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28th January 2021
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Market conditions prompt insurance cover changes
The insurance companies that provide the ConsumerCare and ConsumerCare plus insurance products to the Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom Specialists Association has reviewed its offer in light of market conditions and a new policy has been issued to all members effective from 19th October.
"The insurance market is a very different place from when we first improved our insurance cover from deposit protection only to CCP in 2006," reports KBSA CEO Graham Ball.
"We have seen significantly fewer failures amongst KBB members than other KBB retailers - only 2% compared to an industry norm of 13% - but our insurance providers were badly hit by the collapse of William Ball and this together with a review of their risk in the KBB market has led to this decision."
The KBSA insurance premium has risen by almost 40% and while it still includes deposit protection, work in progress and a six year workmanship warranty, the value covered is now capped at 50% rather than the 100% which was covered previously.
Graham believes that the new offer is still the best available in the marketplace for specialist retailers and stresses the importance of KBSA members being able to offer additional peace of mind alongside the security of the KBSA badge.
"The KBSA badge has always given the consumer assurance that they are dealing with a reputable retailer," he says. "The new insurance offer will enable members to continue to offer additional peace of mind for a very small price relative to the cost of the project.
"On a typical project of £15,000 the cost of cover still only represents 0.2%, of the total contract value."
Newly elected national chair Martin Thomas says: "KBSA membership has always represented great value for money and still does. The savings achievable on the business benefits alone can be greater than the annual fee but in recent months we have introduced a new range of commercial benefits from our corporate members that offer substantial financial savings and have proved to be extremely popular with our retail members.
"There is no doubt that trading conditions will remain tough for some time to come but current market conditions do offer opportunities for the specialist retailer. The media is constantly advising consumers to spend rather than save because of low levels of interest on savings and that investing in home improvements is a good long term investment.
"We are providing our members with the tools and support to exploit this and make the most of the likely increased sales over the next three months as consumers bring forward their spending plans to beat the VAT increases."
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15th October 2010