Held in January at the fabulous Fancourt Golf Resort in South Africa, on the beautiful but challenging Links Course designed by Gary Player, the Volvo Golf Champions Event is a prestige event featuring only players who have won during the previous year’s European Tour schedule and those players from an exclusive group who have ten or more European Tour career wins.

The Hole in One competition was insured this year by Marsh and Company, an independent, family-orientated insurance broker whose roots date back to 1972.

Thirty-five players took part in the event, including Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie and Ernie Els. The Hole in One competition rules stated that if a pro golfer had a hole in one on the 17th hole of 163 yards, normally par 3, they would win a Volvo V60 worth 30,000 euros.

However, even with the high level of expertise shown by the participants, the prize was not won this year.

Marsh and Company used their experience of over 30 years in the brokering business to come up with bespoke insurance cover for the event.

Rob Marsh of Marsh and Company said:

This type of risk is very specialised but with our Leisure expertise we succeeded in providing a competitive solution. The leisure industry faces a wide variety of liability risks, and many of these risks are obviously due to the high levels of public attendance. The public liability rates calculated by insurers are, of course, directly related to this and they are particularly interested in the incident frequency and in turn the risk management of the operator.

As Independent Brokers we have large buying powers in the insurance market place, and due to our unique access into the London Insurance Market, we are able to arrange high risk, liability insurance for a wide range of entertainment and leisure related risks.

Being an independent commercial insurance broker means we are not tied to any one insurance company and are able to offer totally independent advice, however we are large enough to be supported by all the leading insurers in the UK which allows us to provide our clients with cover tailored specifically to their requirements at competitive prices. At Marsh & Company we remain focused on providing a high level of personal service you would expect from a smaller company.”

The Volvo Golf Champions Event is truly a Tournament of Champions, and Volvo is one of the most prolific and longest serving supporters of world golf, with over 20 years experience in running world-class golf tournaments, and has title-sponsored over 120 professional golf tournaments. The insurance market for leisure attractions is specialist and as insurance premiums are typically one of the largest overheads, it helps to work with a broker who can obtain maximum value from your premium.

Marsh and Company’s Leisure Insurance team have placed many specialist insurances dealing with sports, leisure and entertainment in years past and continue to do so with success. No two risks are ever the same and Marsh and Company provide unique and specialist insurance solutions for attractions of all types, whether it is a permanent venue or a bespoke event. They strive to provide innovative solutions for innovative businesses, including special events cover (i.e. cancellation or abandonment insurance.)

They still believe after 30 years that one of their main objectives is to provide a complete service which meets their clients’ insurance needs, and after the success of the Volvo Golf Champions Event this year, it would seem that they are definitely a high ranking player in the field.

Now in their third year of working with NFAN, together both organisations have worked hard to develop a competitive insurance scheme for members, with additional cover benefits such as closure of a premises by a competent authority extension, including E-coli outbreaks.

Robert Marsh recently commented on the work NFAN is undertaking with the HSE:

Effective risk management obviously helps minimise incidents and subsequently claims. The work that NFAN has done with the HSE has been well received by our insurers and this will certainly impact positively on insurance premiums.

The insurance market for farm attractions is specialist and as insurance premiums are typically one of the largest overheads, it helps to work with a broker who can obtain maximum value from your premium.

For further information contact Robert Marsh, Group Managing Director, on 0116 204 3400.

Insurance premiums are typically one of the largest overheads for attractions operators. In order for them to receive the maximum value for their insurance contract in both its coverage and price, the underwriters and brokers need to fully understand the risk.

Risk management is a major part of the solution to this problem. By implementing good risk management arrangements, the exposure to the incidents is often reduced and claims can be managed – an interesting task when rides and attractions are meant to thrill, excite, entertain and, most importantly in many instances, ‘scare the pants off’ the guests.

The technology incorporated into today’s rides and attractions is cutting edge, from complex electromagnetic braking mechanisms to software controlled multiplayer safety redundant systems. All are positive factor the insurance industry needs to be reminded of when presenting a risk in its best light to underwriters and securing the best policy and premium in the marketplace.

We often hear from clients who have been told there is little choice of markets for this type of risk.

Certainly the market is specialised, but a good number of insurers now have a risk appetite for this class of business, and with these difficult trading times it pays to take the opportunity to seek alternatives.

