An important responsibility executors have is to ensure that the deceased’s estate is protected during the estate administration until it is distributed to beneficiaries.
An executor who fails to do this could be held personally liable for any losses suffered by the estate if its felt they failed to take the necessary care by making sure the property was adequately insured.
When an estate includes a house, which later become unoccupied, this changes the insurance position and you should be wary of relying on any existing policy. Whilst the deceased would have had adequate insurance on the property, for an unoccupied property, insurers will require that the policy is either updated or a new policy is purchased.
Even if an insurer does continue to provide insurance, it is likely that the premium will be higher and it is possible that the coverage may be restricted; insurers are known to restrict damage to an unoccupied property to only damage caused by fire, lightning, aircraft and explosion.
What this could mean for you. If the property was, for example broken into and vandalised, there would be no cover in place to rectify the damages. In such circumstances, as an executor you may be held liable for the cost of repairs or any difference in the property valuation.
Any amended or new policy should be in the name of the executors. Having the executor’s interest ‘noted’ does not necessarily entitle them to make a claim or receive the benefit of any claim proceeds payable under the policy; it may only mean that they are notified if a policy cover is cancelled or lapsed.
The risks of working from home
You may be aware of the potential problems with staff working from home and the increasing issues of cyber-crimes with criminals taking advantage of the lack of Firewalls and launching various fraud and phishing campaigns etc at this present time.
Several of the reports are related to online shopping frauds where people have ordered protective face masks, hand sanitiser and other products which never arrived. One victim reported losing over £15,000 when they purchased face masks that were never delivered.
They have also received over 200 reports of coronavirus themed phishing emails attempting to trick people into opening malicious attachments or revealing sensitive personal and financial information.
Make sure you protect yourself during this time, do not click on the links or attachments in suspicious emails, and never respond to unsolicited messages and calls that ask for your personal or financial details. Always install the latest software and app updates to protect your devices from the latest threats.
When we think of ‘cyber-crime’, we might imagine sophisticated plots by highly skilled computer experts, designed to wreak havoc against the state and big business. We may assume it is something that happens to other people and that we, as individuals or small businesses, are unlikely to attract the interest of a cyber-criminal.
However, the reality is that cybercrime is not the preserve of the technical expert. Many attacks are unsophisticated and are carried out by people with only basic technical knowledge.
It only takes a hacker, virus or system glitch to cause a cyber event or data breach to diminish a company’s financial results or potentially shut a business.
Cyber insurance can help protect your business against a range of cyber threats, including
Ransomware, which is malicious software designed to block access to your computer system until a ransom is paid (the most prominent issue being faced today). The average cost of the worst security breach in the UK for small businesses is between £65,000 and £115,000. This includes cleaning up affected systems and date breach fines.
Cover is available for businesses of all sizes as either a stand-alone policy or as part of a
management Liability package and protects companies pre-breach, mid breach and post breach.
For a free review of your existing policy or a free quotation please call us on 020 7691 2409.
