June, 2010
Too fat to travel by plane
A 32 stone man has been refused permission to fly from Gatwick to Toronto because his 52inch waist meant that he was too fat to fly. The cabin crew escorted him off the aircraft because he could not lower his armrest for the take off, as required by the safety regulations. He was told that the only way he could fly was to buy two tickets.
A spokesman for the airline said “ the armrest would not go down and separate him from the lady beside him – and he was taking up more than a third of her seat.
The National Obesity Forum said “the overweight passenger should really be offered the next flight that has spare seats available or be upgraded to a wider seat”
It seems that if you are very overweight you should check with the airline to avoid embarrassment.
Obesity can increase the risk of medical problems. Make sure you have appropriate travel insurance cover and advise your insurers of any pre-existing medical conditions.
If you are looking for annual travel insurance or single trip travel insurance then contact Click4quote for a quote.
Landlord prosecuted for safety offences
A landlord with a rental property in High Wycombe has been fined £6,700 for six offences relating to his management of a house in multiple occupation.
The offences covered:
• Failing to display fire escape notices
• Defective drainage system
• Unsafe electrics
• Unsafe structure in garden
• Failing to display landlord’s contact details at the property
The prosecution was brought by the local authority environmental health team and followed verbal and written warnings. The landlord pleaded guilty.
Wycombe District Council said: “ In most cases responsible landlords work with us to ensure that the properties they rent out are safe. Regrettably in some instances landlords take no remedial action and tenants lives are even put at risk.”
As well as complying with safety laws, landlords should make sure they have suitable landlord insurance for let properties. Landlord legal expenses insurance is often available to protect against disputes and prosecutions.
If you are a landlord you should protect yourself and your investment with insurance cover. Cheap landlord insurance is available from Click4quote.com with associated legal cover giving up to £50,000 cover for legal fees if you are prosecuted under certain regulations.
Older people pay too much for travel insurance?
A study by Which? suggests that the older you get the worse deal you receive on travel insurance. They quote the example of one insurer where a 74 year old would pay £324 more for his annual travel policy as soon as he turns 75. In another case they have found a single trip policy costing £57 for a 69 year old that would cost the same person £86 if he was one year older.
Travel insurers have responded by saying that this is not age discrimination but simply that older make more claims. The message for everyone is simple; you must shop around before arranging your holiday cover. Different insurers charge different prices right up and down the age scale. It may also be worth your while buying your policy just before rather than after a birthday.
Another area where travel insurance providers differ is in their attitude to pre-existing medical problems. You may have to complete a screening questionnaire so do not leave it to the last minute to arrange your insurance.
Let us know your thoughts on the above:
Are you over 65 and think you should be paying less for your insurance cover?
Would you be prepared to pay more for your car insurance if age criteria was banned from product rating?
Sailing on holiday? Check your travel insurance
Sailing, at first thought, does not cause that much trouble if you are planning to do it on holiday or as a holiday trip. It’s not like you are hang gliding or rick climbing is it?! When it comes to travel insurance it is important to be aware of the need for specialist sailing travel insurance. Why?
Standard travel insurance will normally only cover sailing in national waters which is fine if you are only out for a few hours and not planning on going far, but for those people who like to hire or sail their own boat as a holiday from country to country standard insurance will normally exclude that activity.
Sailing travel insurance from Click4quote.com is a specialist policy aimed at people who enjoy a passion for sailing and other nautical pursuits, being suitable for people going on yachting holidays, longer sea voyages and even working as yacht crew.
With this sailing insurance you may sail in international waters and even take part in amateur racing. The wording is very similar to a standard type of travel policy and even covers you for your standard holidays and weekend city breaks during the year if you purchase annual cover.
Liability cover is excluded in connection with waterbourne craft as this should be covered under the boat insurance, however you do have liability cover for normal holiday activities involving waterbourne craft such as sailboards, surfboards, canoes, rowing dinghies, foot or hand propelled paddle boats and inflatable sailing dinghies.
So remember, if you are thinking of sailing in international waters purchase specialist insurance cover as standard cover might leave you short when it comes to claiming.
New website to help landlords’ with gas safety
The health and Safety Executive has just launched a new website covering landlords’ obligations under the gas safety rules. Landlords with gas on their premises should check: www.hse.gov.uk/gas/landlords.