Health and Safety

The leisure industry has always driven the high safety standards that can be seen today, promoted by global associations such as BALPPA in the UK and IAAPA, representing some 90 countries with 4,500 members, including the US, which has more than 600 fixed site amusement parks.

Whether in the UK, Europe or North America, the leisure and entertainment industry faces a wide variety of liability risks. Many of these risks are obviously due to the high levels of public attendance and the public’s direct participation in activities.

The public liability rates calculated by insurers are, of course, directly related to this and they are particularly interested in the incident frequency and in turn the risk management of the operator.

So is there anything an operator can do to improve their risk and appetite to insurers? Like most sectors, organisations within the global amusement and attractions sector are experiencing increasing levels of claims, particularly with the world recession climate we now find ourselves in. Slips, trips and falls continue to result in the highest percentage of incidents and claims reported in the sector.

It is vital therefore to have a robust health and safety arrangements in place to control risks, supported by comprehensive records, which assist insurers to defend against spurious claims. The more spurious claims that can be successfully batted away, the lower the loss ratio and the more marketable that risk becomes to existing and other insurers.

In order to manage liability risks effectively, the health and safety arrangements, the majority of which are common to most sectors, should include:

Employee health and safety also takes on a new dynamic in the amusement industry due to the very nature of some of the working environments. Amusement park employees can range from those performing typical administration duties to a carpenter performing a repair some 20m in the air on a roller coaster. Other roles can include skilled trades such as electronics, mechanical engineering, artists, sign writers, painters and IT specialist. These broad and often diverse individual trades have to be brought under the umbrella protection of the operator’s Employee Liability Insurance Programme. The number of employees working at height is obviously one of the main factors, and if this is restricted to key specifically trained individuals, such insurance can be arranged reasonably cost effectively.

When disaster strikes

When recession bites it is natural for operators to look to reduce overheads. Insurance, as mentioned earlier, always stands out as a major item.

Seeking a reduction in premiums is a right of all policyholders and is often achievable; reducing cover to achieve this, however, can prove costly in the long run.

With or without a recession, what remains as an ever present threat for companies is the unforeseen disaster and the question of how to recover from it.

Singling out the business interruption cover (or profits and earnings insurance, as it’s known in North America) is often a request from clients, but in an economic downturn this can be a false economy. Whilst understandably insurance premiums become a focus in a recession, operators still need to have value in both premiums and cover. How long can a business survive with no revenue, especially in a time of limited credit provision, when overheads still need to be paid?

The role of insurance brokers is therefore to emphasise to its customers/operators the case for maintaining business interruption cover as part of their insurance portfolio. It can help not only with loss of profits but also with the increased cost of getting back to business post-incident. This is even more crucial as experience shows the period of interruption has lengthened in recent years, exacerbated by the cost and availability if raw materials, skills shortages and the reliance on overseas suppliers with long lead times.

Bouncing Back

Having convinced clients of the need to maintain cover – not an easy task when times are hard – its critical not to under-mine it by cutting corners on duration. The typical 12-month indemnity period purchased by many is proving insufficient. Rather than risk a client going under, we would recommend business interruption cover to cope with the worst scenarios. Marsh & Company have been assisting our client in the recent fire loss at the Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare, UK; this was a classic example of a three-year indemnity period on a policy proving invaluable in light of complex issues surrounding the reinstatement of the Pier.

The indemnity period is not simply an estimate of when the business will reopen. The cover has to continue to provide indemnity until trading has returned to where it was prior to the loss, up to the full duration of policy.

Riding tandem with business interruption should be business continuity planning. This not only about natural disasters, but economic challenges, such as a major supplier going out of business. Such events are not insurable, but a carefully devised plan could minimize their effects. The reality is that 40 per cent of businesses don’t recover from disaster.

The economy has already caused problems, but if the insurance industry can assist in providing some certainty through quality advice and risk solutions allied with competitive premiums, this must be of great comfort to the leisure sector.

Written by Rob Marsh for Attractions Magazine

The Company, which is based in Weston-super-Mare, has had a very successful first year and is now expanding by taking on two new staff members.

Andrew Maxwell, who has just joined the team, has 30 years experience of commercial insurance broking, working with national and local clients. He is particularly experience in the Leisure, Small Business and Motor Trade sectors.

The other new team member is Gavin Hughes, who is ACII LLB qualified. He spent 13 years with Allianz Insurance in Bristol followed by ten years of dealing with Clients and Brokers in Gloucestershire. He has a wealth of underwriting experience and will develop a wholesale broker division, which will further strengthen the Marsh & Company team.

