Author: TL Dallas News

Our Credit Insurance team welcome new members

Bringing a total of 30 years’ experience to the company, Jonathan Grant and Sandie Cater-Wright join our Credit Insurance team in Bradford’s headquarters. The appointments follow a period of growth we’ve seen in this division, which is expected to continue into 2022.

Joining from Bibby as a Trade Credit Account Handler, Sandie brings extensive experience working in banking and insurance roles and will support our Account Executives locally. Jonathan  joined the team as an Account Executive, having previously worked on a number of large portfolio clients at Aon.

The appointments continue the positive momentum for our company, following the launch of Dallas Wilding Drew, the company’s first North Yorkshire office, in Settle earlier this year, and Dallas Scott Davey Ltd more recently in Lincolnshire.

Jonathan Smith, Strategic Director of Trade Credit and Surety at TL Dallas, said: “After witnessing significant income growth across the company, we’re delighted to welcome Sandie and Jonathan to the Trade Credit division.

“Their expertise and approach will be significant assets to the TL Dallas offering and will help us to further support clients ranging from SMEs to large corporates. In the current climate it is more important than ever for companies to protect their Balance Sheet and Trade Credit insurance assists with this through both insurance and good debtor management ”

Simon Hyde, Director of Trade Credit and Surety, added: “After celebrating our centenary in 2019, TL Dallas continues to go from strength to strength, cementing our position as a top ten specialist broker in the market, and one of the leading independents nationally.

“We expect this period of growth to continue well into next year and are currently on the look-out for further new team members who will help us to maintain our excellent reputation.”

If you’re looking for Trade Credit support or are interested in hearing about available roles at TL Dallas, please get in touch: info@tldallas.com.

 

Fundraising in the Shetlands

Our Shetland team have been clocking up the miles to raise over £2,500 for a range of good causes over the past three months.

A team of five in the Shetland branch chalked up almost 600 miles between them to raise £845 for local mental health charity Mind Your Head’s “July jaunt” challenge.

Associate Director Ruth Newbold raised a further £285 for Alzheimer’s Scotland. She took part in the charity’s annual “memory walk” while staying in Sandness in September.

Meanwhile, staff member Lynne Deyell covered 26 miles in as many days during August to raise £170 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

“So many lives are turned upside down by this horrific disease and the Macmillan cancer team work tirelessly to provide every kind of support for those going through it,” Lynne said.

‘Between those three efforts a total of £1,300 was raised, which as a company we have matched, to give a total of £2,600.

The Shetland team have previously contributed to fundraising for the aforementioned charities, along with CRUK Relay for Life, the MRI scanner appeal and Dogs Against Drugs.

Ruth Newbold commented “I am very proud of our achievements pre-lockdown as part of our centenary celebrations and delighted to have got off to a good start once things started opening up again this year. I would also like to thank all our friends, family and clients who support us so generously.”

 

Art For Youth North returns this week

One of the North’s leading contemporary art exhibitions, Art For Youth North, returns this week.

Art for Youth North is held every two years, providing a unique one-off opportunity to view and buy some of the North’s biggest names in contemporary art, including many Yorkshire-based artists. 33% of every piece sold goes to UK Youth, the largest national body and a leading charity for the youth sector.

We’re delighted to offer our support to this great event and cause, along with other businesses from around the region including JM Finn, Strutt & Parker, Richard Grafton Interiors, Himalayan Garden Sculpture Park, Bishopdale Group, Elstob & Elstob, The Search Partnership, Fordy Marshall, House of Townend, Owens Professional and Rougemont. 

Our Managing Director Polly Staveley commented “TL Dallas are delighted to support the return of this fantastic contemporary art show, which we have sponsored for many years. It is a great opportunity to support a fabulous cause while enjoying and maybe purchasing some art. Art sales of over £25,000 have already been made in the first 2 days, of which a whopping 33% goes directly to the charity – they hope this figure will increase over the week.”

Organiser Victoria Hunt stated “Art for Youth North is valuable in so many ways and we would urge anyone with a love of art to call in. Not only does it raise much needed funds for the national charity UK Youth but it also supports many Northern Artists. All our artists are always really excited to be exhibiting but especially this year, as the pandemic closed so many doors for them. Young people are more in need of our help than ever and UK Youth has a range of programmes running throughout the country (including Yorkshire and the North East) that support our youth.”

