Oscar Sassoli - Assured practice

Please tell us about your company.

Penn Sassoli is an established two-partner solicitors practice in Royston, Hertfordshire, serving not only our local community but also further afield. We take pride in providing a personal, friendly, efficient and effective service to all our clients, covering a wide range of legal matters for both private and business clients.

What insurances do you place and who do you place them with?

Our motoring and office insurance is placed through Saffron Insurance Royston, which acquired the insurance business of Steve Hansell - known previously as Sun Hill Insurance in Royston - that had been our broker originally.

Hansell now works at Saffron Insurance and we have had a long and happy association with him over many years. We have a particularly good relationship with him; he has always provided us with good service and advice.

Our professional indemnity insurance is placed elsewhere due to its specialised nature and the stringent requirements that have to be met.

Have you made a claim recently?

I have recently made a claim resulting from an incident in my car with a multi-storey car park pillar. The claim was dealt with expeditiously and the car is currently undergoing repairs with my chosen body-shop with no drama and, equally importantly, no endless form filling.

What would you like to see improve in insurance in order to help your business?

I believe that the insurance profession should be much more transparent in its dealings and more up-front. For example, when hiring a car abroad, the excess to be paid, which can be about £600, is payable in the event of an accident and further cover should be taken out to protect against this additional cost. This worries people and they feel pressurised in taking out the additional cover. It has happened to me on two occasions but I now have to take out insurance against the insurance excess. I do this for approximately a £45 premium for a whole year, which covers me when I am abroad. I don't think that this is acceptable.

I also believe that insurers should reward clients by giving a discount for this kind of loyalty. I often get the feeling, rightly or wrongly, that insurers take clients for granted that have been with them for many years and that they are often paying more than they should. It should be the other way around and long-standing clients should pay less.