SaifInsure, believe in giving back to the community, and this year, our staff have the opportunity to take a day off to support a good cause. On Friday, 28th June, one of our team members, Leanda chose to spend her volunteer day at Port Lympne Zoo, immersing herself in activities that support both the zoo and its visitors.

As an annual pass holder, she had a head start in guiding visitors around the zoo. Her familiarity with the layout and exhibits made her a valuable resource for guests seeking directions. Additionally, she rolled up her sleeves and participated in litter picking, contributing to the cleanliness and upkeep of the zoo grounds.

Beyond these tasks, she took the opportunity to listen in on talks about conservation efforts. Armed with the knowledge she had previously acquired, she was able to answer several questions from curious visitors, enhancing their experience and understanding of the zoo’s mission.

Reflecting on her experience, she found the day to be highly educational and fulfilling. She was delighted to assist the zoo’s team in their day-to-day work, making a positive impact on both the environment and the community.

SaifInsure is proud to support initiatives like this, encouraging our employees to engage with and contribute to causes they are passionate about. This volunteer day not only benefits the organisations and communities involved but also enriches the lives and perspectives of our team members.

SAIFInsure were proud and delighted to work alongside Chris Parker, Director of Curriculum Development at IFD College and sponsor the inaugural Matthew Gallagher Award which recognises those within the funeral profession who have overcome challenges to achieve their Independent Funeral Directors College (IFD) exams.

The award was a specially commissioned piece to represent Matthew and our thanks go to the Artist, Gary Scott, who did an incredible job at interpreting thoughts and ideas into sculpture.

The first recipient was Lewis Tout from Julie Sullivan Funeral Directors who deservedly received the award from Pat Gallagher and Christine Parker at a ceremony in Hertfordshire on 30th June this year.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Jim Auld, SAIF’s National President has selected Breast Cancer Care as his charity for 2019/20.

The charity has a community of nurses, volunteers and people affected by breast cancer work to make sure everyone diagnosed with breast cancer gets the support they deserve.

Together, they responded to 5.8 million counts of breast cancer support requests last year.

1. The charity supports people with free face-to-face groups, access to breast care nurses, peer support and their ground-breaking app.
2. They inform through their award-winning breast cancer publications and online information.
3. They campaign for better care.

Number Plates

One of the idiosyncrasies of the Funeral Profession is that many businesses look to reflect the personal nature by means of a personalised number plate for their hearses, limousines and also on occasions, their removal vehicle. It’s important to remember to let your Insurance Brokers know of the change and we do appreciate it’s not always the first thing that springs to mind.

Unfortunately, we have seen a number of our clients and SAIF members advise us that they have received letters from the DVLA that a specific vehicle is not noted on their MIFD database. It’s easily rectified but vital that we have this information at the time otherwise they do have the right to impose fines that will prove to be punitive.

Please do either call us to advise of the changes or email them to us.

Under-Insurance

It’s important to always remember that the insurance policy you have is a legal contract and that it’s written by the Insurer. Inevitably, its written to most favour them and one of the aspects that is least liked is “hidden away” within the policy wording and called the Average Clause.

This Clause is designed to ensure that the sums insured are an accurate reflection of the true values at risk. This is fine when the sums are adequate BUT, the problems really occur when this sum is not sufficient. Not only will you not receive the total amount lost BUT you will also then be penalised by the % of under insurance. For example:

A funeral director insuring for £20,000 Contents suffers a total loss and the Insurers/Loss Adjusters state that the true reinstatement value should have been £40,000.
The amount paid out (excluding excess) would be £10,000 (50% of the sum insured as the insured amount was 50% of what it should have been)
The effect is that the Insured now need to find £30,000 to reinstate fully.
When you calculate the replacement value of say, your Business Contents, it’s important that this is looked at each year to ensure that the sums reflect any acquisitions made during the year.

If there are any questions, please contact us by email or telephone on 07740 577651.

 

 

 

Along with a number of friends and members of Saif, I am off to do the Three Peaks Challenge again for an incredibly worthy cause.

As many of you know, I have had the incredible pleasure of working alongside Saif and the funeral profession for some 24 years and have met some incredible people and forged some amazing friendships over that time. Its also given me the opportunity of being able to participate in some amazing challenges to raise some much needed money for various charitable causes supported by Saif.

The link for donating is below and on behalf of myself and the others doing this, we are most grateful for anything any one can spare as rest assured all the money raised will go to this incredible hospital and the work they do.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/saif2018threepeaks

The ambitious challenge to raise £100,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) was a pledge made by Jamie West to thank the hospital and staff that saved his daughters life.

Eva Jem West was born on the 21^st October 2017, but sadly the joy of welcoming her back to the family home was short lived as she was re-admitted back to hospital at 9 days old. After a worrisome few weeks Eva was transferred to GOSH for further investigation.

Within 24 hours they were able to diagnose Eva’s extremely rare h-type tracheoesophageal fistula (TOF) which is an abnormal connection between the airway and the food pipe. This meant as Eva swallowed milk small amounts would enter her lungs and without surgical repair she would not survive. This life-threatening condition affects 1 in 100,000 children – which is the target fundraising amount #teameva have chosen. TOF’s often lead to severe and fatal pulmonary complications and just hours after being diagnosed things suddenly took a turn for the worse as Eva’s lungs could no longer cope.

Eva was admitted to intensive care – and our 3-month rollercoaster began. To watch your child fight for their life is every bit as horrifying as you might dare to let yourself imagine, but through even the darkest moments we remained grateful for the world class care Eva received.

Eva was stable enough to have her operation on the 19^th of December and she was finally able to come home on Valentine’s day. Although Eva is still fed via a tube and will require special care for some time to come, we are forever grateful for the treatment she continues to receive and the wonderful opportunity of life that is ahead of her.

So, to celebrate our incredible Eva and to extend our gratitude and thanks so that GOSH can continue to change the lives of other families with seriously ill children. We welcome you to support #teameva in whichever way you can.

Thank you in advance for your contribution and keep in touch with our fundraising journey at www.teameva.co.uk

“Though she be but little, she is fierce”

Jamie, Jade, Anneli & Eva West

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.