Turn traction control OFF

When driving in snow, traction control looks for grip and if the roads are slippery, power is limited to the engine. This makes pulling away more difficult.

Clear your car properly

We’ve all been there – being in a rush to get to work and forgetting to clear your car roof of snow. Many people don’t realise this is actually illegal and can result in a fine! Prevent snow from falling off your roof onto your windscreen (or somebody else’s) before leaving home. Clear ice from the whole of your windscreen – not just a hole for you to see through, as well as your side and rear windows, front and rear lights, door mirrors, number plates and parking cameras. Use de-icer or a scraper – never hot water! The temperature difference can crack your windows.

Don’t stop

Momentum is key – starting your car in the snow is the hardest part. Driving slowly, smoothly and sensibly whilst stopping as infrequently as you can prevent delays and make your journey safer.

Pack the essentials

In extreme conditions, it’s a good idea to pack supplies for the worst-case scenario. Bring food, water, warm clothing, a shovel, de-icer and a torch in case your car gets stuck in the snow. Ensure you have a full tank of fuel, so you can run the engine to keep warm if you stop and don’t forget to listen to road updates before your journey, so you can plan the safest route.

Check your tyre treads

Always check your tyre tread depths and ensure to have at least 3mm of tread on them, to cope with the slippery conditions. Alternatively, a set of winter tyres will improve grip and traction in ice and snow. This can have a huge impact on your insurance claim should you have an accident in bad conditions.

Use the correct lights

Fog lamps should only be used if visibility is very poor – they can dazzle other road users, which can be intensified if there is spray from melted snow coming out from the rear of your car or white snow on the road is reflecting the light back up at them.

Keep your distance

It can take a car 10 times longer to stop on an icy road than it does in normal conditions. Leave a 20-second gap between the car in front of you to give yourself time to stop or avoid a collision.

How to deal with skidding

If your car hits a patch of ice and you feel the car skidding, take your foot off the accelerator to allow the speed to drop by itself until you regain control. Brakes will encourage the car to skid further, so avoid using them and steer into the direction of the skid to straighten the car.

If you’re concerned about your car or business insurance for the winter months, contact our Risk Solutions team at info@cowensgroup.co.uk.

The post Driving in Winter Weather: Cowens’ Essential Guide appeared first on Cowens.

 Here, our Risk Advisor, Simon Fabian, gives his advice on how employers can ensure their team members stay safe whilst driving this Christmas.

“Driving for work is the most dangerous activity most employees ever undertake. In fact, employees who drive on business are more likely to be killed at work than those employed as deep-sea divers or coal miners! There are hundreds of thousands of injuries on the roads every year and literally millions of collisions that result in expensive damage to vehicles and property.  A conservative estimate is that a third of these are thought to involve drivers who were at work, and almost all are avoidable.

Although driving carries risks throughout the year, the increase of drink driving makes the festive period the most dangerous time on the roads, with three times as many people caught driving under the influence during the month of December than at any other time.

The good news is that the vast majority of people wouldn’t dream of getting behind the wheel straight after a few drinks, but the next morning can be a very different story. With gifts to buy, people to see and work to get to the day after a party, many people are hopping into their cars with alcohol still in their bloodstream, putting themselves and others at risk.

Although Police check points over recent years have seen a huge crack down on ‘morning-after’ drivers, there is still a long way to go.

Travelling to work is one of the largest causes of drink driving over the Christmas period. Often workers are required to entertain clients and customers at various events throughout the season and may feel as though they have no option but to drive to work the following day. Employers need to be instrumental in promoting road safety within their teams by minimising any driving the day after work Christmas parties. The simplest solution is to ensure your employees do not need to leave the house the next day; hold your party on a Friday or Saturday night, give your staff a work-from-home day or set a much later start the day after a party to provide as much time for recovery as possible.

Businesses owners can also make their employees’ safety a priority by providing transport to and from parties, as well as to and from work the next day, if a weekend do is not an option.

Another way of promoting safe driving within a business is with the use of technology. The road safety charity, Brake, has a free ‘Morning After’ app which roughly calculates when you may be able to drive again after a night of drinking alcohol by inputting your drink count, although this does not take your age, sex, weight or height into consideration.

The organisation states: “The app provides a rough estimate and there is no effective way to estimate the level of alcohol in your blood by counting the units of alcohol you drink, as alcohol is absorbed at different rates depending on factors including: height, weight, tiredness, stress levels, and how much and how recently you have eaten. The only way to ensure you’re safe to drive is to not drink any alcohol.”

 Bear in mind, there is nothing you can do to speed up the process of alcohol leaving your bloodstream; cold showers, coffee and even a good old bacon sandwich won’t make it safer to drive. The Police can stop a driver if they suspect they have been drinking, they have committed a traffic offence, they have been involved in a road traffic accident (even if they were not at fault) or even for a very minor traffic violation such as not signalling, and usually breathalyse everyone involved, as a matter of routine. Drivers may feel completely fine, but if they are pulled over for even the slightest driving infraction, breathalysed and found to be a little over the limit, the penalties can be devastating.

