I have heard all too many policyholders over the years complain that their insurers settle claims way too easily. They feel that no attempt is made by insurers to defend what they often refer to as bogus claims.

Let me tell you that claims will be strenuously defended if insurers have been provided with evidence of genuine value. So what evidence can there be? Well I'm sure that you will agree that if an incident happens in your shop then they must rely on you to provide the necessary evidence.

It is incredibly difficult to show any tolerance of offenders and maintaining personal emotional control is a challenge to say the least. It is quite clear that there are persons willing to take advantage of this fact by deliberately provoking retailers and their staff to accusing them of shoplifting in the knowledge that they could potentially be awarded damages which could cost as much as €22,000!

I want to again remind you that cover is provided under the Public Liability section of your Shop Insurance for such claims but you must remember to report any such incident to your insurer immediately.

I’ve heard this said by some of my retail friends over the years and I know that they really believe that they have carried out staff training based upon many years of experience working in retail.

Unfortunately, such conversations have come from those who have had a claim brought against them by a staff member and when I ask the following poignant two questions I have to tell them that the absence of appropriate training records leaves them with little if any defence.

Did you know that approximately one third of your insurance premium goes to pay for your Public Liability Insurance cover?

The highest claims cost under Shop Insurance is by a long way slips and trips.

The perception of "it's a try on!" is widespread but unfortunately frequently untrue. In the vast majority of cases they are accidents that could have been avoided.

Are you aware that you are legally required to have a Safety Statement? If you fail to have one, you will seriously jeopardize any potential defense you might have against legal action from an employee or customer seeking compensation for any injury that they allege occurred on your premises.

We have encountered retailers who have addressed this issue. Some have paid a considerable fee to "consultants" who have produced stereotypical binders which find their way into the drawer of a remote filing cabinet which seldom sees' the light of day!