Small Business Blog

Apple sued over addictive apps for children

Posted on May 1, 2012 by ElWood

We all know how addictive apps can be. From Angry Birds to Fruit Ninja, even the most sophisticated and high-brow of users can find themselves hooked on the thrill of catapulting tiny birds at malevolent green pigs or showing a watermelon the business end of a samurai sword.

For younger users apps are just as addictive, if not more so, and now a group of parents are suing app giant Apple after their little ones became hooked, racking up substantial bills using apps designed for children. If they win, will Apple’s professional indemnity insurance pay out?

One of the key apps which has caused problems is Smurf’s Village. Smurf’s Village is a colourful, intentionally addictive game clearly aimed at a young audience. Although this app is free to download, once young players are in the game, they then rack up charges as they collect ‘game currency’ – currency which is bought and paid for using real life money in the iTunes store.

For parents who have downloaded fun games for their children to play, these apps can turn out to be a very nasty surprise indeed. The majority of apps charge costs automatically to iTunes accounts which can leave parent’s facing bills for hundreds of pounds worth of imaginary Smurf money…

The parents legal action is founded on the belief that such apps intentionally target and exploit young users. They are designed to be addictive and to compel younger users to spend both their time and money, without understanding the real life consequences of their actions.

A spokesman from the Consumer Action Group believes the U.S. court case will be a success and could pave the way for similar legal battles in the UK. Let’s hope Apple’s legal advisers and professional indemnity insurance policies are up to the job before the potential storm hits.

In the meantime, if you’d like to protect your livelihood from the misjudgements and oversights which life can sometimes throw our way, professional indemnity insurance is essential.

Here at ConstructaQuote our experts offer clear, open and flexible professional indemnity insurance policies to help you secure your future.

What the frack? The fracking saga continues…

Posted on April 26, 2012 by ElWood

In high-risk industries liability insurance is crucial. Fracking for shale gas is one contentious practice which is about to be given the go-ahead in the UK. The activity was put on hold after it triggered two small earthquakes in the Blackpool area in April 2011. Now, after a short enquiry, the government is likely to allow hydraulic fracking to continue in the United Kingdom. This decision could see thousands of new wells and fracking projects springing up across the country.

So what exactly is fracking and why is the whole industry a liability insurance providers’ worst nightmare? Fracking is a process also known as hydraulic fracturing, which aims to release and collect natural gas for use as fuel. To get at natural gas using fracking, companies must drill deep into the dense shale rocks where they are naturally contained. Then, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals are pumped at extremely high pressure into the rock to open up fissures in the shale and release the gas which is then collected in wells.

So far, so good. But these processes can be extremely dangerous for a number of very scary reasons:

1. Fires & explosions
Often shale deposits are buried beneath aquifiers (permeable rock which contains groundwater). If fracking wells are not adequately protected, the chemicals used in fracking can enter the aquifier, releasing methane and causing fires and even explosions.

2. Chemical contamination
Just as everything that goes up must come down, anything pumped into the earth must resurface at some point. The water-sand-chemical mix pumped into the shale will gradually return to the surface where it could chemically ruin the land.

3. Seismic activity
As seen in Blackpool last year, fracking can lead to earthquakes and other seismic activity which could endanger thousands. These Blackpool quakes were only small (2.3 and 1.5 on the Richter scale) but the potential is there for serious damage.

The government’s enquiry has not alleviated fears about the dangers of fracking. Instead it has confirmed that these risks are present. They have, however, suggested guidelines and protocols which aim to regulate how fracking projects are conducted. These recommendations will significantly add to the cost of fracking, which could make the procedure less profitable and therefore less popular.

With all these risks in place, liability insurance is going to be extremely difficult to source for drilling companies. The vast majority of liability insurance policies will not cover any form of drilling, mining, excavation or the use of explosives, making fracking an extremely risky business!

If your line of business is less risky, liability insurance is much more accessible and ConstructaQuote can help. Explore constructaquote.com today to unearth excellent deals on liability insurance which include all the policies you need and no unnecessary extras.

Posted in Public Liability Insurance | Tagged Liability insurance | Leave a comment

ConstructaQuote’s sexiest van insurance customers

Posted on April 25, 2012 by ElWood

First a disclaimer: the following survey was commissioned by a real company and canvassed the opinion of actual human beings – terrifyingly, no part of this survey is made up!

If you’re noticing a little bit of extra sway in the swagger of your local white van man, there’s every chance he’s seen the results of this survey. In a poll of female road users to find the UK’s sexiest male roads users, it seems that van insurance customers, particularly white van men, are getting the pulses of female road users racing more than other drivers.