Marsh & Company Managing Director Rob Marsh said:

We have had a very successful first year, since taking over the Commercial Insurance Division if Regency Insurance Brokers. Regency had a long track record and I was very careful to keep that intact and to retain the existing staff.

Now, after a period of bedding in and developing our new web site www.regencybrokers.co.uk we are ready to expand the services we offer and I am very excited to have two such experienced new members of staff coming on board.

Rob Marsh, Group MD commented “This is a very exciting acquisition for us and we have been working with the company for the last 18 months which has provided us with a good working knowledge of the business and it’s customers.”

The Weston-super-mare offices and the Commercial team are important to our companies expansion plans and with the Leisure industry being a growing sector for Marsh and Co, this provides an ideal platform into the South West and coastal areas.

We will be concentrating on continuing the highest levels of personal service locally for the existing and new clients with the added benefit of being part of Marsh and Company and its access for example to Brokerbility.

Whilst Marsh and Company is an independent business and the roots of the business is very much family orientated, as members and co-founders of Brokerbility this also provides the company with added negotiating power in the Market Place to offer clients the best possible premiums with the widest cover

The recommendations were made by an investigation into the biggest ever farm E. coli outbreak.

More than 90 people were struck down by the potentially fatal 0157 strain of the bug at Surrey’s Godstone Farm last year.

The inquiry criticised the farm’s procedures and the reaction of the regulatory agencies.
The farm was not closed until a month after the first case.

During this time tens of thousands of people would have passed through it.

The probe was ordered by the Health Protection Agency, which itself was criticised for its “lack of leadership” during the peak school holiday season in August and September.

The assessment of risk by the farm was inadequate as it primarily relied on visitors washing their hands, the inquiry said.

It suggested all children’s farms do more to minimise the risk of visitors coming into contact with animal dung.

Professor Mark Stevens of the Institute for Animal health explains what is E.coli 0157
Indeed experts said it was very likely that the outbreak could have been avoided if more attention had been paid to preventing visitors being exposed to animal waste.

The report welcomed moves that have already been proposed to develop an industry-wide code of practice.

But the experts were scathing about the response of public health officials from both local government and the Health Protection Agency.

It said delays meant an opportunity was missed to restrict the size of the outbreak.

A total of 93 people were affected – 76 of whom were children under the age of 10.

Legal action

Some of those are still ill with kidney damage and a group of parents is preparing to launch legal action for damages.

The inquiry has been led by Professor George Griffin, an expert in infectious disease from St George’s, University of London.

He said: “There will undoubtedly be a continuation of the trend towards diversification of farms and particularly in the number of open farms with public access.

“In the context of what happened at Godstone a new framework for the future which is explicit and unambiguous is clearly needed.”

E. coli 0157 bacteria cause diarrhoea and can lead to kidney failure, especially in young children.
After the outbreak, the head of the HPA, Justin McCracken, telephoned some of the parents affected to apologise for the delays in acting.

Since last year’s outbreak, the rules on E. coli 0157 have changed, making some of its symptoms notify able in the way smallpox or measles are. Doctors now have to notify the relevant authorities if they detect signs of the infection.

The farm is now open again.

Marsh & Company Ltd

Following the official announcement of Marsh & Company as the appointed approved Insurance Brokers to NFAN in the last Autumn Newsletter.

Marsh & Company are continuing to build their presence in the NFAN Membership including their MD Paul Nash being one of the Judges in the NFAN Attraction of The Year.

The Scheme is proving of great interest with many members new and existing transferring to the scheme and welcoming the innovative approach and personal service of Marsh & Company.

In addition Marsh & Company also have a unique breadth of products including Directors and Officers Liability when in this ever litigated market place is going down very well with the members.

This covers wrongful acts committed by any Director and Officers or Senior Managers of the company and in particular covers the issue such as breaches of Health and Safety. Premiums for this cover now can be placed for £250 per annum which gives peace of mind for any business but particular those with visitor attractions.

Marsh & Company also have unique extension for Loss of Revenue under the Policy which includes closure of the premises by a competent Authority.

With the ongoing work by NFAN and the pending new Code of Practice for E-Coli we are confident this extension in cover will be of a particular benefit to the NFAN Insurance Scheme.