The site is easy to use and contains all the information you need in one place. The sections cover items like maintenance, gas checks, and record keeping. There are something like 6 million rental properties in the UK with getting on for 14 million people living in them. Each year some landlords fall foul of the gas safety rules and end up facing fines or even imprisonment.
Landlords also need to comply with the electrical safety rules. As many as 30 people are killed each year in accidents involving electricity so this is too important a risk to leave to chance. Landlords of furnished properties need to be aware of the regulations covering furniture and furnishings.
Landlord insurance will usually have an optional extra such as landlords’ legal fees insurance to cover your legal fees if you are prosecuted under the safety rules regulation. If you are a landlord not only should you buy landlord insurance to protect your investment but you should consider all of the additional add-ons that are available such as legal fee cover.
Surveyors see rising rents for landlords
According to the RICS (26th May 2010) rents are now rising because of a shortage of rental properties.
In their residential letting survey the surveyors found that 30% more respondents reported rising rather than falling rents. The RICS believes that rents will carry on rising because of increasing demand for available properties. Jeremy leaf of RICS said:
“With sellers back in the market supply has fallen back in the lettings sector. This is good news for landlords”.
The RICS is concerned that the proposed rise in CGT will have an impact on the housing market as owners sell up to beat the deadline. Their spokesman said “The prospect of higher CGT on the sale of property may in the near term encourage some landlords to take advantage of the current more benign tax regime.”
This could lead to a significant number of property being put up for sale, which may be good news for landlords not selling as rents would be likely to rise further due to lack of supply.
But this influx of property for sale could see the value of existing landlords portfolios fall as the numbers of property for sale outweighs buyer enquiries leading to lower sale prices – however this should only be a short term issue
It seems there are some tough choices to be made in the short term before and after the budget is announced. Let us know your thoughts:
What would be a fair tax system for capital gains?
Would applying capital gains tax on rented properties for the first 10 years only be a sensible solution and stop short term landlords entering the sector when prices are rising fast looking to make short term gains?
If you need landlord insurance contact click4quote.com or get a quote online. It is wise to protect your investments from major disasters and with our landlord insurance especially designed for landlords you can have piece of mind.
Buy to let – threats and opportunities
There is never a shortage of people giving opinions on the outlook for the property market. Serious property investors might take a look at the latest report from Datamonitor which covers the prospects for the buy to let sector. It points out various threats and weaknesses in the rental sector, on the negative side the possibility of FSA regulation and the lack of mortgage funding. The Financial Services Authority is proposing to regulate buy to let mortgages because it sees these as higher risk than loans to owner occupiers. Many feel this will add unnecessary red tape to the process of building up a portfolio of rental houses. Lack of mortgage funding is certainly an issue; the number of specialist loan products available has shrunk dramatically since before the credit crunch.
On the plus side Datamonitor point to growing demand as the population increases and more people cannot afford to buy a house or need the flexibility of a rental.
Does anyone have any experience of the market since the election?
What are your thoughts on more regulation?
Buy to let insurance is available from Click4quote.com. Designed for property owners our buy to let insurance is available to buy online or over the phone.
Bicycle thefts – lock it or lose it
Theft of bikes has increased dramatically in the last couple of decades with an estimated 500,000 bikes being stolen in the UK each year. The combined value of these is probably well in excess of £10 million. London is the hotspot for bicycle theft but cities like Cambridge and Oxford also have more than their fair share.
More than half of all thefts take place when the bike is in or very near to the owner’s home; in a shed or garage for example. A few precautions will reduce the chance of your bicycle being stolen and improve your chances of making a successful claim on your home insurance:
- Always lock your shed or garage if your bike is inside
- If you are out with your bike only let it out of your sight if is locked to an immoveable object with a high quality lock
- Keep a note of the serial number and the original purchase receipt
- Mark the bike with an ultraviolet pen
- Keep some photos of your bike
Your homeowner insurance will probably only cover your bike if you have declared it to the insurers so make sure you are properly covered and aware of the insurers’ requirements. You should also consider the cover given under any holiday home insurance cover which may differ.
For a competitive home insurance or holiday home insurance quote contact click4quote on 08450 89 90 91 or 01206 771 755.