With contributions from over 70 artists and displaying over 750 individual pieces, it has something for everyone from paintings, etchings and photographs to sculpture and ceramics and with prices ranging from £20 to £4000.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, it is held daily from Tuesday 26th October to Saturday 30th October at St Mary’s School, Topcliffe near Thirsk,
A wide range of the region’s artists are on show including Ian Burke, Rob Shaw, Katrine Furness, Emerson Mays, Lottie Mcateer and Susan Dugdale.

For timings and details on all exhibiting artists click here. 

 

Our Mind 600 mile challenge


This month, we are taking on the MIND 600 Mile challenge, and teams from our Scottish and English offices are pitching themselves against each other in a great North – South challenge, to see who can rack up the most miles in September for this great charity.

Mind in Bradford are a fantastic charity, who champion better mental health for all. The funding they raise allows them to support people experiencing a mental health problem in the Bradford area. This is more important than ever this year, as the pandemic has seen a rise in poor mental wellbeing throughout the UK, with one in four suffering in their life time. Last year Mind in Bradford supported more than 3,000 people, and with help from fundraising events like this, they hope to reach even more.

The Scottish team consists of Ruth & Lynne from our Shetland office, Manjit, Jamie, Iwona, Graham and Bernard from our Glasgow office, as well as Avril from our Falkirk office.

The English team includes Polly, Jeremy, Jonathan G, Jonathan H, Simon, Sarah, Ben, Sue Y and Susan S from our Bradford office, and Sue B from our Honley office.

If you’d like to support in any way, please go through to our JustGiving page.

TLD Traipsers raise £845 for charity

We’re so proud of our TLD Traipsers who have raised £845 for charity in aid of Mind Your Head.

The TL Dallas Shetland team clocked up mileage in the first ever Shetland July Jaunt challenge this summer, personal distances for which are below.

Ruth Newbold – 98 miles
Richard Newbold – 157 miles
Fiona Reid – 80 miles
Joanne Goudie – 84 miles
Rory Irvine – 85 miles
Lynne Preacher – 83 miles

The team totalled an incredible 587 miles – a massive achievement for all involved.

Green Card Regulation Changes in the EU

Following Brexit and the decision to leave the European Union (EU), since 1 January 2021 a valid Green Card has been required for all UK registered vehicles and trailers travelling to the European Economic Area (EEA).

From 2nd August 2021, the European Commission has agreed that the UK are now able to participate in the “Green Card Free Circulation Area” (GCFCA) – all 30 European Economic Area (EEA) countries as well as Andorra, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Switzerland – removing the need to carry physical Green Cards for all vehicles from the UK who are entering these countries.

Although welcome news, there may be a transition period for the members countries to implement the changes, particularly at borders and ports, and consequently some insurers will continue to issue Green Cards at policyholders’ request for the next few months.

If you intend to use your vehicle overseas in the GCFCA area and would like a Green Card, please get in touch with your usual TL Dallas representative.

 

Charlie Wood bags a first team spot with Bradford City

Charlie Wood, son of one of TL Dallas’ Associate Directors, has been signed to Bradford City’s first team.

Wood, 18, has been described as a rising star of the Bantams, which saw him welcomed into Derek Adams’ first-team at just 18, ahead of the 2021/22 season.

Wood plays attack midfielder and he made his first-team debut in claret and amber back in November. Here’s what he has to say about his experience so far…

“This is a great achievement for me, and is what I have been working towards for a long time. Now, the hard work continues. I have got to kick on from here and progress in the game. I have really enjoyed playing in the under-18s team, and feel I have developed a lot since starting my scholarship. Training and playing with the first team last season was a really good experience, and was the first step towards what I want to achieve. I was happy to have made my debut and, hopefully, I can earn some more appearances and kick on next year.”

Bantams boss Derek Adams said “We are really pleased to have been able to tie […] young talents down on professional contracts, and are looking forward to seeing how they further develop. For Charlie, it is a great opportunity for him to further his development after gaining his first professional contract.”

As sponsors of Bradford City AFC we’re so proud to see one of the family joining the first team at just 18 years old. Congratulations Charlie!

Your business, your IT and cyber insurance

Cyber risks might not be high on most contractors list of concerns, but how well would your business function without access to your IT systems and records? With increasing reliance on IT, many contractors would grind to a halt.

One of the main benefits of Cyber insurance is 24/7 access to the insurers specialist experts who can advise on and help with responding to, containing and resolving incidents in both a prompt and cost effective manor. After all you will still have the normal day to day pressures of running your business.

