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COVID 19 – Latest Update

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Supporting our Members through COVID 19 – UPDATE 6

We hope that you had an enjoyable bank holiday.  We all waited on Sunday evening for guidance from the Government on the next phase and hoped to have some clear messages for you all regarding next steps.

It is clear that as the current lockdown situation has not been eased, we think it is too premature to offer opinion or more detailed plans at this stage, needless to say that any business looking at reopening would need to adhere to Government guidelines to ensure they are complying for staff and implementing required measures regarding social distancing and hygiene.

As mentioned in the previous update it is sensible to review all risk assessments for each of your activities now and consider if these need to be revised or rewritten to allow for ongoing social distancing.  

Sport England

We have found the following link from Sport England which may be of interest to you regarding their Community Emergency Fund.  Please note the deadline of Thursday 15th May 2020 for new applications.

https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/coronavirus/coronavirus-funding-and-flexibility

Countryfile

Andy Robinson at Institute of Outdoor Learning appeared on BBC’s Countryfile at the weekend.  In case you missed it please view the link below which talked about the current impact on outdoor learning (8min 04 sec onwards).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000j4wr/countryfile-helens-home-patch

The North Face

North Face have launched an initiative called Explore Fund which aims to assist companies that fall into the following criteria.

  • Conservation groups and organisations​
  • Outdoor charities​
  • Outdoor industry associations​
  • Organizations or companies involved in the following sports/ activities:​ camping, environmental education, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, indoor rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, trail running, alpinism​

Applications can be made until 22nd May 2020

https://www.thenorthface.co.uk/about-us/explore-fund.html

Please join our closed Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/798451153625523/

Or follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/activitiesindustrymutual/

 

 

COVID 19 – Latest Update

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Supporting our Members through COVID 19 – UPDATE 5

We hope that you are keeping safe and well and that we may soon be at the end of the current lockdown.  We await the further information from the Government regarding any easings they consider can be brought in, and we will update you as soon as we have this.  We thought might be useful to consider how the future might look, and what you can be doing in anticipation of reopening, as we all start to plan for getting back to normal (or whatever the new normal might look like!)

  • Reopening: this will of course depend on any easing of the lockdown, but you could start to plan now for how you might be able to carry out some or all of your activities taking into account the potential need for social distancing
  • Risk assessments: it is sensible to review all your risk assessments for each of your activities now, as well as any pertaining to your staff, and consider if these need to be revised or rewritten to allow for ongoing social distancing. Consider specific Covid-19 measures and if separate specific risk assessments are required.
  • PPE: will we need to wear it? We do not as yet know, but would you be able to carry out your activities if this is a requirement?
  • Economics: can you afford to operate and provide the activities even with social distancing requirements? Or is it better to wait until you can resume fully?

We appreciate that we do not have the answers to these questions now, and much will depend on the Government advice and next steps on emerging from lockdown which we hope we will obtain this weekend.  AIM is here to support you, and we will keep you updated and suggest ways on how best you can seek to resume your normal business activities.

Please join our closed Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/798451153625523/

Or follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/activitiesindustrymutual/

 

 

Horizons Spring 2020 – AIM Article Unusual & Difficult times

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We recently featured in IOL’s Horizons Magazine for Spring 2020.  This article provides an update on some of the issues which providers need to consider during the current climate.  The possibility of a personal injury claim from members of the public and some good housekeeping tips surrounding vacant properties.

H89-unusual-difficult-P17.18

COVID 19 – Latest Update

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Supporting our Members through COVID 19 – UPDATE 4

It has been an incredibly busy time at AIM as the team work through all of the enquiries that have arisen from our Members.  We appreciate that some of you may have been waiting patiently for answers to your questions and are thankful for your understanding.  The AIM team may be small in number, however it is a dedicated one and we are doing our very best to respond to each of you as soon as we can.

If you have a query regarding your cover please send us an email in the first instance to [email protected] – stating your Business Name and your Renewal Date in any correspondence, as this will help us to work through the enquiries as effectively as possible.  Those with an imminent renewal date will be handled as a priority.

We hope that the offer of the payment holiday has been well received and helped those who have taken this up.

