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Insurance That Gives Back

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Boshers Insurance is headed by Jason Jackson, who has worked in the insurance industry for 36 years. Jason is an avid history fan and enjoys travelling both abroad and within the UK. Before taking on the role of running Boshers Insurance, he worked for Lloyd & Whyte’s Specialist Broking division, which he joined in 2021.

Lloyd & Whyte was established in 1946. Based in Taunton, Somerset, it now has offices throughout the UK. Over the years, it has expanded and grown into the Lloyd & Whyte Group, which owns multiple companies and brands providing specialist insurance.

Through rapid growth and the building of successful association partnerships (Lloyd & Whyte is the appointed insurance adviser for British Medical Association, British Veterinary Association, and British Dental Association members, to name but a few), it has kept its roots in the South West, priding itself on providing personalised service and tailored solutions to both individuals and businesses.

Lloyd & Whyte also has a wide range of personal insurance services that cover homeowners – from standard home insurance to thatched and listed character properties and high value homes.

 

Charitable Giving

Lloyd & Whyte is part of Benefact Group – a family of specialist financial services businesses driven by a shared mission to provide trusted advice, excellent service, and quality products to their clients. Benefact Group’s businesses also share the same purpose – to give all available profits to charities and good causes. Each time you arrange Holiday Home Insurance through us, the Benefact Group gives back to those who need a helping hand. You, as our client, are an integral part of this.

When we grow, we directly benefit others. We’re also the only specialist financial services business that gives back on the scale that we do. While people are motivated by different things, making a positive difference in the lives of others brings people together. It provides us with a purpose; something more meaningful. Discover who and how we help in our short film here:

 

 

Benefact Group | Past, Present and Future

Benefact Group has been giving to charities for over 135 years. Since 2014, it has given £200 million1 and aims to give £250 million by 2025.2 Out of 5.5 million companies nationwide, it is now the 3rd largest corporate donor in the UK.3

 

Choose a Charity. Champion a Cause.

You can give back through Benefact Group’s Movement for Good Awards. The awards are Benefact Group’s annual programme of giving which anyone can get involved in. This year they’ll be donating over £1 million to charities nominated by people like you. Through Movement for Good, you can nominate your favourite charity and give it a chance of winning £1,000 or £5,000. //movementforgood.com/#nominateACharity

 

The more we grow, the more we can give.

 

Visit www.benefactgroup.com to find out more.

If you are interested in discussing insurance for your holiday home, contact us today. We offer specialist holiday home insurance to holiday let and cottage complex owners across the UK. If you need an insurance quote for your holiday let call us on 01237 429444.

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THE 2 MINUTE FOUNDATION #2minutebeachclean

Boshers secures funding towards #2minutebeachclean `go-to’ litter pick app

THE 2 MINUTE FOUNDATION #2minutebeachcleanBoshers has donated its £3,750 grant from Ecclesiastical Insurance to The 2 Minute Foundation. The funding will help achieve their aims to see a world without plastic litter and pollution and to inspire people to change the way they interact with outdoor spaces.

Data is power

The grant will be used towards further development of the #2minutebeachclean mobile App to make it the ‘go-to’ litter pick app. Data is power, and statistics from the App facilitates The 2 Minute Foundation to pin point and hone in on certain areas, and make positive change and ultimately reducing the amount of single use plastic that enters our oceans.

Tens of thousands of #2minute volunteers regularly give their own time to clean our beaches

The 2 Minute Foundation now have well over 800 #2minutebeachclean #2minutestreetclean and #2minutelitterpick stations across the UK. They have successfully piloted a scheme to recruit and train a team of volunteer `guardian angels’ to help look after the stations and provide education, most recently starting a beach school. Tens of thousands of #2minute volunteers regularly give their own time to clean our beaches, streets and public places of single use plastic which would otherwise end up in the sea.

Mark Lavington, CEO of insurance intermediary, Boshers commented that, “With the kind help of Ecclesiastical’s Closer to You grant funding we are proud to have supported the charity since 2017. To date we have sponsored 15 beach clean stations, equipping them all with reusable beach clean bags and litter pickers. In addition, 2 volunteer `guardian angels’ have been trained and equipped to look after numerous beach clean stations and to do outreach work in their local communities. The 2 Minute Foundation has grown from strength to strength and we are so pleased to partner with the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group to help fund improvements to the #2minutebeachclean mobile App.”

Martin Dorey, founder and CEO of The 2 Minute Foundation explained that, “Data uploaded via the #2minutebeachclean mobile App by volunteers is crucial for understanding what’s going on in our oceans, to help identify patterns, from which we can create solutions to protect the marine environment. The continued support from Boshers and Ecclesiastical is invaluable, thank you!”