It is a fact that in the UK, cyber incidents are rising at a substantial rate as hackers continue to explore ways of damaging businesses and IT systems. Currently in the UK one small business is being successfully hacked every 19 seconds and around 65,000 attempts to hack small to medium sized businesses occur in the UK every day (circa 4,500 of which are successful)*1.

Suspicious e-mails, websites and links are now a common occurrence especially with more internet usage, and computer companies are continually trying to find various ways to minimise or prevent them affecting your critical business systems.

So what happens to your business if you become affected by:

  • A ransomware attack,
  • A virus attack,
  • A hacker accessing your system(s) and releasing customers and staff data causing you to suffer a data breach,
  • A social engineering incident (the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes).

Will you throw away your computer(s) and purchase new ones? If you do will the hacker still be inside your system continuing to cause damage to your business as well as enticing or damaging your customers IT?

Will you contact your IT support or maintenance company? If so will they be able to clear/fix everything and repair all the damage? How much will this cost your business? Will they assist you with any data breaches? Will they help you if a client or customer is being affected by your hacked systems?

Will your bank reimburse you for any funds lost?

How about mobile phones? They can also be affected by cyber incidents. Will your mobile phone company help?

It is really worth thinking about your business and how it could be affected by a cyber incident and what protections your business has in place to minimise and prevent such incidents. Education and training are also important, not just for you, but for any staff too.

How about looking at and reviewing Cyber Insurance?

Insurers are very aware of how businesses can be affected by cyber crime and now offer very good competitive packages to help in the event of a cyber incident. Annual Cyber Insurance is not expensive, with premiums in the £100’s, and can provide:

  • Specialist Incident Response Team to help and guide you with a cyber incident;
  • Privacy and Security Liability Costs;
  • Media Liability Costs;
  • Costs in respect of Regulatory Proceedings;
  • Privacy Breach Notification;
  • Costs for Computer and Legal Experts;
  • Public Relations Costs;
  • Cyber Extortion;
  • Data Restoration;
  • Business Interruption loss of income including System Failure, Voluntary Shutdown and Non-functional Equipment and
  • Other Additional Benefits such as Computer Fraud, Telecommunications Fraud, Funds Transfer Fraud, Social Engineering Fraud, Vendor/Client Fraud, Betterment Costs, Reputational Harm and Accounting Costs.

It is worth your business investing a small time now reviewing Cyber Insurance. Hackers certainly will be thinking and spending time on how to overcome businesses systems.

If you are interested in Cyber Insurance, please call our team below for free insurance advice and a no obligation quotation.

Mark Clements 0207 426 5347

Jeremy Burnham 01274 465 589

Lindy Deanus 0207 426 5335

*1 Statistic information taken from website – https://www.csoonline.com/article/3440069/uk-cybersecurity-statistics-you-need-toknow.html

Recent fund raising success

After what has been a very difficult year for many charities we are delighted to have kick started our fund raising again with two great team efforts. We would like to say a huge thanks to the TL Dallas team members who took part, raising over £3,800 for our chosen charities. 

The first challenge saw 3 of our Scottish team climb “The Arrochar Alps” in one day, raising over £1,100 for MIND charity. This consists of climbing 1 Corbett and 2 Munros. The hills are The Cobbler (Corbett), and Beinn Narnain and Beinn Ime.

Thank you Douglas Lapsley, Conor Russell and Jamie Coskry!

The second challenge was the Yorkshire Total Warrior course – involving a gruelling 12k course with 25 obstacles including the ‘The Human BBQ’ and ‘The Shocker’.

Nine members of the Bradford team completed the challenge in support of the TLD Charitable Trust and raised in excess of £2,700.

Thank you Marcus Kelly, Tim Mortimer, Flloyd de Sousa, Lizzy Tyler, Mark Adams, Matt Smith, Pippa Davies, Claire Humphries and Sarah Aldridge!

Raw material values predicted to soar

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (www.rics.org) in recent articles has highlighted the increasing costs of construction. “Insulation, aggregates, timber and timber products, steel as well as shortages of building materials, higher costs of transport, energy and labour costs/availability remain among the key cost pressures”.

It is also widely reported in the media about the rising cost of goods, generally.

This has an impact on property insurance and the need to ensure that your buildings, contents, machinery etc sums insured remain adequate. Most sums insured are subject to a Condition of Average which has the potential to restrict the amount an insurer will pay in the event of a claim.

It is therefore essential that sums insured are maintained at an adequate level at all times.

In light of the increasing costs we recommend that all our Clients review their sums insured. Please do let your usual contact know if any alterations are required.

If necessary we will recommend the services of a professional valuer.

