fix: adds null pointer checks #4

[jameslafferty]

Resolves the null pointer exceptions described in #4. Unit tests to follow.

• [x ] Make sure you are opening from a topic/feature/bugfix branch (right side) and not your main branch!
• [x] Ensure that the pull request title represents the desired changelog entry
• [x ] Please describe what you did
• [x] Link to relevant issues in GitHub or Jira
• [x] Link to relevant pull requests, esp. upstream and downstream changes
• [ ] Ensure you have provided tests - that demonstrates feature works or fixes the issue