Managing The Changing Risks During The Pandemic
Anton Hilton • 9 September 2020
Over the past several months, there have been some pretty drastic changes all around the world, thanks to the global pandemic, COVID-19. People are still confined in their homes in many parts of the world, and there are active quarantines to minimise the spread of the contagious disease. This pandemic has changed a lot of things, and have prepared people for the worst.
Among other things, people have now started to realise the importance of insurance. There have been thousands of deaths all around the world just because they were unable to afford the medical fees. Other than this, there have been losses suffered as tourists had no insurance and were affected by many issues in foreign countries. So, in order to prepare yourself better for the unexpected, like this pandemic, here is what you can do to manage the risks!
Get Health Insurance
If this global pandemic were not enough for you to get health insurance, nothing else would be. It is high time that you realise that when it comes to your safety and health, nothing else matters. It would be best if you insured your health so that when the worst comes, you are not out looking for financial support, but are worried about your well being.
Health insurance with Forum Insurance covers all the essentials you might need to safeguard yourself. You get the option to customise the package according to your needs, and for a very competitive premium. If you desire private treatment, doctors, and consultants, we will provide them to you. You will have complete peace of mind and have a dedicated account manager too!
Why Health Insurance?
Health insurance has way more benefits than most people realise. Changing lifestyles as you age have an effect on your health, making you more vulnerable to diseases and disorders. Rising levels of population, low quality of food, hectic work schedules, and several other factors take a toll on your health. Just to be on the safe side, health insurance protects you from the forever rising medical costs, so you don't have to spend your life savings on hospital bills.
You will have the top of the line insurers backing you up and providing you with professional private doctors and consultancy so they can treat you till you are healthy as ever!
Get Travel Insurance
Next up, you need to get some travel insurance. Whether you plan on going on a single trip every year, a journey every half year, or multiple trips a year, our travel insurance will have you protected at all times. During this pandemic, a lot of people who were on tour in foreign countries got ill or suffered other monetary damages, and they could do nothing about them.
If they had insurance, there would have been at least some monetary compensation for all the losses they suffered. All the flights that were cancelled, all the injuries that were suffered, all the belongings that were lost, would be a burden on the person alone. However, if they had travel insurance from competent insurers like Forum Insurance, they would have been compensated.
Why Travel Insurance?
Well, it would be easier explaining the benefits of travel insurance with an example. For instance, a man went to the USA and had a stroke. A claim of about £770,000 was paid for his emergency treatment, including £60,000 for an air ambulance that took him back to the United Kingdom. Now imagine if this man had no travel insurance. He would be stuck in a foreign state and would have had no choice but to spend his savings to pay the medical bills.
Now, considering the unexpected things that have happened all around the world in 2020, including threats for another World War, a global pandemic, and various other things, it would be best that you are insured if you plan on travelling different countries.
Conclusion
So, now that you know the two things that are a must after the COVID-19 situation, make sure that you make the right choice by choosing the best insurance brokers in the UK, such as Forum Insurance. We will make sure that you are given all the expert consultancy, and help you customise the plan according to your desires with highly competitive premiums!
