Assured improvements

Tell us about your company.

Celltarga is a commercial building contractor specialising in fitting out and refurbishing business premises as well as carrying out building works. Our turnover is about £5m annually.

Based in Haywards Heath in West Sussex, much of our work is carried out on behalf of the government and we are particularly active on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. A recent project for us was the refurbishment of two floors for the Pension Protection Fund's building in Croydon.

We also work for many blue-chip companies in jobs that range from minor repairs to major refurbishments.

What insurances do you place and with which companies do you place them?

All our insurance is organised through our broker - Moorhouse Group - and primarily our business is placed with Aviva. We have the covers that you would expect: public and employer's liability as well as all-risks cover; we also buy professional indemnity cover because it is required by many of our clients.

Our experience of Aviva is pretty good and we're comfortable with them given their experience of our sector and the breadth of coverage that they offer. Price is an issue in the current market as we look to control overheads and we are very much price-driven at the moment when it comes to choosing our insurer.

We've also been fortunate in that we haven't made any claims in the last five years, which does mean that we haven't been able to test how good they are when it comes to dealing with a claim.

Describe the relationship with your broker.

We have a very good relationship with our broker. Depending on the contracts we win, we often have to increase cover in accordance with contractual demands and we find that the Moorhouse Group is very timely in organising that increased cover. Speed of response is critical if a contract is hinging on our ability to demonstrate we have the required insurance cover and Moorhouse is always quick to respond.

What challenges do you face in the downturn?

The building sector has arguably borne the brunt of the current downturn, although we are fortunate in that much of our work is related to government contracts. One area in which we have been especially busy is a large programme of work from the Department for Work and Pensions to refit and extend Job Centre Plus buildings. Ironically, the downturn has boosted this particular area of our work though, of course, the emphasis on delivering value for money is stronger than ever.

We are not complacent with our contracts and have been investing in marketing initiatives that have started to make good inroads into generating new private sector clients. We have also tried to become more involved with trade associations such as the Association of Interior Specialists and see this as a good potential source of future business.

What would you like to see improved within the insurance sector to help your business?

The big issue for me is simplicity. The terminology used can be very confusing and it is quite often hard to decipher what is what when working out the cover we need and what we have already. The insurance industry should see it more from the consumer's viewpoint when it comes to putting together products and policy wordings. If this area could be made much clearer then I am sure that it would benefit everyone.