Without a licence, many employees would simply not be able to work, resulting in financial hardships and tough calls for employers who may rely on a driving workforce. But losing a licence is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to penalties; you can be fined £2,500 or more and receive up to three months in prison for getting behind a wheel whilst over the limit. With thousands of casualties every year from drink driving, getting in the car the morning after a party simply isn’t worth the risk.”

For more information on the risks of drink driving and how to avoid it, visit the Drink Aware website: https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/information-about-alcohol/alcohol-and-the-law/drink-driving/drink-driving-penalties

To reduce the risks within your business, get in touch with our expert Risk Solutions team on info@cowensgroup.co.uk.

The post Knowing Your Limits: Driving Advice for Employers This Season appeared first on Cowens.

According to recent Gov.UK reports, four in ten businesses reported having cybersecurity breaches with an estimated of over £10,000 in the previous year Despite these figures, fewer businesses are deploying security monitoring tools, meaning they are less aware of breaches or attacks their businesses might face. Cybercrime is far more likely to be committed against SME businesses among business groups, and as the world becomes more interconnected, cyber-crimes against SME businesses are rising.

GDPR has woken many businesses up to the risks of cyber-crime and their responsibilities in this arena. This is not just about your reputation and livelihood; it is also about protecting your employees, customers and clients as well.

Unfortunately, this is likely to be an area of growing concern and highlights the need for adequate safeguards/controls and a Cyber Liability Insurance policy.

Cowens Survival Capability and Risk Solutions recommend that on a basic premise, you should:

Prepare a data breach plan with step-by-step actions to take
Rehearse the plan with all employees
Designate who is responsible for what during a breach
Regularly circulate and update the plan, so senior staff are familiar with it.

Cowens can help you create your cyber plan, implement it and monitor it.

If you would like to know more about the products and services currently available please contact us.

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2021/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2021
2. https://www.csoonline.com/article/3440069/uk-cybersecurity-statistics-you-need-to-know.html

The post Cyber Crime – Are you protected? appeared first on Cowens.

Edward Hamilton comments- “This is the process of convincing a victim to willingly send money to a Hacker using very, VERY convincing conversation.

I have personally had experience of three friends in the last few months who were on the verge of losing money to these types of attacks and whilst it is most likely you will get a call from these hackers as a home user, the benefit of this advice does also carry over to your work. I am not attempting to scare with the following points, but these hackers are professional and organised. So please pay attention on these brief guidelines to stop you becoming their next victim:

• If in ANY doubt when someone calls you from a Bank or Internet Service Provider or Software Company, hang up and call them directly using a previously known number. Even if you were expecting a call from that company. This is the same advice as don’t reply to a suspicious email, just use existing contact details you already trust. If the Hacker calls you back, do the same thing again – Call the company directly or get advice from your local trusted IT Manager. Just to note, you will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft – tell them you will alert the police and to not call back.

• No-one and I mean NO-ONE that you do not trust implicitly, will EVER ask you to download and run a file on your Computer. If they do, do NOT do it. This allows the hacker full access to your computer. Once that happens, literally everything you access is now compromised. Once you realise what has happened, you will (or should) spend the next few days changing the passwords on literally everything. And your online identity is also now at risk and you have now been added to a list of targets that is shared amongst criminals. You can then expect more calls of a similar nature.

• There are various, very clever ways of convincing you the caller is legitimate. This is called Social Engineering and several very switched on individuals I know, have been caught out.

• If you pay these criminals, in most cases you will not be able to recover the payment from the bank because ‘you’ paid them and the money was not stolen.

• So – you get a call, you think it is legitimate. You allow them to run some stuff on your PC. At some point you think – this does not feel right. You must immediately kill your internet connection. Simplest way is to turn off your main router. That will buy you some time to speak to your bank to freeze your account but you must act quickly. It becomes a race against time to stop money disappearing from your online bank accounts and remove access to critical things like your email account. Your computer must also be checked for any surreptitious software before it is allowed back onto the internet.

If you are a business and are concerned about your cyber risks, please contact Cowens on 01623 649931 or info@cowensgroup.co.uk

Cowens- Insuring your future today…Ensuring your future tomorrow

The post How to spot Social Engineering- An interview with Edward Hamilton, Cowens IT Manager appeared first on Cowens.

In light of HMRC’s recent warning against fraudsters using email, text and even social media to scam money from unsuspecting taxpayers, it’s never been more important to ensure you have the right policy in place to cover all eventualities.

Many people don’t realise this type of incident is actually covered under a crime insurance policy. It covers real money rather than a cyber policy aimed at losing data and subsequent associated costs. This is where it becomes confusing and an easy mistake to make when the criminals have used cyberspace to facilitate their fraud.

Karl Sutcliffe, Broking Director at Cowens Survival Capability, commented: “Almost all of us have received a scam HMRC ‘tax rebate’ or something similar and businesses are no different. Scam phone calls and emails come through to some businesses on almost a daily basis containing fraudulent invoices, requests for bank details or cheque signing. These operations are well-thought-out and extremely convincing.

