Helplines

BII provides the following FREE helplines to help its members to succeed in business.

BII Licensing Hotline

advice from legal experts, Poppleston Allen
queries on all issues relating to the Licensing Act 2003
9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday

DPS telephone hotline

advice for supervising staff when the designated premises supervisor is off the premises
provided by legal experts, Poppleston Allen
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Legal helpline

confidential business or personal advice (including employment, family and property) from a team of qualified lawyers
available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

"I've used the free legal helpline several times, and my queries mainly concerned employment matters. The advice I received was very clear and enabled me to sort the situations out for the benefit of everyone concerned."
Keith De Bruin CMBII, Smeatons Tower Hotel, Plymouth, Devon.

Health & safety and food hygiene helpline

fast and confidential advice
assurance on environmental and food safety requirements, including advice on inspections, certification and legal issues
available 9am to midnight, 7 days a week

Financial helpline

free advice on accounts, stocktaking, VAT, income tax, National Insurance and lots more
access to a team of experts from UK leading specialist licensed trade accountants
9am to 5pm Mon-Fri - out of hours answer-phone facility available

Legal expenses insurance package

In association with Camberford Law, one of the leading insurance specialists, and backed by first-class insurer Groupama, BII members have access to a comprehensive employment and legal expenses insurance package worth around £250pa, for less than £100pa.

This comprehensive package includes:

telephone advice line offering legal advice - 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (business or personal, on employment matters, VAT, tax and motoring issues)
employment disputes cover - relating to contracts of employment/interviews with employees, ex-employees, prospective employees. The cost of legal advice and authorised expenses up to a limit of £50,000 is available
tax, VAT, PAYE & NIC investigations protection –professional fees incurred in respect of enquiries/investigations by the Inland Revenue
protection of licences – legal costs and expenses incurred in relation to a licence appeal
property legal protection – payment of legal costs and expenses up to £50,000 to pursue petitions in respect of negligence by a third party
landlord disputes – any costs, pursuit or defense, for actions against a landlord under the terms of a lease or tenancy agreement up to £50,000
payment of up to £50,000 in defending any legal proceeding arising from the Data Protection Act 1998
criminal proceedings defense cover – legal costs and expenses up to £50,000 incurred in defense of alleged criminal proceedings arising out of and in the course of your business
personal injury, business motoring, customer disputes – up to £75,000
jury service cover – up to £100 per day

Ratings advisory service

This service offers advice on the business rates that should be levied on licensed premises, and is available to all BII members who do not have this service provided for them (please check with your BDM or equivalent).

This licensed premises ratings service is delivered through a network of industry experts:

Michael Yass BSC MRICS of Fleurets (available to members in England and Wales only)
Chris Tattershall FRICS of Lawrence Tattershall (available to members in England and Wales only)
Tony McRitchie FRICS IRRV of Montagu Evans(available to members in Scotland only)
Terry Norman ARICS IRRV of Christie & co (available to members in England and Wales only).