Recent Posts
As we can now socialise with up to 6 family members and friends in outdoor spaces, including back gardens, a BBQ is a great way to have some fun with your favourite people whilst staying safe. However, there is now a bit more to think about with increased hygiene standards and social distancing crucial in preventing a second wave of the coronavirus. With the summer months well underway, we share how you can host a perfect BBQ. 1. Planning your space Planning your garden space and how people will move around your garden will help everyone to maintain social distancing. For example, you could create a one way system so that people can collect their food and navigate back to their seats with ease. Setting out a seating plan will also help to minimise movement and touching around your garden. 2. Hygiene Whilst this is already a must, ensuring that you wash your hands prior to preparing or handling food and utensils is crucial to reduce the risk of germs spreading. If you have hand sanitizer at home, have this available outdoors for your guests so that they can regularly keep their hands clean during their visit too. You could ask your guests to bring their own condiments and cutlery where possible too. 3. Food preparation Stick to having one person in charge of food preparation and BBQ'ing. Although there is minimal risk of any transmission from food or food packaging, this will ensure that touching is kept to a minimum. Making food preparations prior to guests arriving will allow you to prepare food calmly with no distractions. It will also ensure that you can spend as much of your valuable time catching up with your guests instead of in the kitchen. 4. Plating food Often at BBQs you may be used to having food in the middle of the table where people can help themselves. To reduce physical contact it is better for people to plate all of the food they would like onto their individual plate once food is ready so that there is less touching of surfaces and utensils. You could create a queuing system where people can use their own utensils to serve themselves, or you could plate the food up for them. This is especially important for foods such as dips and nibbles where you would usually share the packet. 5. Watch the booze! A couple of drinks at a BBQ is part of the fun for many. But after a few drinks people can tend to become lazy and forgetful; making social distancing more difficult to manage. Watch the drinks so that you can continue to be aware of the government guidelines. 6. Facilities People are aloud to enter your home to use the toilet as long as they thoroughly wash their hands. You should keep some disposable paper towels in the bathroom instead of having everybody use one of your towels to dry their hands. Wipes should be used to wipe any surfaces as required.
With businesses around the world impacted by COVID-19, returning to work is one of the main priorities for many. Ensuring that you can create the safest environment in which your staff can operate without risk of infection is key, as it’s absolutely vital to maintain optimum well being throughout your team. There are several different steps that you can take to make sure your business can safely open its doors once more, so you don’t need to stress trying to figure out how to restart operations amidst the current pandemic. You should aim to abide by social distancing guidelines within your workspace, requesting that staff members always keep at least 2 metres away from each other. It’s a good idea to invest in some kind of disposable protection that your team can utilise daily, including face masks that cover their nose and mouth as well as gloves too. Advise your staff to provide their own meals and eat outside to avoid potentially spreading the virus through communal food, and regularly remind your team to wash their hands with an antibacterial soap for at least 20 seconds. It’s important that you can seek out the necessary health insurance required to protect both yourself and your employees whilst on the job, as they are potentially risking their wellbeing each time they attend a shift. Insurance can provide both healthcare cover for ill or injured workers as well as ultimate peace of mind for your team to know that their employer has their back no matter what may happen.
It is assumed that humanity will take over during a pandemic, yet there are more scammers than ever. The National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) warned the public of criminals using the Covid-19 pandemic to scam people. The UK cybersecurity agency launched a service to allow people to report suspicious emails. There was also a campaign urging people to be more vigilant online. The NCSC campaign has a range of interesting and informative advice. This will empower the UK Internet users with the knowledge to help protect themselves. With the increased amount of people working from home, on a work computer. An increased risk in the breach and hacking of sensitive data is being observed. The advice also includes how to make sure that your Zoom calls are as secure as possible. As there have been many safety concerns about the use of this app. Jeremy Fleming, the director of government Communications headquarters, who oversees the NCSC, said: “Crisis is changing the world very fast, and the scale of activity among opportunistic cybercriminals seeking to profit from the virus at all.” The NSCS has said it will build on its existing takedown services. This service has removed more than 2000 scams related to the coronavirus in the last month alone. This actually includes over 455 online shops selling fraudulent PPE. A survey by TSB suggested that as many as 42% of people believe that they have been a victim of a bogus email. There is a range of insurance scams, including travel insurance and staged accidents. And while many insurance companies have made exceptions and allowances. If you receive a call or email out of the blue, delete or hang up. In some cases, where you have the correct insurance, you can make a claim and get some of your money back. You can head to NSCS.gov.uk to read more about this information and report anything suspicious. Click here to read the full ITV news story