Closer to you support for #2minutebeachclean App

Holiday home insurance specialists, Boshers, applied for grant funding from Ecclesiastical Insurance Group’s ‘Closer to You’ charity support programme to be able to boost our support for The 2 Minute Foundation. This programme gives Ecclesiastical’s Select insurance broker partners the chance to be part of its ambition to give over £100million to good causes. As well as providing funding for charities close to brokers, employees from the specialist insurer are also teaming up with brokers for volunteering days and fundraising challenges.

Why not incorporate a #2minutebeachclean, #2minutestreetclean or #2minutelitterpick with your next walk? To find out more about the The 2 Minute Foundation visit: #2minutebeachclean | Home

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to holiday let and cottage complex owners across the UK. If you need an insurance quote for your holiday let call us on 01237 429444.

 

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Winter Risks Advice

Winter Risks Advice for property owners

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Winter risks advice for property owners – Our holiday home insurance and household insurance underwriters, Ecclesiastical have produced these useful Winter Risks Advice guides for property owners for us to share with you.

Winter Risks Advice

The extremely cold winters of the last few years have led to many businesses, let property, home and holiday home owners sustaining losses from burst pipes, weight of snow on roofs and ingress of water. With the weather once again turning decidedly chilly, now is the time for us to take action and protect our properties.

Last year our holiday home insurance and home insurance household scheme underwriters Ecclesiastical handled just under 2,000* burst pipe claims which caused considerable inconvenience to the property owner and cost an average of £3,627* each to put right. Unoccupied properties such as holiday cottages can be particularly at risk of very expensive claims during the winter months. A high proportion of the £50,000* plus claims last year occurred in properties where the owner was away for no more than a weekend break. There are a number of simple but effective steps property owners can take to both prevent and reduce the impact of cold weather on their properties.

These useful winter risks advice guides are full of hints and tips and are available to view, download and print:

For further information check out the following useful resources:

*Statistics from Ecclesiastical Household claims data, March 2011 – March 2012

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Boshers website as displayed on a range of devices

Boshers insurance all new web design, same friendly team

www.boshers.co.uk our Specialist Insurance Solutions website has had a major makeover.

Boshers insurance all new web design - same friendly team

Boshers insurance website as displayed on a range of devices

Boshers insurance has continued to develop it’s brand by launching a new website and integrating it’s popular blog. From our HQ in Devon, Boshers deliver specialist solutions for holiday home insurance, home insurance, let property insurance and business insurance to landlords and business owners across the UK. With emphasis always on trusted advice and the service that you deserve from your insurance broker, Boshers website is a facilitator to the broker client relationship and not a replacement for real time discussions. We still truly believe “it’s good to talk”!

www.boshers.co.uk is a portal to enhance your customer experience, a resource for useful guides and information about Boshers and how to contact us. The design and build of the new site was undertaken by digital design company DGTL.net who won the contract for their beyond the box approach and eye for detail. The brief included improving accessibility across a range of browsers and devices whilst pulling together all the best parts of our previous site and insurance blog. DGTL.net developed the site around Responsive Web Design, an approach that suggests website design should respond to the user’s behaviour and environment based on the device and browser used to surf the web.

Boshers new website is flexibly designed so we can change and develop the content to meet our customers needs. Please help us by viewing the site on your web enabled devices, whilst we have tested it thoroughly there are bound to be some gremlins. We welcome your feedback!

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Somerset County Gazette

Tragic death at holiday cottage near Porlock

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A holidaymaker died after a tragic accident at a holiday cottage near Porlock, an inquest has heard.

Somerset County Gazette

Angela Turnball from Bournemouth was 55 when she fell down stairs at a property on Horner Farm last year.

To read the full story `Tragic death at holiday cottage newar Porlock’ as reported by the Somerset County Gazette on the 3rd September 2012 visit their website here

This is an extremely sad story which we are bringing to the attention of holiday home owners via our holiday home insurance blog in the hope that similar accidents may be averted.

Guidance on making your holiday home safer for you and your guests can be found in our recent post:- Limiting the risks of slips and trips in your holiday home

For further information on UK holiday home insurance visit the website page most relevant to you:

Thank you for reading Tragic death at holiday cottage near Porlock.

