Accountant Quotes – Don’t Waste Time!

Don’t waste valuable time by looking in the wrong places for expensive accountant quotes and unbefitting services – get Goringe Accountants Berkshire to pitch to you!

Applying for accountant quotes from different suppliers is a very time consuming task, so why not leave the leg work to the companies who really want your business? The market place for accountancy services is not as straight-forward as other business packages. SMEs (Small business enterprises) will require a certain level of continued support and maintenance and sometimes through an on-demand basis.

With the growing availability of internet services, price comparison tools and supplier sourcing platforms, there are now easier and faster ways of getting reasonable accountant quotes that really work for your business.

Outsourcing Your Accountant

Quotes from different accountants will vary greatly, so looking for the right provider and the right package can become something of a nightmare. But outsourcing business-to-business services has never been easier, with so many resources that can help a small to medium business get the best value for money.

The option to outsource means that SMEs, new start-up businesses, and small “cottage industry” companies can get an accountancy service as and when they need it. Businesses that do not require in-house accountancy can outsource for these services and obtaining accountant quotes is now incredibly simple, thanks to resources available on the internet.

Recent nurturing of price comparison facilities has changed the way that business-to-business services are found, delivered and utilised. Price comparison and supplier sourcing platforms allow companies to find the best quotes and business packages, and this has led to suppliers striving to offer more bespoke and tailored services.

Accountant Quotes Pitched to You!

CmyPitch is a leading website, committed to providing online services to your business. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a SME, CmyPitch can connect you with trustworthy, reliable and competent suppliers who are enthusiastic about acquiring your business!

If you want to get accountant quotes quickly and easily from eager companies then let CmyPitch get you connected with the right suppliers. Not only can you get accountant quotes for your unique business requirements, but you can also get cash back on your business purchases, get top advice from other UK entrepreneurs, compare prices of business insurance and banking, and find the best deals that are exclusive to UK businesses.

Life Insurance – New guidelines lead to complications

With new policy guidelines being brought into the insurance market, prices are set to increase but how does this affect you as the consumer?

Financial Services Authority

New, strict guidelines are being enforced on the insurance industry which prevents any firms not registered with the Financial Services Authority from trading. These have been brought in as an effort to protect consumers from purchasing too much or too little cover.

Policy Outlines

Part of these new guidelines includes firms legally having to outline the ins and outs of their policies in order to prevent confusion for the consumer. Life insurance is vital, should the worst happen, therefore it is essential to know exactly what you are buying. This therefore highlights that the new insurance guidelines should be of benefit, however, enforcing them is a costly process for insurance firms as a whole.

How will this directly affect insurance costs?

Insurance firms will be looking at other ways of paying for these increased costs rather than it coming directly out of their profits. However, it is very difficult to tell if the cost of implementing these regulations will be directly linked to cost of life insurance, house insurance and the other products offered by the insurance firms.

Firms awaiting the ‘green light’

Firms who are waiting to hear whether they well be granted acceptance by the FSA have been allocated an interim stage however, it has been said that customers of these firms may not be entitled to compensation if these firms were to go under.

Further complications

It has also been noted that travel insurance policies bought through the travel agents are not covered by the FSA as well as the fact that more detailed and complicated policies such as life insurance could now be put on a level playing field with more basic policies such as motor insurance. This could jeopardise peoples choice making when buying policies, putting them at risk of making the wrong decisions.

Life insurance online – Does the internet spur competition?

With new sites being added every day, the internet is continuously expanding. Has the ease to become part of this phenomenon increased competition in financial markets?

Google it

If you asked someone on the street ten years ago if they thought the phrase “Google it” would be a sentence we use on a day to day basis they would have probably have laughed in your face. However, Google has in fact become one of the largest global empires in the world. With their offices spanning over three million square feet of San Francisco in the Silicon Valley, comprising of volleyball courts, complementary restaurants for employees and even swimming pools. In reality though, Google has been a global gateway to increasing competition within consumer fuelled markets and one market that effects have been most obvious is life insurance.

Search for your life

Insurance is one of those laborious and pain staking tasks that everyone has to go through but no one really wants to. Therefore, the internet can be seen as a blessing in disguise. All you have to do is sit down at your computer, choose your search engine and type in life insurance and a whole wealth of options appears before you. It is due to this accessibility that the competition is hotting up. Life insurance firms need to stand out to you as the consumer in order to get noticed and with the internet acting as a catalyst for competition they have to act fast!