Marsh & Company offer a visit to discuss the insurance requirements of the NFAN Members and in addition to property and liability insurances there service also includes:

• Commercial Vehicle
• Private Car
• Motor Fleet
• Directors and Officers Liability
• Engineering
• Household
• Healthcare

The pavillion at the 104-year old attraction which was completely destroyed in the fire, remains out-of-bounds as investigators look to establish the cause.

A spokesperson for the pier said “The owners feel it is important to open the landward end of the pier for business as a mark of their determination to rebuild the pavillion to be bigger and better than ever”.

A police cordon has been established around the damaged end of the pier while work gets underway to ensure the safety of both the fire investigators and the public. Independent Insurance Brokers, Marsh and Company attended the scene promptly with Loss Adjusters within 24 hours.

Derek Gray has joined the Leicester based-firm from Norwich Union Insurance as a dedicated business account executive to provide a ‘Broker ON-Site Underwriting Service’ (BONUS) for the company – a service designed to provide speedier quotations and claim handling for clients.

Marsh & Company’s long-standing association and successful trading with Norwich Union Insurance has enabled the BONUS facility to be established.

Derek will be located at Marsh & Company’s Upper King Street offices and his onsite availability will further enhance the services for new and existing clients by providing a direct link to Norwich Union Insurance’s underwriting facility.

Rob Marsh, Marsh and Company managing director, said:

We are really pleased to welcome Derek to our offices. With 30 years’ experience and direct access to Norwich Union’s products, he will help us to improve the quality of service we are providing to all our clients.

A Leicester independent insurance broker has received 100 enquiries from people worried about the effect of the terror alert on travel insurance.

Marsh and Company of Upper King Street, which specialises in travel insurance, is advising clients to check their policies before taking valuables abroad.

Airlines have banned passengers currently from carrying electrical equipment in hand luggage since the terror alert.

Marsh & Company managing director Rob Marsh comments: “A standard travel insurance policy normally covers the loss and damage of items when in the care of the policy holder. This doesn’t include items that are relinquished into the care of a carrier when placed in a suitcase and checked in.”

He adds: “We are advising holidaymakers to carefully check the wording of their travel policies and also their household insurance before taking valuables abroad. Most household policies can include a risk extension that provides 60 days’ world wide cover for all valuables no matter where they are kept, with higher single article limits that that of a travel policy.”

People with enquiries about travel insurance can call Valerie Whiteman at Marsh & Company on 0116 204 3400.

Specialist property insurance broker Marsh & Company found insuring against risk was at the bottom of property owners’ and tenants’ scale of priorities – until something goes wrong.

Managing director Rob Marsh says: “Many property owners and tenants think ‘it will never happen to me’, but it does.”

He adds: “Modern property ownership and tenancy is now a minefield of possible risks. Terrorism, health and safety, failure to meet managing agents’ fees, the possible breakdown of crucial electrical items, including lifts, and litigation against directors and officers – it’s not just about protecting against fire and theft.”

Insurers now offer enhancements in addition to standard buildings and contents cover, but Mr Marsh advises both owners and tenants to consult a broker to make sure they are risk aware, fully covered and get the best value insurance package rather than just the cheapest possible premium with inadequate cover.

The survey also found that provincial commercial property owners and tenants do not see terrorism as a threat. Only one in ten take out extra cover to protect against it, with this figure failing to increase following the July 7 terrorist attacks.

An MI5 publication, Protecting Against Terrorism, urges individuals and companies to consult their insurance broker to ensure that they have adequate insurance to cover against terrorist threats.

Mr Marsh comments: “Terrorism is a real threat, yet for the provinces terrorism is regarded as a big city issue.”

Changes in the nature of residential property have also prompted insurers to offer new policies.

An increase in high-rise accommodation and the development of new communities has led to an increase in the number of management or residents’ associations.

The trend towards no-win-no-fee litigation is making it easier for individuals to take legal action against directors and officers of these associations, whose responsibility has increased due to right to manage legislation.

Mr Marsh comments: “It is essential that directors and officers in these kinds of organisations protect themselves and their associations.”

He adds: “No two property owners or tenants have the same needs so using a broker who can provide tailor made policies is a must, to ensure that you are paying for a policy that covers your specific needs. Property insurance may be the lowest of owners’ and tenants’ concerns – until they need it, but it is too late then to make it a priority.”

For further information on how to protect your private or commercial property, telephone Marsh & Company on 0116 204 3400.