For information on specialist insurance for commercially let UK holiday homes, cottages and apartments visit Boshers insurance website at www.boshers.co.uk/holiday-home-insurance

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Listed Holiday Home Insurance

Scared Of Listed Holiday Homes? – Not Us! – Listed Holiday Home Insurance

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Whether your heritage self-catering holiday let or holiday cottage letting complex is a Grade 1 or 2 Listed Building in England or Wales or a Grade A or B Listed Property in Scotland our listed holiday home insurance may meet your needs. In this post entitled Scared Of Listed Holiday Homes? – Not Us! – Listed Holiday Home Insurance we explore how we can help you with your listed holiday home insurance requirements. Subject to standard underwriting factors including post code area and property construction being acceptable we will endeavour to help.

Holiday Home Insurance for Listed Properties

Our Holiday Home Insurance policy includes extra cover. This additional cover includes an extension to meet the local authority conditions made under the Planning ( Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and amending legislation (or equivalent legislation in Scotland and Northern Ireland) following damage by any of the insurable events should these costs exceed the cover provided within the buildings  sum insured. Subject to a maximum payment under this extension of 20% of the sum insured. Costs are also included towards archaeological and rescue work that may be necessary following property damage.

Listed Holiday Home

Our holiday home insurance scheme is underwritten by Ecclesiastical who were the first UK insurer to offer bespoke heritage and listed building insurance and now insure more grade 1 listed buildings than any other insurance company. The benefit to you is that you can rest assured that in the event of an insured peril affecting your listed holiday home, together with Ecclesiastical we will have the expertise to understand your specific requirements as a listed buildings owner in the event of an insurance claim.

Treat yourself to an insurance quote for your listed holiday home!

You may find the following holiday home insurance articles of interest:

   

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C500 Key Safe

C500 – The UK’s first Police approved key safe

One benefit of our holiday home insurance policy is that the comprehensive cover provided to holiday home owners accommodates the use of Key Safes to make it more convenient for guest changeovers. All our underwriters ask is that you take sensible precautions such as those covered in our previous blog post, You, Your Holiday Home Insurance and Key Safes.

As part of our service to holiday home owners, we like to inform you of products, services, risk advice and legislative changes of interest to you as a furnished holiday let owner. Whilst we are not in a position to directly endorse the C500 key safe ourselves we were suitably impressed with it to warrant this blog, with the proviso that other key safes are available..

Read on for details of the C500 – The UK’s first Police approved key safe.

For your guests, gaining access into your holiday home is often a challenge. A key safe can provide immediate access for authorised visitors using a unique combination. This guarantees secure access 24/7, allowing visitors to arrive and depart whenever they need to. It’s why 86% of Local authorities use this method to deliver care into the homes of vulnerable people they support.

Police Approved – Key safe designs can vary greatly, not just in terms of looks but also levels of security.

Supra UK were concerned that some key safe products actually put people’s homes and vulnerable people at risk. This concern prompted Supra to carry out extensive market research to understand what customers wanted from a key safe. It highlighted that 80% of people said that the most important key safe accreditation was gaining Police approval. This was a tough challenge but essential to meet customer requirements.

Supra are absolutely delighted to announce that the Supra C500 KeySafe ™ has now achieved LPS (Loss Prevention Standard) 1175 level 1 security rating; this is the same level of security provided by a domestic front door. Gaining this independent security rating then enabled the C500 to be Police approved, through the Secured by Design (SbD) scheme.

This makes the C500 and only key safe on the UK market to be approved by the Police.

What experts think of the C500 KeySafe:

“Now that the C500 KeySafe has achieved LPS and; SbD accreditation this should be the only key safe that is specified – it is a very good product”

Peter Bennett, Thames Valley Police

“We have no hesitation in saying that out of the five key safe products evaluated, the Supra C500 is the only key safe worth considering.”

Dr. Kevin Doughty – Centre of Usable Home Technology (CUHTEC)

Supra are confident that the C500 KeySafe is the most attack resistant on the UK market. If you are in any doubt on the suitability of a particular key safe, please contact your local Crime Prevention Officer.

Find out more at www.keysafe.co.uk

Find out more about holiday home insurance from Boshers Ltd by clicking here.

C500 key safe | longer screws for rendered walls

Please note that with effect from September 2014 The Key Safe Company have made a small but important change to the installation fixings supplied with the C500 police approved key safe. They are now supplied with 60mm long self-tapping masonary screws, these longer screws are more suitable for fixing through rendered walls, negating the need to knock the render off of the wall before fixing. Find out more about the C500 improvements to key safe installation fixings.

Holiday home owners considering a key safe will also find this blog post of interest: You, Your Holiday Home Insurance and Key Safes.