Other News – Helplines

AIM have been working with ARAG to provide Legal Expenses cover to all AIM Members at a very competitive cost. ARAG are a leading legal expenses provider offering an extensive range of legal insurance and assistance products and services. The launch of this has been delayed due to the recent Covid-19 outbreak and downturn in business activity, however ARAG have confirmed that they would be happy for AIM Members to have access to and utilise the following services in the meantime:-

Telephone helplines

Legal advice on business matters within UK and EU law:  0344 571 7978

Redundancy assistance, 9am to 5pm weekdays: 0330 303 1955

UK tax advice, 9am to 5pm weekdays: 0344 571 7978

Counselling service: 0333 000 2082

Examples where ARAG might be able to help are:-

  • Advice and support on employment rights and obligations such as statutory sick pay and duty of care
  • Advice and support on debt issues
  • Counselling Assistance – this provides professional counselling services by phone and is available to workers and employees suffering stress or anxiety due to disruption caused to their daily routines or distress caused as a result of the virus.
  • Professional public relations expertise to protect your reputation following adverse publicity that has arisen as a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak that affects your business reputation.

We understand that you simply need to state you are a member of the Activities Industry Mutual when calling..  Please do let us know your feedback should you take advantage of the service on offer.

Government Support for Business

The Government announced that the Furlough Scheme cut-off date has been extended to 19 March 2020.  Employers can claim for furloughed employees who were employed and on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020.  If you believe you are eligible for support you can access the link here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

 Cover Availability

It has been reported that another provider of activity insurance has exited the market, leaving many activity providers without cover once they reach their renewal date.  We want to reassure members that AIM has always maintained a rigorous risk-assessment criteria when assessing new applications. It is this attention to detail and high standards which means that we can offer value, security and continuity of cover no matter how volatile the economy.

 Ofcom – Scam Texts and Calls

 We have been notified of the following Scam Texts and Calls which you may like to make yourself aware of:-

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/coronavirus-scam-calls-and-texts

Member Profiles

Each month we produce a Member Profile to promote on our website and social media. It would be great to hear from Members if you would like to be profiled, examples of these can be found in the News section of our website. Please email [email protected]

Please join our closed Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/798451153625523/

Or follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/activitiesindustrymutual/

 

 

COVID 19 Update – AIM help for Members

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This has been an extremely distressing and stressful time for us all and we are acutely aware of how severe the impact of this pandemic has been for all our Members.   We have been working hard to be able to assist you and to answer your requests for payment holidays while many of you have businesses which have closed and all have cashflow problems.

AIM wants to do all we can to assist our Members. 

Those who have paid their contribution in full as one payment are being contacted separately.

For those Members who make monthly payments, we are offering a 3 month holiday break from payments for the period 1st May to end July 2020.  During this period, we will not expect you to make the usual monthly payment, and will allow until 30th September 2020 for these payments to be paid.  Your cover will continue.  If however you have any claims during this period (liability or property), we will need to receive payment in full for any missed months before being able to handle any claim for you.  If you are unable to make the payments by the 30th September 2020, please contact us.  If payments cannot be made up then we may have to cancel your cover.  If you do not want to have the payment holiday, please let us know immediately, otherwise we will not take any monies for these three specified months.

Alternatively if you are not able to carry out any activities, and only have Public Liability cover, you may prefer to pause your cover for a 3 month period until 31st July 2020, or until you are able to resume activities if earlier or later.  During this period, we would not seek any contributions from you if you have requested a pause in your cover but there would not be any cover in place during this time.  You will need to advise us as soon as you are able to recommence activities so we can ensure you have the correct cover in place.

Property and Employers’ Liability covers continue and we recommend to Members that you keep these covers in place.  These contributions will still be due, but are included in the payment holiday as above.

Business Interruption

In addition we wish to reassure Members that we have been in correspondence with the Mutual’s backing insurers regarding the Business Interruption wording and whether or not cover will be afforded by the insurer.  Those discussions continue and whilst the current position remains that it is unlikely that cover will be available, we are reserving our position with them.  We will update Members with any developments, albeit this may take some time.

 

COVID 19 – AIM Latest Update

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Supporting our Members through COVID-19 – UPDATE 2

It is hard to believe that just a few days ago we were all going about our daily lives. What a difference a week makes!

AIM will be producing regular updates on the COVID-19 situation around the UK and how it is affecting our Members and focusing on the positives. In this second update we summarise the last 7 days; answer the question of what to do to protect your buildings while they are temporarily closed; Help from AIM and the Government.

