them the right sums insured on both building and contents !

As these products are done the old fashioned way on actual sums insured unlike the TV adverts for insurance that say for ease of sale that say you are insured " FOR UNLIMITED BUIDINGS OR ARE AUTOMATICALY COVERED UPTO SOMETHING LIKE £500,000 OR £750.000, £1 MILLION FOR BUILDINGS AND PERHAPS UPTO £50,000 OR £75,000 ON CONTENTS" The missing word is UPTO you in fact never be paid for more than the house costs to rebuild or reinstate or your contents are actualy worth it is just a sales ploy in fact !!

So how do you calculate the TRUE rebuild or reinstement value of your home ?! Dont be over or under insured


THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS !!!....

The resale value does not reflect the rebuild cost - Its just labour prices to rebuild it so if you moved the whole house from one of end of the country to another the rebuild will stay about the same although of course the value will vary according to area

A simple guideline is inside the M25the rebuild on a "Typical" 2 bed terraced house is £150,000 a 3 bed about £200,000 as a rough figure and for blocks of flats about £100,000 for a one bed and £125,000 for a 2 bed

Outside the M25 reduce the figure by 20% If the house is built of stone or brick increase the value by 50% !

The more scientific method is to measure the house and find out the square footage NOT metric measurements please

If you think of your house in its simplest terms like a child's drawing it just 2 boxes on top of each other so measure in feet the width of the house not including the garden then the depth of the house in feet then multiply by that by the number of stories

FOR THE CONTENTS

A typical first time flat needs about £15,000 contents cover a 2 bed maybe £20,000 A small 2 bed house about £20,000 mid sized 2 bed £25,000 a small 3 bed £30,000 or a larger one £30.000 or £40 or £45,000 on a 4 bed etc

Article source: Neil Cook

Looking for insurance for your property? Click Here

Employing ex offenders

Whilst some larger organisations gladly give reformed ex offenders employment it does tend to the lower grade positions.

For other employers its often a concern that if they do take ex offenders that of course are suited for the roll they will either fear huge increases in the insurance premium or will not get any insurance at all this is a very sad fact of life!!!

In truth a reformed ex offender will given the chance be a far more loyal employee than a normal person as they will truly enjoy the chance to prove them self !!! and reward the employer with loyalty they know they have to go that extra mile to break the stigma of the conviction too

Lets not make the insurance issue the excuse !!! there are a number of expert providers that can for complex risks who should be able to thank the business for employing ex offenders thus reducing re offending by giving lower premiums rather than inflated ones.

Article source: Neil Cook

Looking for insurance for ex offenders? Click Here

European Holiday Homes including EX Offenders

A lot of ex offenders moved to Spain.

The British weather is always the standing joke so a lot of us after we find that ideal holiday destination will also buy a special place in the sun it could be used just for you and family or also rented out for income or perhaps through changes in lifestyle you just want to escape from the British climate and expensive lifestyle OR perhaps due to a previous criminal record you just wish to start life abroad with out the stigma of a prior criminal conviction so get have a long term holiday home abroad.

The usual situation when you buy insurance for that property in Europe is that you cover locally in the country rather than from the UK which means there is often a language barrier either its hard to communicate exactly what you need particular if you have convictions or other issues.

Also the policy maybe in a local language rather than English and when it comes to dealing with claims you are totally at the mercy of the local insurer.


No matter what your personal circumstances including criminal convictions and also adverse claims history we can offer holiday cover in most European countries written by LLOYDS of LONDON with a policy in English and cover is arranged in the UK

So you are sure you know what the cover you buy for your holiday home is what you need it to be.

NOT FORGETING if you fail to disclose a criminal conviction you are wasting your money as the insurance will be worthless!

Information supplied by Equity & General Insurance Services

Find out more Here

The effects of the Property Market in Dublin

Concerns of the future of Arnotts, one of Ireland's oldest department stores.

It has been reported late last week the Dublin department store Arnotts (pictured left) has had the Anglo Irish Bank and Ulster Bank moving in to take control of it. The store employes 950 employees in Henry Sreet, Dublin and the banks are the backers of "Arnotts Northern Quarter Development". This has been put on hold because of the economic situation in Ireland.

The Northern Quarter Development was a €750 million project on 5.5 acres of land in Dublin city centre that was unveilled in 2006.

There are apparently €250 million of loans from this project and the banks are intending taking control of the company.The company's troubles stem from an investment of €10m (£8m) on its new Arnotts Project shop in the Jervis Street shopping centre, which was intended to house the department store while the Northern Quarter was being built. It paid €5m to break its lease in the shopping centre this year.

Arnotts was established in 1843 by George Cannock and Andrew White. In 1993 the company celebrated its 150th anniversary. In the 1970s it was a Member of the ISA - The Independent Store Association a group of independent department stores in the UK and Ireland who bought products collectivelly and sold them under the Czarina trade brand.

Thinking of visiting Ireland for a short break? Find self catering accommodation at www.jmlvillas.com