 

Season sponsor of Burley in Wharfedale Cricket Club

 

At TL Dallas, we are delighted to help support a local community cricket club by sponsoring the Burley in Wharfedale Under 13’s for the 2021 season.

Burley play in the Airedale & Wharfedale Junior League on Friday evenings and the club have a full junior section for all ages, starting with All Stars (5-8 year olds) up to Under 18’s. Go well for the season Burley!

 

We’re proud to announce our North Yorkshire office launch

Our new division is headed by experienced duo Simon Drew and Mark Wilding, Dallas Wilding Drew has opened its first office in Settle, North Yorkshire.

The pair have a combined total of more than 50 years of corporate insurance, personal insurance, and risk management experience between them.

As part of the wider TL Dallas group, Dallas Wilding Drew has the capability to offer a wide range of insurance services for both businesses and individuals. 

The new operation will service customers in the local area and further afield, utilising TL Dallas’s size and scale across its extensive UK office network.

Tim Mortimer, Commercial Managing Director at Bradford-headquartered TL Dallas, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Mark and Simon to the TL Dallas group. They are both first rate operators with extensive knowledge, experience and networks, and will provide valuable services to the local community.

“The opening of our new North Yorkshire office is in line with our strategy of attracting high quality individuals and expanding our footprint to help us achieve our growth aspirations. 

“This move means we can continue to offer our clients the best service possible through our independent operating model.”

Simon Drew said: “Our focus as trusted advisers is to deliver the best value for money that we can for our clients across general commercial and corporate insurance.

“We have exciting plans for growth and Mark and I are looking forward to delivering on this as part of the TL Dallas family.”

Mark Wilding added: “Both Simon and I have been given an incredible opportunity to build a business with TL Dallas under the Dallas Wilding Drew brand. 

“We had been exploring opportunities to launch a venture together and following conversations with the TL Dallas board, the Dallas Wilding Drew proposition evolved.

“We are delighted to be part of such a successful group whose values are aligned with our own, and we’re looking forward to celebrating many successes together over the coming years.”  

Mark and Simon previously worked together at Marsh Commercial. 

 

 

The TL Dallas family take on Total Warrior

We’re proud of our brave team members in Bradford, who will be taking part in this year’s Great Northern Mud Run for Total Warrior.

In 2019, to celebrate our centenary year, we successfully raised over £100,000 for the TL Dallas Charitable Trust, supporting a number of charities close to our hearts.

The pandemic has had a significant impact on our charity partners and, with this in mind, a group of hardy and (not so) athletic members of the TL Dallas family will take on the Total Warrior challenge on Saturday 10th July 2021 at Bramham Park, Wetherby.

Total Warrior is a gruelling 12k extreme endurance race with 25 obstacles including mud, water and even electric shocks! For more info, please visit their website here. 

As a business, we’ve covered the costs so every penny donated will go to our chosen charities.

Any donation, large or small, will be gratefully received – don’t delay, donate today – JustGiving!

TL Dallas participants: Matt Smith, Marcus Kelly, Polly Staveley, Rebecca Stockdill, Lizzy Tyler, Sarah Aldridge, Mark Adams, Pippa Davis, Flloyd DeSousa, Tim Mortimer, Claire Humphries

 

Hard Market – What does it mean for you?

Insurance Market Update

The insurance market has undergone a significant transformation since 2018 with increasingly difficult market conditions experienced across most classes of insurance and no signs of the situation easing in the short term. 

But what is the cause of the ‘hard market’ and what can be done to minimise the impact?

 

What has caused  the hard market?

The traditional insurance cycle of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ market conditions has changed in recent years and since the early 2000’s we have experienced an unusually long ‘soft’ period of trading – an abundance of insurer capacity resulting in increased competition, broad insurer appetite for risk and lower premiums.    However, recently a combination of various factors has impacted insurers including:

  • Severe losses caused by UK based storms and flooding
  • Increased scrutiny of historical construction materials (composite panels, Grenfell etc)

Changes to the Ogden Discount Rate – changes to the way severe injury compensation claims are calculated – as well as general claims inflation

  • the increased burden of regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority
  • lower investment income returns putting more pressure on underwriting profitability
  • increased reinsurance costs impacted by a number of global factors such as catastrophe losses and political uncertainty
  • The implementation of Solvency II, legislation which requires insurers to hold larger capital reserves, consequently making it more difficult for new entrants to the market
  • The impact of Covid 19 on the industry – the widely accepted estimate of the negative impact of the pandemic was around £4bn


What should I expect from a hard market?