Van drivers slipped into the top spot ahead of other famed stud muffins such as sports car drivers, who had long been enjoying life in the fast lane, as the most spellbinding creatures on the UK’s roads. Drivers of convertibles also lost out as a result of the insuperable rise of the van driver. It seems female drivers are a sucker for a tea-stained vest, a tool belt, a copy of The Sun and the occasional whey-hey! And who’s to blame them?

You certainly can’t fault the researcher’s attention to detail, who delved even deeper to bring us the van manufacturer most likely to get women all revved up. It seems German efficiency is a modern day aphrodisiac with the Mercedes triumphing over the rather more stoic British LDV.

For those of you who have recently attempted to up your sexy quotient by buying an expensive sports car, you would be best served taking a trip back down to the showroom and trading it in for a dozen Renault Kangoos.

Is there anything women find sexier than a white van man? Yes there is – a white van man who has just saved a fortune on his van insurance policy. Here at ConstructaQuote we help you to do just that by scouring the UK’s leading insurers on your behalf.

Posted in Van Insurance | Tagged Van insurance | 1 Comment

Don’t risk all without rickshaw insurance

Posted on April 19, 2012 by ElWood

A little known fact is that a rickshaw race through the centre of London is the safest mode of transport, particularly when the driver does not carry public liability insurance. Some contrary beings will try to tell you air travel is the safest way from A to B, but don’t listen to them. In a toss-up between a rickshaw and an Airbus A370, you’ll find the ConstructaQuote team whooping on the back of a rickshaw every time.

Md Islam, a 21 year old rickshaw driver from central London pleaded guilty to breaking section 54 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839, for riding his rickshaw erratically along Shaftesbury Avenue. Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that Mr Islam was putting road users and pedestrians in danger as a result of “furiously racing another rickshaw”.

In a scene which may have looked like something out of the Steve McQueen epic ‘The Great Escape’, the defendant was spotted racing another rickshaw rider, weaving in and out of heavy traffic as he went.

It seems Md Islam’s passengers were untroubled by the lack of a public liability insurance policy, as they were reportedly egging on the runaway rickshaw driver, ‘screaming and shouting’ and trying to slap the hands of the passengers in the competing vehicle.

Having observed the three wheeled dash for some time, police decided it was time to raise the chequered flag on Islam’s exploits, arresting him on Shaftesbury Avenue.

Ordered to pay a £100 fine and £85 towards the costs of the prosecution, some would say Md Islam got off rather lightly; if he had an accident without public liability insurance in place then his very livelihood would have been at stake.

So the moral of this story: Firstly, don’t be daft; secondly, if you think you’re going to be accidentally daft make sure you have public liability insurance in place to cover you against the cost of a claim.

Posted in Public Liability Insurance | Leave a comment

Firemen fail to make a splash

Posted on April 17, 2012 by ElWood

It’s not often that a group of 25 firemen can be accused of not making a bit of a splash when it comes to rescuing a hapless bird, but if you were the ill-fated herring gull entangled in plastic in a London pond you might think a bit differently.

When the 999 call went out describing a distressed bird in a pond, it goes without saying that the fire brigade rushed to the scene on mass, sending five separate crews comprising of 25 firemen. However, when the crews arrived, they refused to enter the waist-deep water because of potential safety risks. You’d be forgiven for thinking they weren’t covered by employers’ liability insurance.

The fire crews scrambled to Carshalton Ponds in Sutton, south London at around 2pm last Saturday after the RSPCA had been contacted initially by a concerned member of the public reporting a herring gull in distress.

Upon arrival at the scene, fire officers carried out a risk assessment which deemed it unsuitable for the firemen to wade into the water to rescue the struggling bird. It was left to Adam Briddock, 20, a part-time employee of the nearby Riverside animal centre to rescue the bird.

An onlooker described events as “health and safety gone mad”, although the fire brigade have defended their actions. A spokesman for the fire brigade said: “It was not about the bird, it was about the dangers that lurk under the surface of the water. The RSPCA were embarrassed that they called us out as they realised we probably should not have been there.”

Employers’ liability insurance is essential for any UK firm that has employees and covers the business should an employee sustain an injury whilst out on the job. However, maybe removing a plastic bag from a herring gull’s leg falls more under the RSPCA’s jurisdiction than that of the fire brigade.

If you’re looking for the best quotes on employers’ liability insurance, let us do all the hard work on your behalf!