Driving down the prices

Due to there being no “internet police” or one giant holding company of the internet, it is, in the simplest of terms a bit of a fee for all! However, once you set up a website it is your job then to attract consumers to your site. Life insurance is the type of thing you look for with a glass of wine in one hand, when you happen to have a spare half an hour after a hectic days work; therefore you want it to be as hassle free as possible. This has led to an increase in the competition between the life insurance firms as they need to offer the best products in order to catch you! Therefore resulting in lower prices all round.

Term insurance for your mortgage

Term insurance helps you to protect your mortgage.

Your mortgage is likely to be the biggest debt you have, and you know that if you fail to make the repayments, your home could be repossessed. It’s only natural to worry about how that mortgage would be paid off if you died – particularly if you are the major wage-earner in your home. Term insurance lets you cover that possibility without costing you a fortune.

Term insurance is different from payment protection insurance or PPI insurance which caused so many PPI claims because of mis-sold policies.

How term insurance can help

Term insurance is specifically designed to pay out a sum of money if you die within a certain period of time – usually between 10 and 25 years. This makes it the ideal product to protect your mortgage. You can take out the term assurance for the same length of time as you have taken out your mortgage, so that if you die before the end of the term insurance policy, your mortgage will be paid off immediately. There are many benefits to taking this route, including:

• Peace of mind – by taking out term assurance to cover your mortgage, you don’t need to worry about how your dependents will manage financially after your death.
  
  
• Flexibility – you can choose a decreasing term insurance policy, so that the amount paid out is in line with the amount of mortgage left to pay. Your premiums will decrease accordingly, so you are making sure you’re not paying out too much for your term assurance.
  
  
• Additional cash – you could also choose an increasing or index-linked term insurance policy, where the sum assured grows in line with the Retail Price Index. Although this may mean higher premiums, it also means that the sum paid out on your death may exceed the mortgage you have left to pay, leaving you family with some extra cash.
  

Before choosing your term insurance policy, make sure you seek some advice so that you can be sure you’re getting the policy that’s right for your budget and your circumstances.

What insurance will you need when you take out a mortgage?

If you are looking to take out a mortgage for a property in the North Yorkshire area you will also need to consider insurance. Some insurance policies are obligatory in order to take out the mortgage whereas others are advisable. Read on, to discover which insurance policies you will be obliged to take out.

There are four basic types of insurance policies involved in taking out a mortgage and these are as follows:

1. Buildings Insurance
2. Household Contents Insurance
3. Life Insurance
4. Mortgage Protection Cover

Every mortgage agreement differs and so it is advisable that you discuss the terms of the mortgage with your mortgage adviser before signing the agreement. In general terms the Buildings Insurance is obligatory and the other three are optional.

Buildings Insurance
This policy protects the structure of the house itself. Normally Buildings Insurance is index-linked which means that it will alter each year to match the Retail Price Index (for example as the cost of re-building the property changes, so does the amount payable). The exact nature of what is insured by the Buildings Insurance will differ from policy to policy but in general terms it will probably include the insurance of the permanent fixtures and fittings (e.g. the bath, toilet, fitted kitchens etc) and will normally protect your house from damage caused by the following:

• Fire, smoke and explosions
• Water - burst pipes, burst tanks etc
• Natural disasters - storms, lightening, floods, subsidence, landslide, earthquake
• Items falling on your house - aircraft (and their contents), trees, masts etc
  
• Theft and vandalism
  
• Civil commotion and riot
  

Contents Insurance This policy insures the contents of your home (including furniture and personal belongings) from damage and theft. It may also be useful to buy excess protection insurance to avoiding having to pay the first part of a claim.

Life Insurance This policy provides life cover for a fixed term which means that a lump sum of cash is payable on death in return for a monthly payment.  

Mortgage Protection Cover This policy means that your mortgage repayments will be paid for a certain period of time should you lose your job (through redundancy, illness etc)

Do I need contents insurance for my house?

If you are thinking of taking out house insurance there are two main forms to consider – buildings and contents. So why do you need contents insurance?

What is contents insurance?