Check your gutters After the cold winter months with freezing temperatures, gutters are at risk of leaks and especially following the recent spell of rainy weather which can move debris into gutters, summer is the ideal time to check their health. Leaky and unsecure guttering can lead to bigger problems of water damage to your property, as well as being a fall hazard. Whilst you’re checking your gutters, go ahead and check your drainage system at the same time to ensure that there aren’t any blockages there, too. Doors and windows Similar to your guttering, doors and windows have been through a rough period by the time summer is in full swing. With the cold months of winter potentially cracking door and window seals, followed by spring showers causing further damage, it is imperative to check your doors and windows. Of course, if you have double glazing this is less of an issue, but checking that your seals are in order is certainly a good use of half an hour during the summer to stop any problems later on in the year. Central heating When the weather heats up, the temptation is simply to turn off the central heating, give the radiators a holiday and then start everything back up once temperatures inevitably plummet. Keeping the heating on a low-level through the colder summer days will keep the central heating system ticking over and also prevent any damp issues. During the summer, bleeding your radiators will also ensure that they remain efficient – if you’re unsure of how to do this then a quick search online will direct you to some intuitive videos. If you go on holiday during the summer, the same applies; keeping the heating on a low level may save you larger problems in the long run. Sound the alarms Whilst a check of your smoke and CO2 alarms may not seem like a particularly summery activity to be carrying out, you should be checking these units several times a year. By building these checks into your summer list of tasks, you are keeping yourself and others safe. Insulation throughout the seasons Updating your insulation may intuitively seem like a winter task, but part of keeping your home cool and comfortable in the summer is good insulation as this will stop heat penetrating the building. Of course, when it comes to the winter months you will also reap the benefits of insulation as it will keep the heat from escaping, ensuring a cosy property when the temperatures begin to plummet.
Each business is different and will require different adaptations to their operating procedures to facilitate a safe environment, but the same guiding principles will apply. That is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of staff members and customers. Eight separate guides have been published by the government to support different types of businesses - these guides can be found here. We have summarised the 5 key points applicable to businesses returning to work below: 1. Work from home if you can The message continues to be to work from home where at all possible. However, it is acknowledged that not all businesses are able to operate from home. Businesses that have not been told to close by government are now able to go back to work. Employers should discuss operating procedures with their staff. People should try to avoid public transport in their work commute. However, where this is not possible, the people are asked to wear face masks where possible. 2. Covid-19 risk assessment All employers need to carry out a Covid-19 risk assessment. This is in line with current health and safety employment and equalities legislation. The risk assessments should be undertaken in consultation with their workers or trade unions, to establish what guidelines to put in place. If possible, employers should publish the results of their risk assessments (all businesses with over 50 employees are expected to do so). 3. Maintain social distancing Workspaces should be redesigned to respect the 2-metre social distancing guidelines. This can be achieved with staggered start times, one-way walking systems, and changing seating layouts. Designating specific entrances and exits can also minimise close contact. 4. Risk management where social distancing is not possible It is acknowledged that not all workplaces will find it easy to manage social distancing at 2 metres apart. In this instance, employers should look into putting barriers in shared spaces, creating workplace shift patterns or fixed teams minimising the number of people in contact with one another, or ensuring colleagues are facing away from each other. 5. Reinforcing cleaning processes Workspaces should be cleaned more often with extra attention to objects with high contact, such as door handles, and office equipment. Hand washing facilities and sanitising stations should be provided at entrances and exits. For further information please head to the following website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19
