Renewal season: policy reviews are being scheduled through 14 November. Ask for a slot

Stone Notch Independent Insurance
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A two-storey suburban family home with lit windows at dusk, the kind of property Stone Notch arranges cover for

Independent brokerage · households & small business

Cover that matches how you actually live and work.

We are not tied to one carrier. Stone Notch reads your existing schedules, finds where the wording leaves you exposed, then places the cover across a panel of insurers and stays on the file when you need to claim.

Request a policy review See what we place
  • Multi-carrier placement
  • Written renewal audit each year
  • Claims advocacy included

What we place

Four lanes, and the detail that decides them

Most households need two of these; most owner-run businesses need three. Read the lane that sounds like you and bring the questions to a review.

Lane 01

Home & property

Buildings and contents for owners, landlords and renters, written on a named-peril or open-peril basis depending on the age and construction of the building.

What it covers

  • Structure, permanent fixtures and outbuildings
  • Contents at replacement cost, not depreciated value
  • Alternative accommodation while the home is unlivable
  • Personal liability arising from the property

Fits you if

You own or let a home, you have renovated in the last five years, or your contents sum insured has not been revisited since you moved in.

Common add-ons

Water back-up, service line cover, high-value item schedules, home-office equipment.

Lane 02

Auto & mobility

Private vehicles, light commercial vehicles and mixed-use cars where the personal policy stops short the moment the vehicle is used for work.

What it covers

  • Third-party liability at limits set to your asset position
  • Own damage, theft and glass on an agreed or market value basis
  • Uninsured and underinsured motorist protection
  • Roadside recovery and replacement transport

Fits you if

You carry tools or stock, share a vehicle across a household, or added a young driver to the policy this year.

Common add-ons

Business-use extension, trailer cover, excess protection, low-mileage rating.

Lane 03

Small business

Trade, studio, retail and service operations from a single owner up to a small payroll, written as a package rather than a pile of unrelated policies.

What it covers

  • Public and products liability
  • Premises, stock, tools and equipment away from site
  • Business interruption tied to a realistic recovery period
  • Professional indemnity where you give advice or specify work

Fits you if

You sign client contracts with insurance clauses, hold stock, work at client sites, or have taken on your first employee.

Common add-ons

Cyber and funds-transfer cover, goods in transit, hired-in plant, employer liability.

Lane 04

Life & income protection

Term life, income protection and critical illness sized against real obligations — the mortgage, the lease, the years until the youngest child is independent.

What it covers

  • Level or decreasing term life against a fixed debt
  • Monthly benefit if illness or injury stops you working
  • Lump sum on a defined critical illness diagnosis
  • Cover written in trust where that speeds up payment

Fits you if

You have a mortgage, dependants, a business partner, or income that stops entirely if you cannot work for a month.

Common add-ons

Waiver of premium, indexation, children's cover, shorter deferred periods.

Who you work with

One broker on the file, start to claim

Stone Notch is a small independent brokerage. You deal with the same person who read your schedule, so nothing has to be explained twice — least of all on the day something goes wrong.

  • Independent by structure We hold agencies with several insurers rather than acting for one, so a placement can move when an insurer's appetite or pricing changes.
  • Wording before price We compare exclusions, excess levels and claim conditions first. A cheaper policy that excludes your most likely loss is not cheaper.
  • Claims handled with you We prepare the notification, argue the policy wording where it is being read too narrowly, and keep a written record of every response.
  • Plain written advice Every recommendation arrives as a short written summary: what is covered, what is not, and what you chose to leave uninsured.
An insurance broker and a client shaking hands across a desk at the end of a policy review
Reviews run about forty minutes and end with a written summary of the options.

How a placement works

Four steps, no surprises at the end

You are never committed until you sign. Nothing is bound and no payment is taken while the options are still on the table.

01

Read what you have

Send the current schedules. We mark the sums insured, excesses and exclusions that do not match how you use the property or run the business.

02

Agree the brief

We confirm the limits worth carrying and the risks you are content to keep. That written brief is what we take to the insurers.

03

Place across the panel

Terms come back from several insurers. You see them side by side with the wording differences called out, not just the premium line.

04

Bind and diarise

Cover starts on the date you choose. We diarise the renewal, mid-term changes and the review that reopens the file next year.

Before the review

Five things that make the first conversation short

None of these are mandatory. Bring what you can find and we will work around the gaps.

  • Current policy schedulesAny renewal notice from the last twelve months, even an expired one.
  • What has changedRenovations, a new vehicle, a first employee, stock held at home, a new contract.
  • Claims historyAnything notified in the past five years, whether or not it was paid.
  • Contract requirementsInsurance clauses a client, landlord or lender has asked you to satisfy.
  • Your excess toleranceThe loss you could absorb yourself without it becoming a problem.
Start a review request
Policy paperwork, schedules and a notebook laid out on a desk ready for an insurance review
Schedules and renewal notices are all we need to start.

If you need to claim

Do these three things first

The first forty-eight hours decide how smoothly a claim runs. This is the order we ask clients to work in.

Step one

Make it safe, then record it

Stop the loss getting worse and keep the receipts for whatever that costs. Photograph the damage before anything is cleared or repaired.

Step two

Tell us the same day

Send us the facts as you know them. Notification dates matter under most wordings, and we would rather log it early and withdraw than log it late.

Step three

Leave the wording to us

We draft the notification, deal with the loss adjuster and come back to you with anything the insurer needs, in one list rather than in pieces.

Emergency repairs to prevent further damage are usually acceptable before an insurer inspects. Full replacement work is not — hold off until we confirm it in writing.

Questions

The six we are asked every week

What does going through a broker cost me?

Our remuneration comes from the insurer as commission built into the premium, and we tell you what it is on every placement. Where a piece of work does not carry commission, we agree a fee in writing before starting it. You are never billed for a review that does not lead anywhere.

Are you actually independent, or tied to one insurer?

Independent. We hold agencies with several insurers and place each risk where the wording and appetite fit. If the best answer for you is to stay exactly where you are, that is what the review will say.

Can I switch in the middle of a policy year?

Usually yes. Most insurers return the unused portion of the premium, though some apply a minimum charge and a few short-period policies are non-refundable. We check the cancellation terms before recommending a mid-term move, and we never leave a gap between the two policies.

Where do home policies most often fall short?

Three places. Contents sums insured set years ago and never revisited; escape-of-water and back-up cover left off because it was an optional section; and single items above the policy's unspecified limit that were never scheduled. All three show up in the wording, which is why we read it before quoting.

When does a household policy stop covering my work?

Once you hold stock, have clients visiting, store tools of trade, employ anyone or sign a contract with an insurance clause. A home policy may carry a token amount of office equipment, but it is not liability cover for a business. If any of that describes you, the business lane applies.

What happens after I send the review request?

You get a short reply confirming what we would need to look at, and a time to talk it through. Nothing is quoted, bound or paid for at that point. If the timing is wrong, we simply diarise it for your renewal month instead.

Request a review

Send the outline, we will read it properly

A few lines is enough to start. We reply with what we would need to see and a time that suits you.

  • No quote is boundNothing starts, changes or lapses because you filled this in.
  • Renewal timing respectedTell us your renewal month and we will work back from it rather than rush you.
  • Used only to answer youWhat you send is used to prepare your review and nothing else.

Approximate is fine — it only sets the timing.

We reply to requests on working days. Nothing in this form creates or alters cover.