The hard market will include some of or a combination of:

  • Significant increases in premiums – this could range from double digit increases to multiples of premium
  • Increased policy excesses and reductions in limits being offered
  • Reduced number of insurers willing to quote as some withdraw from certain sectors
  • Less flexibility and more restricted risk acceptance criteria from insurers
  • A reduction in the level of service provided by insurers as a result of referrals and quote activity.

 

What can you do to assist?

  • For Corporate clients begin the renewal process early, at least three months before renewal date – decide on your strategy with your broker. It is definitely not in your interest to get multiple insurers / brokers involved – a targeted approach with your current broker and potentially one other is the best approach.
  • Provide as much risk information as possible, for example premises construction and security details, Health & Safety policies and procedures and highlight other risk management features
  • Budget realistically

 

What can TL Dallas do to help?

TL Dallas expect these difficult market conditions to continue for the foreseeable future.  However, we continue to be pro-active, seeking the most favourable terms for clients based on extensive market knowledge and strong insurer relationships, meaning we continue to be best placed to help clients weather a hardened market for the short, medium and long term.

Feel free to contact one of our account executives for an exploratory conversation regarding your requirements.

 

Join our Trade Credit team in Yorkshire

Who We Are

TL Dallas & Co is one of the UKs leading independent corporate risk and insurance advisers, with 10 offices, in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Our Trade Credit business continues to grow, with 15 professional across our Yorkshire & Scottish offices and we are looking to strengthen our Yorkshire team

The Opportunity

We have an opening for an experienced Trade Credit Account Handler in our Bradford team, the role supports Account Executives in the day to day management of their credit insurance portfolios. The successful candidate should have at least 2 years experience and be able to work well in a team and in a customer facing role.

The Package

We offer a generous salary and flexible benefits package, including life insurance, an attractive pension scheme after successful completion of your probationary period, and our annual leave entitlement is 27 days per annum plus public holidays.

TL Dallas & Co has a proud history as an independent business now in its 4th generation, always forward-looking, and a fantastic team, with our clients and staff at the heart of our 4 key values of Trust, Collaboration, Integrity & Commitment.

Please send your CV and / or any queries to Jonathan Smith, Strategic Director, Trade Credit & Surety.

Jonathan.Smith@tldallas.com

 

 

 

Join our Glasgow Team

Who We Are

TL Dallas & Co is one of the UKs leading independent corporate risk and insurance advisers, with 10 offices, in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Our Scottish business continues to grow, with offices in Glasgow, Falkirk, Edinburgh and Lerwick, which embraces our corporate risk & insurance broking, trade credit, and risk due diligence practices.
We are therefore looking to strengthen further its Glasgow commercial team, by the appointment of an experienced account handler.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic account handler to support our corporate and commercial clients on all aspects of their insurance programmes, across a range of industrial sectors (incl Property,Construction,Manufacturing, Logistics, Technology, Life Sciences, Precision Engineering, Investment Management and Professional Services).
You will be part of an experienced team that shares knowledge with each other, and importantly, we keep learning from each other.

The Package

We offer a generous salary and flexible benefits package, including life insurance, an attractive pension scheme after successful completion of your probationary period, and our annual leave entitlement is 27 days per annum plus public holidays.

TL Dallas & Co has a proud history as an independent business now in its 4th generation, always forward-looking, and a fantastic team, with our clients and staff at the heart of our 4 key values of Trust, Collaboration, Integrity & Commitment.

Please contact Bernard Dunn, Client Director, TL Dallas (Scotland) for an informal chat.

Bernard.dunn@tldallas.com
Tel: Mob — 07881 815359 / Office — 0141 204 0300

 

How to recognise when it’s time to review your policy

Training and accreditations seem to be the bane of most Demolition Contractors lives. Do your insurers know how much time, money and effort you invest in training and accreditations?

In these pressing times for all businesses, have you reviewed your Liability and other insurance requirements? Does your current insurance broker just ask you for your updated wages and turnover figures each year?

It is more important now than ever before that your insurance requirements are reviewed in detail and you need an insurance broker who understands the Demolition industry and takes the time to find out more than just the basics about you.

They can then translate to your insurers, representing your company in an honest and professional way in order to obtain the best possible terms and insurance policy that meet your needs.

If the above sounds familiar, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does your broker take the time to understand your business and to work with you to ensure your insurance requirements are met through regular communication, regular reviews?