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Seven Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting

UK Holiday home owners may find our latest email news bulletin of interest:

Seven Tips For Safe Holiday Home Letting 

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Boshers Ltd are moving offices

We are pleased to announce that we will be moving to newly refurbished purpose built offices on Monday the 22nd November 2010.  

Our new offices have extensive IT and phone sytems to further improve our efficiency and service standards.

That said, it is possible that our phone systems will be down for a time between 3:00pm and close of business at 5:00pm on Friday 19th November.  Apologies in advance for any inconvenience.

Our office opening hours remain unchanged, they are 8:30am until 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.

Please call us on 01237 429444 if we can be off assistance or visit https://www.boshers.co.uk/ for more information.

Our new address is: Boshers Ltd, 14 Habat Enterprise Park, Bideford, Devon, EX39 3HN 
  

We look forward to servicing the home, business, let property and 
holiday home insurance needs of our clients from our new location.
 
Find us here – Boshers Ltd on Google Maps
 
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BBQ Safety for holiday home owners

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BBQ Safety for holiday home owners. Barbecue summer or not, if you provide a BBQ for your guests to use at your holiday home you would be wise to give this consideration in your risk assessment and provide some safety guidelines for your guests.

You may wish to consider some of the following tips:

Many people are injured each year because they did not take a few simple safety measures. The following guidance will make sure that your barbecue is a SAFE success:

  • Ensure that the barbecue itself is stable and located on level ground
  • If there is a wind blowing, make sure that the wind is blowing away from you when you light the barbecue (just in case it flares up).
  • Ensure that you are not wearing any loose clothing that could flap onto the lighted barbecue and ignite.
  • Keep the barbecue well away from overhanging obstructions such as tree branches, and keep a safe distance from fences, etc.
  • Under no circumstances use any flammable accelerant (such as methylated spirits, paraffin or petrol) that has not been recommended by the manufacturers.
  • Should you choose to use lighting fluid, the manufacturer’s instructions must be adhered to.
  • DO NOT SPRAY THE LIQUID ONTO A LIGHTED BARBECUE.
  • When lighting the barbecue, do so at arms length (rather like Fireworks) and do not put your face over the range.
  • Keep children away from the barbecue when lighted and after cooking has finished, as it may still be hot.
  • Dispose of the charcoal safely after the barbecue has cooled completely.
  • Keep a bucket of water, sand or garden hose nearby in case of accidents.
  • Once lit, never leave a BBQ unattended.

Gas Barbecues

  • Always check the condition of all pipes and connections before lighting.
  • Make sure that the barbeque controls and cylinder are turned off fully before changing the cylinder.
  • If possible always change cylinder in the open.
  • Do not keep more spare cylinders than you require.

When you have finished with a bottled gas barbeque, turn off the gas cylinder before the barbeque controls, this ensures that any residual gas in the pipeline is used up.

  • If a gas leak is suspected check connections and pipes for leaks by brushing with soapy water and looking for bubbles. Tighten but do not over tighten joints. If unsure do not use and seek specialist advice.

Beware – many BBQ accidents and injuries have occurred as a result of drinking alcohol. Don’t cook and drink.

FOOD SAFETY HYGENE TIPS

  • Buy food from reputable suppliers and ensure it is fresh
  • Wash salads and raw vegetables well to remove surface contamination. Do not prepare these foods too far in advance.
  • Cleanliness is important – make sure you wash your hands thoroughly and keep them clean at all times
  • Thoroughly clean out the barbecue removing any food memories of last summer
  • Defrost meat and poultry before cooking them
  • Keep raw and cooked foods apart and use separate utensils for each to prevent the transfer of germs
  • Don’t add sauce or marinade to cooked food if it has already been used with raw meat
  • Never put cooked food on a plate or surface that has been used for raw meat.
  • Cook food one batch at a time
  • Keep all meats and perishable foods refrigerated until you are ready to use them . If food can’t be kept in a fridge then place them in a cool bag or box with ice packs.
  • Barbecue meat thoroughly until the juices run clear and no pink bits remain
  • Check food is piping hot before serving
  • Keep serving bowls covered to protect them from dust, insects and pets.
  • Eat food as soon as it is ready and throw away any leftovers.
  • Remember: Meat that is burnt on the outside does not mean that it is cooked on the inside. If possible pre-cook chicken and sausages then transfer straight to the barbecue for that barbecue taste. When you reheat food on the barbecue, always make sure it’s piping hot all the way through before serving.

For other informative articles check out these blog posts of interest to holiday home owners. They contain information and guidance to challenges faced by you whilst managing your holiday home, holiday cottage complex or holiday apartments.

For further information on UK holiday home insurance visit the website page most relevant to you:

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