As we can now socialise with up to 6 family members and friends in outdoor spaces, including back gardens, a BBQ is a great way to have some fun with your favourite people whilst staying safe. However, there is now a bit more to think about with increased hygiene standards and social distancing crucial in preventing a second wave of the coronavirus. With the summer months well underway, we share how you can host a perfect BBQ. 1. Planning your space Planning your garden space and how people will move around your garden will help everyone to maintain social distancing. For example, you could create a one way system so that people can collect their food and navigate back to their seats with ease. Setting out a seating plan will also help to minimise movement and touching around your garden. 2. Hygiene Whilst this is already a must, ensuring that you wash your hands prior to preparing or handling food and utensils is crucial to reduce the risk of germs spreading. If you have hand sanitizer at home, have this available outdoors for your guests so that they can regularly keep their hands clean during their visit too. You could ask your guests to bring their own condiments and cutlery where possible too. 3. Food preparation Stick to having one person in charge of food preparation and BBQ'ing. Although there is minimal risk of any transmission from food or food packaging, this will ensure that touching is kept to a minimum. Making food preparations prior to guests arriving will allow you to prepare food calmly with no distractions. It will also ensure that you can spend as much of your valuable time catching up with your guests instead of in the kitchen. 4. Plating food Often at BBQs you may be used to having food in the middle of the table where people can help themselves. To reduce physical contact it is better for people to plate all of the food they would like onto their individual plate once food is ready so that there is less touching of surfaces and utensils. You could create a queuing system where people can use their own utensils to serve themselves, or you could plate the food up for them. This is especially important for foods such as dips and nibbles where you would usually share the packet. 5. Watch the booze! A couple of drinks at a BBQ is part of the fun for many. But after a few drinks people can tend to become lazy and forgetful; making social distancing more difficult to manage. Watch the drinks so that you can continue to be aware of the government guidelines. 6. Facilities People are aloud to enter your home to use the toilet as long as they thoroughly wash their hands. You should keep some disposable paper towels in the bathroom instead of having everybody use one of your towels to dry their hands. Wipes should be used to wipe any surfaces as required.
With businesses around the world impacted by COVID-19, returning to work is one of the main priorities for many. Ensuring that you can create the safest environment in which your staff can operate without risk of infection is key, as it’s absolutely vital to maintain optimum well being throughout your team. There are several different steps that you can take to make sure your business can safely open its doors once more, so you don’t need to stress trying to figure out how to restart operations amidst the current pandemic. You should aim to abide by social distancing guidelines within your workspace, requesting that staff members always keep at least 2 metres away from each other. It’s a good idea to invest in some kind of disposable protection that your team can utilise daily, including face masks that cover their nose and mouth as well as gloves too. Advise your staff to provide their own meals and eat outside to avoid potentially spreading the virus through communal food, and regularly remind your team to wash their hands with an antibacterial soap for at least 20 seconds. It’s important that you can seek out the necessary health insurance required to protect both yourself and your employees whilst on the job, as they are potentially risking their wellbeing each time they attend a shift. Insurance can provide both healthcare cover for ill or injured workers as well as ultimate peace of mind for your team to know that their employer has their back no matter what may happen.
It is assumed that humanity will take over during a pandemic, yet there are more scammers than ever. The National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) warned the public of criminals using the Covid-19 pandemic to scam people. The UK cybersecurity agency launched a service to allow people to report suspicious emails. There was also a campaign urging people to be more vigilant online. The NCSC campaign has a range of interesting and informative advice. This will empower the UK Internet users with the knowledge to help protect themselves. With the increased amount of people working from home, on a work computer. An increased risk in the breach and hacking of sensitive data is being observed. The advice also includes how to make sure that your Zoom calls are as secure as possible. As there have been many safety concerns about the use of this app. Jeremy Fleming, the director of government Communications headquarters, who oversees the NCSC, said: “Crisis is changing the world very fast, and the scale of activity among opportunistic cybercriminals seeking to profit from the virus at all.” The NSCS has said it will build on its existing takedown services. This service has removed more than 2000 scams related to the coronavirus in the last month alone. This actually includes over 455 online shops selling fraudulent PPE. A survey by TSB suggested that as many as 42% of people believe that they have been a victim of a bogus email. There is a range of insurance scams, including travel insurance and staged accidents. And while many insurance companies have made exceptions and allowances. If you receive a call or email out of the blue, delete or hang up. In some cases, where you have the correct insurance, you can make a claim and get some of your money back. You can head to NSCS.gov.uk to read more about this information and report anything suspicious. Click here to read the full ITV news story