2. Are they working in your best interests, not just at renewal but throughout your annual policy?

3. Does your insurer know how your business operates? How are you different from any other Demolition Contractor?

Without this and other supporting information you are not receiving the most comprehensive and cost effective insurance for your business.

To find out more about the services and support we can offer you please contact a member of our team. 

 

TL Dallas Charity Donations for 2020

2020 has been a challenging year for many businesses and individuals, with many charities suffering from smaller donations and a lack of fundraising from events.

As such, we’ve made the decision to donate the budget we usually spend on our annual calendars to local charities, chosen by our people.

£7,000 will be put into the TL Dallas Fundraising Trust, which will be shared by Mind Bradford, Alzheimer Scotland, Candlelighters, British Heart Foundation and some smaller charities close to the hearts of our staff.  

 

Concerns rise as fires in Ford Transit vans pose safety risks

Our friends at QBE Insurance have alerted us to some issues they have seen with Ford Transit Vans. 

We thought it was serious enough to pass on to our clients, full details of which are in the article below. Good Risk Management is key to reducing losses, so if you have any of the models listed please ensure you make a risk assessment and let your drivers know.  

 

The purpose of this guidance is to raise awareness for employers and employees of the safety concerns and risk of cab fires occurring on Ford Transit vans (known models to date include Mk6, 7 and 8 versions, within a date range from 2010 to present date). QBE has not seen any reported issues with 2020 Mk9 models.

The main vehicle battery is housed under the driver’s seat in a plastic casing with a plastic lid, over this is a metal clamp to secure all. Depending on model type, standard vehicles will have just the one main battery, whereas higher spec vehicles carrying out heavy work require extra battery capacity for either tail lifts or winches and hydraulics etc, these will have two batteries.

The driver’s seat has to be removed to change the battery. It would appear that after completion of maintenance work on the battery, the casing is not always replaced. We are aware of a number of recent incidents where the user of the vehicle has placed a spray canister behind their seat (normally for road marking purposes), the canister has touched the battery, created an arc and then exploded. This arc could happen with any metal item which may come into contact with the battery terminals, so it’s important that this issue is discussed with drivers/workers to raise awareness and prevent the risk of this happening.

In most of these recent cases the vehicles were either unoccupied or stationary, and luckily injury was avoided, however during the most recent incident the spray canister exploded whilst the driver and passenger were travelling at 40 mph. They described hearing a loud bang and were instantly engulfed in flames, whilst trying to safely bring the vehicle to a stop and avoid colliding with oncoming traffic. They both suffered severe burns.
On completion of forensic tests, it was discovered that the road marking canisters contain butane, so you see how important it is that these can do not come into contact with the battery.

Each of these incidents have been forensically examined and the main causes are:

• At some point, all the vehicles in question had maintenance work or the fitting of aftermarket equipment, either by the customer or a third party that required the removal or work on the vehicle’s battery these being located under the driver’s seat. Forensic examination highlights the recurring problem persists where the battery isn’t refitted correctly with all terminal covers being left off, exposing the positive and negative terminals of the battery.

• The exposure of the battery terminals on their own doesn’t create the problem, the issue is compounded however when vehicle users store items behind the driver’s seat – in the recent examples, the offending objects being large line marking aerosol cans.

• It is important to note that this is not a design fault. If the vehicle battery and cover are refitted as the vehicle manufacturer intended, then there should be no issues. Drivers/workers need to be informed to help prevent this problem in the future.

We would like to raise awareness of this safety concern, which could be a threat to life. Please ensure you review your operating procedures and policies and inform employees who drive company vehicles, to ensure suitable risk controls are in place to prevent dangerous incidents of this nature happening in the future.

Get in touch via info@tldallas.com if you have any questions or concerns on the above.

 

 

Brexit – Green Card Requirements Update

The UK’s transition period after Brexit comes to an end on 31st December 2020. In the event there is no agreement which is increasingly likely, it is expected that there will be a legal requirement to carry a physical Green Card when driving in Europe. Please note that for clients based in Northern Ireland in particular, Green Cards will be required to drive into the Republic of Ireland.

For more information please refer to our Brexit – Motor Insurance Important Information for clients document, available here.

In the event it does become a legal requirement and should you need to drive your vehicle(s) outside the UK after 31st December 2020, please contact us at least 5 working days prior to your departure or, complete a Green Card Request Form, available here, and return this to your usual TL Dallas contact.

TL Dallas are here to help and should you have any questions or need more information, please get in touch with us directly.

You should also note that an International Driving Permit may also be needed and details can be obtained from the www.gov.uk or the www.postoffice.co.uk websites