When you take out house insurance there are two main areas of cover – contents and building. Whereas building insurance covers the structure of your property – walls, roof, the bricks and the mortar - contents insurance covers those movable household items and can cover everything from your sofa to the frozen food in your freezer!

Contents insurance can cover you from:

• Severe Weather
• Crime, including theft and vandalism
  
• Fire and smoke damage
  
• Subsidence
  
• Burst Pipes.
  
• Water or Oil Leakage.
  
• Damage from falling trees.

Wear and tear

House insurance policies cover contents on an indemnity basis. This means they will deduct for wear and tear, although many policies are on a ‘new for old’ basis which covers the cost of replacement at today’s current market value.

Accidental damage

There are different kinds of house insurance you can take, and many contents policies will cover accidental damage if you pay an increased premium. What kind of accidents can happen? Anything from putting your foot through a floor to breaking a window.

Antiques Roadshow

Your house contents insurance can cover items up to the value of £1,000 and £2,000 depending on your insurer. But if your attic is full of antiques or a distant great aunt dies leaving you with family heirlooms and treasures, you must always specify each treasure separately and pay an additional premium. And you will also need to give your insurer a recent valuation. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that valuable Ming vase is covered in your general contents house insurance or you could get a nasty shock. That’s why the experts on the Antiques Roadshow always advise people to insure their individual items (or take them to the nearest car boot sale!)
Make sure you regularly review your policy as collectible items often gain value at a quicker rate than inflation.

Do I need, ‘All Risks Cover’?

If you have a tendency to leave your specs on the commute home, forget your designer jacket at the restaurant or are worried about your baggage being stolen when you go abroad, than All Risks Cover is worth considering on your house insurance. This basically buys you additional cover to include your property when you are outside your home.

Special features

Some house insurance includes special features for your contents – including legal expenses, food spoilage if a freezer breaks down or insurance for your garage or outbuildings.
You should always work out how much your possessions are worth and shop around for the right policy for you.

FAQ’s on House Insurance

If you’re not sure what the difference between contents and building house insurance is, or whether you should insure that antique plate, than our FAQ’s below will help.

When I buy my house insurance, what does buildings insurance include?

Building insurance covers the bricks and mortar of your property. It includes your property, its fixtures and fittings and any outhouses such as sheds or garages, which are for domestic purposes. It also covers any facilities within that site, including things like walls, hedges, gates or even swimming pools. The price that you take your building insurance out at is determined by the cost it would take to re-build your property, not its market value.

When I buy my house insurance, what does contents insurance cover?

Contents insurance covers the value of your household contents. The best way to get an accurate value is to go round your property room-by-room. You need to put the value on your possessions as if you were buying everything new, not what it would be worth second hand.

Are my possessions still covered outside the home?

No, your house insurance covers your household only, but there are special features that you can add such as valuables and personal effects cover or contents away from home cover when you buy your house insurance. This will cover the valuables that you carry around such as handbags, designer jackets, jewellery and mobile phones. If an item is particularly expensive, you may need to class it as a specified item.

What is accidental damage?

Again, accidental damage is another additional feature that you can add to your house insurance, and will cost an additional premium. Standard insurance covers you from damage as a result of fire, floods, subsidence and theft, but accidental damage includes everyday accidents. This could include spillages by children on your cream carpet! Some house insurance policies do have some accidental damage cover included, so it is always important to read the paperwork that states exactly what you are entitled to.

What if a valuable item I have individually insured, increases in value?

If, for example, you take a plate that has been sitting in your attic down to the Antiques Roadshow and find out it is in fact worth a lot of money, than you will need to tell us about it and take out adequate insurance on the item. You should never assume your existing contents insurance will cover it.
If there are any changes in the original information you have based your house insurance quote on, than you should inform your insurer as soon as possible, as they may have to re-assess your premium.

Do I get cheaper house insurance if I have increased security?

If you have security alarms, window and door locks than yes, you should use this to try and negotiate a reduction in your house insurance premium.

Does my house have subsidence?

If your walls crack this can be a sign of subsidence – as can door or window frames that start to stick. You can find out through a local authority search if there is a history of subsidence in your house. You should always let your insurer now when purchasing your house insurance if you are aware of subsidence.

What is a ‘new for old’ policy?

This is simply the value of your possessions as if you bought them ‘as new’. You should estimate how much your contents would cost if you had to buy them as new, not second hand.