“In cases such as the HMRC scams, where actual money is moved from an account, crime insurance is essential. We’ve noticed a surprising number of businesses who believe their cyber policy will fully cover theft of this type, but sadly it isn’t the case. The good news is that a crime insurance policy can be easily added to your commercial programme, and the premiums are tailored to individual risks – we ensure all clients understand the difference in cover and that they have in place exactly what they need as these scams become increasingly widespread and professional.”

Some cyber policies offer a crime extension, but this still may not cover a business for all eventualities. CEO at Cowens, Paul Chaplin, said: “The issue with crime extensions on cyber policies is that the cover is often quite a lot narrower, even in cyberspace. Some extensions only cover pure electronic theft; therefore, if the insured is involved in any way – for example, if they open an attachment or transfer the money to the criminal, there is no cover at all. It’s also essential to remember that a cyber policy will not cover theft by an employee or a face-to-face trick, and a simple crime extension won’t cover the vast majority of standalone crimes. I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to have a competent insurance broker who understands the differences in cover.”

Karl continued: “In cases like the HMRC scams and similar, your employees can be your biggest weakness. I’ve seen a business lose thousands because a scam was sent to a busy employee who wasn’t briefed properly or wasn’t paying attention! Start with communication and strategy; every staff member should receive step-by-step training on what to do if they believe they are at risk and should know who to report any concerns to. Businesses should put a whistle-blowingCrime concept.

Procedure in place – your IT Manager must alert your Financial Director of any suspicious activity, for example, and appropriate action is taken.

“Businesses should have a minimum two-step authentication process on all payments and quarterly fraud risk assessments across the whole business. You should work together with your insurance broker and bank to ensure all precautions are in place, as this will ensure your insurer will assist and settle any claims should the worse still happen.

“Finally, remember if something seems too good to be true, it usually is! Always encourage staff to be vigilant, put precautions in place and together with a tailored commercial crime policy, the potential impact on the business will be significantly reduced.”

For more information on putting a crime insurance policy in place for your business or assessing your other insurance requirements, contact Cowens on: info@cowensgroup.co.uk.

The post Confusion Between Cyber & Crime Insurance Puts Businesses at Risk appeared first on Cowens.

The legal requirement for fire door maintenance

According to the Fire Safety Order, all fire-rated doors must be correctly installed and properly maintained. Failure to adhere to this legal obligation means that your doors will be considered unfit for purpose, and you have breached the safety order. This could lead to prosecution or the closure of your building. Please visit the Fire Door Inspection Scheme for more information on ensuring your door complies with the regulation.

Checks need to be conducted every six months.

Fire door maintenance doesn’t have to be daily, but you should plan to conduct an inspection every six months or once a quarter in a newly occupied building. If it’s a busy building where fire doors are regularly used, it is good practice to check for damages weekly. Remember to keep inspection records and encourage staff to report any issues.

Checking a fire door and frameset

When conducting an inspection, ensure the job is carried out thoroughly to comply with regulations. This involves ensuring the gap between the door frame, and the door is right, and the seals are not damaged. The gap around the door frame should be about 3-4mm all the way around. Ideally, a pound coin can be used to check the gap around the door. Also, the signage should be correct, and the transfer grille should be free of blockage. Check that the smoke seals are in good condition and fit the entire length of the door whilst being secure in the groove. If seals are incorrectly fitted or damaged, they should be replaced with the same size and intumescent material that was specified originally. If smoke seals have to be replaced, these should be fitted in a continuous length if possible.

Fixing Found Faults

If your inspection reveals that your fire doors need repairing, then you should do it as soon as possible. Ensure that any replaced components are compatible with the door and the right tools were used to conduct repairs. If you are unsure of any components, check your fire door certificate data sheet or contact the manufacturer. When checking for faults, ensure that your fire door is in a fully closed position and the door seals are correctly in the door frame when not in use. To check this

• Open the door fully and check that it closes without dragging across the floor
• Open the door to approximately 5 – 10 degrees wide and check that it properly closes, engaging any seal or latch.
• The door closing speed should be five seconds from a 90-degree angle, ensuring that it does not slam shut.
• Hinges should be screwed firmly into the door frame with no visible marks, wear or stains around the hinge knuckle.

• If you have multiple fire doors, it might be a good idea to buy a digital force gauge that helps you to identify the opening and closing forces.

Certification

Fire doors should meet the British Standard EN 12519 and be marked and certified tested by the British Woodworking Federation (BWF). This label should be placed at the top of the door or just below the door set hinge. The label should not be painted over or tampered with as it invalidates its certification. If the label is damaged, contact the manufacturer immediately.

For guidance on a number of risk management subjects along with our comprehensive Fire Door Guide, which gives further information on the specification and maintenance of Fire Doors, subscribe to our newsletter.

The post Five principles to maintaining a fire door appeared first on Cowens.