This week

After the weekend where everyone was advised to practice social distancing but to still get some exercise, on Monday, Boris Johnson announced that stricter measures would have to be rolled out because people weren’t taking COVID-19 Seriously. Images and videos were widely shared of large gatherings in parks and queues of people travelling to the Highlands and Snowdon like it was a Bank Holiday. Non-essential shops were closed and everyone was told to stay home except for essential travel to work, buying food and caring for vulnerable people.

On Thursday, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced the long awaited support package for the self-employed and the Prince of Wales tested positive to COVID-19. In the evening people across the country came together to give a group round of applause from their doorsteps, gardens and balconies to NHS workers on the front line.

Today, Boris Johnson announced he was displaying mild symptoms and had tested positive.

AIM Members have been contacting us by email, phone and social media asking questions and sharing their experiences with us. We are so grateful for the words of support and the positive attitude from everyone. Despite the very difficult times you find yourselves in, there is a real feel of community. To repay your support AIM is working hard to respond to all the enquiries as quickly as possible as and when we have the answers as well as work on ways to ensure the cost of your cover isn’t an unnecessary drain on your finances.

Your Questions Answered

One of the common questions this week has been about property and what steps need to be taken to ensure cover is in place while your sites are closed.

To a certain degree, the usual rule book has to be thrown away because of the restrictions on your movement and how easily you can visit your premises. Furthermore, and to ensure you are not unfairly penalised, there will be no reduction in cover, no higher excesses or increased contribution as a result.

For premises that are temporarily closed because of the COVID-19 outbreak we recommend the following steps should be taken to protect against loss of damage.

  1. Utilities and Protection Systems

If your site is closed and there is no need to re-enter during the period in which the government advises people to remain in isolation you should turn off electricity, gas and water supplies at the mains (and where reasonable to do so drain down water systems) other than those services required to maintain:

    • critical business infrastructure to allow the operation of your business and support temporary home working arrangements
    • burglar and fire alarms
    • sprinkler systems
    • Other risk protection systems or devices i.e. CCTV.

Where practicable, you must maintain these systems in working order

    • locks and all other protective and security devices including gates and other perimeter security should be in use
    • where water systems have not been drained down and/or where there is a sprinkler installation you must maintain the central heating system to prevent freezing
  1. General good housekeeping
    • You should try to remove all internal waste and position external bins as at least 5 metres from the buildings (or otherwise as far as possible where this is not possible) and secure the bins in position where this is possible
    • Where possible and provided the travel to and from the premises is in line with the latest Government advice please try to undertake an internal and external inspection of your buildings at least every 7 days and rectify any defects in the fabric or security devices that may compromise the integrity or security of the building as soon as possible. It is advisable to keep a record of when the visits were carried out and what action you undertook to repair defects.
    • Please remove post from the letterbox during each visit
    • If you have an alarm that alerts you to either a break in or fire, it worth considering having a contingency plan in case the primary person(s) responsible for responding to alarm activations need to self-isolate or are ill.
    • Please let us know soon as you become aware of any illegal entry to the premises whether or not any damage has occurred
    • If we have made specific requirement of you with regards to security, and as a result of the ongoing situation you are unable to comply with these measures please contact your usual AIM contact and we will be happy to work with you to find a solution
Further help available from AIM

AIM has been working hard with the Board and our supporting insurers to identify what financial measures we can take to help our members. With such a diverse membership we need to explore lots of different scenarios which will help as many as possible. We are really close to being able to communicating these in the next couple of days.  Please bear with us, we really appreciate your patience and understanding.

What help is available from the Government?

As well as keeping an eye on the televised updates from the Government the following link provides lots of valuable information on the help being provided by the Government. They have also updated this page to include the help available to the self-employed.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses

Keeping updated

AIM will keep sending regular updates as and when more information is available to us as well as articles from around the sector which may be useful to you. We will send them via email and update our social media pages.

Please join our closed Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/798451153625523/

Or follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/activitiesindustrymutual/

If you would like to share your experiences and how you are dealing with them with the wider Membership please feel free to email us. We will try and include them with future updates.

COVID 19 – Support for Businesses – Government Guidance

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We wanted to provide the latest Government Guidance on support for businesses.  This update includes the latest announcement surrounding self employed people through the Income Support Scheme :-

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses#support-for-self-employed-through-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme