These championships seek to provide opportunities for the upcoming equine stars of the future and comprise a series of qualifying events across the country from May to August for 4 and 5 year old horses culminating in the finals at Osberton International Horse Trials in Nottinghamshire between 29^th September and 2^nd October.

Osberton will also host 6 and 7 year old championship classes at CIC* and CCI** level respectively.

This will represent our fourth year sponsoring these championships and the third year that they will be held at Osberton. We are dedicated to our partnership with British Eventing to ensure these championships continue to provide a stepping stone for young event horses and, in some cases, their riders.

With many staff sharing an equine background and as a business with three dedicated equine offices, we understand the effort that is involved in producing young horses. We can offer specialist expertise in all equine related insurance matters, whether that be horse, yard or house insurance.

For further information and advice contact either Jonny McIrvine or Anna Bates on 01638 676 700 or by email on jonny.mcirvine@lycetts.co.uk or anna.bates@lycetts.co.uk.

To download your own PDF version, visit the Financial Services section of this site by clicking the link below and via the Tax Tables tab you can access the downloadable file.

Lycetts Financial Services

For further information and advice, please contact Nick Straker on 0191 232 1151 or email nick.straker@lycetts.co.uk.

This is not the case where contractors are used, and many businesses now employ a range of firms covering the spectrum from major building companies to self employed tractor drivers or maintenance men. As bona-fide contractors running their own business, they should carry their own liability insurance and this should be checked by you, as the customer, at the outset of any new contract. Where the same contractor is used on a continuing basis, the insurance cover should be checked annually.

When checking, it is important to be certain that the liability cover extends to include the activities to be undertaken. For example, the existence of public liability cover for a farm will not automatically cover contract spraying for a neighbour, unless the schedule of cover specifically includes this activity.

The reverse is of course also true. If you carry out work as a contractor, even on a limited basis, your public liability insurer should be informed.

Many building contracts have specific insuring clauses and when builders are working on your property, insurers should always be informed before the contract is signed. It is also recommended that checks are conducted so as to ensure that policy terms are not breached and, most importantly, that Contract Works cover limits are not exceeded.

Where an individual is engaged on a full time basis, but is treated as self employed purely for the purposes of PAYE, they will be treated by insurers as an employee. This means that their wages should be included in your annual declaration, and an appropriate premium will be charged. By doing this, not only will the correct employers’ liability insurance be in place, but your public liability cover will extend to include any claims arising from the actions of the self employed person.

For further information or advice in respect of liability related insurance issues, please contact William Barne on 0845 671 899 or by email on william.barne@lycetts.co.uk.

Property owners who have precious metal items such as jewellery or ornaments amongst their contents should call in a professional to re-evaluate the items to avoid the possibility of being under insured in the event of a claim. Lycetts can recommend suitable valuers, often at discounted rates.

There is an increasing risk that the levels of cover for many households’ contents is essentially out of date, specifically so given that the prices of gold and platinum have shot up over the last two years.

In turn, the intrinsic value of most items of jewellery containing gold and platinum has risen significantly. Such small items which are made of, or contain, a precious metal or stone are often easy to steal or lose. It is all the more important to conduct a re-evaluation, although that could also work the other way with regards to fluctuating values of household goods.

For example, it may be that furniture items and paintings are too highly valued and there is no point policy holders overpaying their premium.

It is probably more important than ever that insurers are given as full a brief as possible on properties and their contents given the fluctuations in the cost of such important commodities.

Lycetts organises house and contents insurance policies to provide bespoke cover for homeowners, for further information and advice, please contact Jonathan Lloyd by email on jonathan.lloyd@lycetts.co.uk or by telephone on 0207 423 0900.

A Relevant Life Policy is a single life plan, taken out on the life of an employee by an employer to provide death in service benefits. Relevant Life Policy plans are designed for individual members who may require life cover over and above that of the main company scheme already available to them or, where the number of employees is too low for a company group scheme.

What does this mean to you? If you are one of the following, we can help:

• Relevant Life Policy Plans are a must for directors of their own company.  Why pay for life cover yourself, when you can get your company to fund it?
• High-earning employees who have substantial pension funds and do not want their death in service benefits to form part of their lifetime allowance.
• Small businesses that do not have enough eligible employees to warrant a group life scheme.

Why take out a Relevant Life Policy?

The company can make the payments, usually as an allowable deduction without them being treated as a benefit in kind, which means:

• Payments are treated as a business expense and are likely to be an allowable deduction against Corporation Tax for the employer.
• No liability for the employer or employee to National Insurance.
• No liability for the employee to Income Tax.
• Benefits paid tax free to the nominated beneficiaries.
• These payments do not form part of an individual’s annual or lifetime allowance.

 For further information and advice, please contact Linda Wheatley on 0191 232 1151 or email linda.wheatley@lycetts.co.uk.

The Energy Now Expo is a two day event designed to bring together farmers and landowners to help them understand the opportunities available in renewable energy.

Lycetts representatives will be available at stand 101 to discuss any delegate’s insurance requirements from domestic/farm-based biogas and micro hydro-electric schemes to wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and large scale biogas projects. We have extensive insurance experience in this sector and will be delighted to discuss the insurance needs of anybody involved in the development of renewable energy projects, from inception to completion through to ongoing operations.

For further information, please contact Colin Sadler on 0191 232 1151 or colin.sadler@lycetts.co.uk.

With the recent boom in solar panels there have been instances where they are lifted by the wind and in the most serious case can actually take part of the roof with them. You must be aware of the implications if these energy saving devices cause damage. Also, it is important to let your insurance broker know if you have renewable energy methods installed so that you do not run the risk of a financially crippling repair bill.

Given the cost to install solar panels, it would be a huge shame if they are damaged by the weather and the original investment cannot be returned.

The situation can be avoided as long as property owners keep their insurance broker informed of any alterations or additions of this nature.

For further information or advice, please contact Colin Sadler on 0191 2321151 or by email at colin.sadler@lycetts.co.uk

However, this means that the value you insure your tools and equipment for should represent the cost of replacing the equipment as new.   If these values are not adequate, this could affect the amount insurers pay out.

You should make regular inventories of all your equipment taking into account any new equipment that has been purchased and the ever increasing value of arboricultural/forestry equipment, because the value originally provided to insurers may no longer be adequate to buy a replacement.

Beware that not all insurers provide cover on a new for old basis and will make deductions from any claims for wear and tear depending on the age of the equipment.  You should check with your insurance broker for clarification.

For further information or advice for tree surgeon, forestry and arboriculture insurance, please contact Steve Lewis on 01483 489 291 or by email on steve.lewis@lycetts.co.uk.

For clarity, pension contributions paid in the 2011/12 tax year have a new maximum annual allowance of £50,000.  In addition, it is possible to pay (carry forward) the difference between £50,000 and what was actually paid for the three tax years from 2008/09.

However, you do need to have sufficient earnings for the tax year during which you utilise carry forward, to make the full contribution.  For example, if you had available carry forward of £75,000, you would need to have earnings of at least £75,000 in the tax year of payment. Moreover, you can only claim back tax that you have paid, based on the current tax year.

Please let us now if you would like to consider making an additional pension contribution to take advantage of this enhanced relief.

For further information either contact your usual adviser or Jan Farnworth on 0191 2321151 or by email jan.farnworth@lycetts.co.uk

Worst affected by snow damage have been traditional steadings and more modern structures featuring wide spans and shallow pitches.

To date industry reaction to such events has been to treat them as a “one-off”, but with the last two winters producing such conditions can this continue? Insurers must be prepared to accept extreme one-off events as part and parcel of their business, but if it looks like such conditions may become the norm, the situation will need to be reassessed by both insurers and the insured.

Experience has shown that once the snow comes there is little that can be safely done to prevent the inevitable. Very few farms and estates have the appropriate machinery to clear roofs, and in freezing temperatures the time and effort involved in completing any task is multiplied. Possibly the time has come to push preventive measures to the fore such as:

·    Implementation of  a structured maintenance programme looking at both the building itself, the way it has been erected  and ancillaries such as guttering and downpipes;
·    Keeping a log to remind you of what needs doing and when;
·    When it snows making regular checks of roofs and ensuring  drainage systems are free of ice;
·    Understanding the snow load design of your buildings;
·    Getting livestock and machinery out when worried;
·    Making contingency plans in case the worst happens to allow your  business to continue to operate;
·    Introducing measures such as trace heating systems which can go a long way towards mitigating the impact of such events.

Insurers, having paid out millions in claims, will understandably be considering ways to mitigate their exposure. Taking a closer look at the design and condition of buildings before offering the storm cover under which weight of snow claims are made, may be a starting point.

For further information and advice about farm and estate property insurance, please contact William Barne on 0131 225 9119 or by email william.barne@lycetts.co.uk.