Tom Forster, Head of Underwriting at Farmers and Mercantile recently had an article published in Farm Business.
Tom was discussing the benefits owners and managers of well managed farms can achieve – in safety and cost saving. To read the full text of the article click on Put your house (farm) in order.
The Journal, Newcastle Upon Tyne, reported 2nd April 2012 article on the recent recruitment by Farmers & Mercantile of two new, but greatly experienced, brokers to the farm insurance team based in York.
Tony Allanson who manages the Yorkshire office comments on the recruitment of Mick Hodgson and David Maddick to improve coverage across North Yorkshire, Northumberland, County Durham and Cumbria.
We have seen a large number of farming clients that have chosen to install renewable energy plants, most commonly to harness wind and solar energies. Most clients are choosing contractors to install these apparatus and we recommend that you always ask to see proof of their insurance arrangements. In addition to any public liability and employer’s liability cover, they should also have contract works insurance covering the property they are working on.
As thousands of pounds are spent on these projects and the income and cheap energy supply often being relied on in future business models, we recommend taking out specifically designed policies to cover you turbine or panels on an ‘all risks’ basis. Storm damage is of particular worry to turbine proprietors and weight of snow and hail being a problem for panels on the roofs of collapsing barns. Attempted thefts of any equipment, material or cabling should not be underestimated in the current climate.
The policies we can provide are competitive and comprehensive in the cover provided and include extra benefits such as breakdown, which will protect you if any warranty expires, or is lost following your manufacturer going bust. There are insurance products on the market that do not include lightning damage to turbines, so be sure to check a quote thoroughly, or use a broker who will do that for you.
Loss of income cover is also available to cover your business against the lost tariff income and to subsidise the buying in of electric from the grid. You should be aware though that no insurer will cover any fall in the tariff rates or failure to generate due to lack of wind or light.
Author: Alec Bond, Farmers & Mercantile Shropshire Office, Ludlow
Alec Bond, of Farmers & Mercantile Ludlow office, commented in this week’s Farm Business Money Matters on the practice of obtaining competitive quotes online for farm & farm related insurances.
Full text of the article is below:
Alec Bond advises on how to get an insurance deal that works for your farm
Following Richard Wright’s column about obtaining insurance quotations (Bottom Line, Farm Business 20th January), I thought it prudent to look a little closer at this process with the farmers’ interests in mind.
What is the best approach to obtaining quotations and can farm business insurance really be compared with the numerous online car and home products?
There is nothing wrong with obtaining cheaper quotations from an online provider of car insurance and using it as leverage to get your current insurer to match a similar private car policy. Farmers should be wary, however, about using these websites to find a fair price comparison against their farm motor fleet insurances.
The cover will undoubtedly be more restrictive if the policy is not specifically written with agriculture in mind, especially with regards to what you can use the vehicle for, be it business use, restricted mileage, eligible drivers or towing, for example.
Increasingly we are seeing a trend of companies trying to undercut premiums by eliminating the costs of the invaluable annual meeting on farm between client and broker. If a cheaper quotation is obtained via the telephone or internet, don’t be fooled into thinking this compares with having an adviser consider your diverse needs.
FACE- TO-FACE APPROACH
We believe a face-to-face approach between the client and their broker is paramount to safeguard your needs, and traditionally farm insurance has always been conducted in this way.
We know that the annual on-farm review is an essential step; forego it and you risk under- or over-insurance.
A broker should always compare prices and covers with multiple insurers on your behalf and all cover should be written with your farm business in mind.
I would urge caution if you intend to ‘play the game’ of using alternative quotation methods
purely for price leverage. A website or telephone quotation division when faced with a claim can truthfully say “you never told us about that”, expecting that you should have understood all of the policy terms.Farm business underwriting terms, unlike car insurance terms, are complex and require expert knowledge, especially when written using multiple carriers.
If you try to compare the price, the danger lies in that you cannot compare the cover!
It’s in the best interest of brokers to ensure their clients are paying a realistic premium for optimum cover and that any claim settlement adheres to terms and is fair.
Ok, we know it is still a few months away, but Farmers & Mercantile are getting ready for Cereals 2012.
F&M’s stand number is H922. We look forward to seeing you there.
As the Cereals 2012 website says
Cereals 2012 takes place on Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th June at Boothby Graffoe, Lincolnshire.
Cereals is the leading technical event for the UK arable industry with over 64ha of stands and live demonstrations including Crop Plots, Working Cultivations, Sprays and Sprayers, Post-Harvest Technology, Business Area, Potatoes and Renewables.
The old adage that ‘success breeds success’, is as true in sport as it is in business. As a successful business Farmers & Mercantile believes in supporting the stand-out achievements of certain deserving clubs local to its offices.
A few miles south-west of the Ludlow office is Luctonians RFC who in 2010 won a hard fought promotion to National League 2 North, Farmers & Mercantile are keen supporters. We know that growth and success is a product of the support you receive, with Farmers and Mercantile transforming from a small business to a nationwide company out of the loyalty of its clients. It is a loyalty that we do not take for granted and our support of Luctonians also gives opportunity for us to say thank you to our customers.
The club, rather than struggling in its new league flourished to finish 9th overall, and many Saturdays of great rugby were witnessed by both the company and our clients who were invited throughout the year.
This year has also seen the club start strongly with Luctonians currently in 5th place in the league. Saturday 11th February saw Farmers and Mercantile entertain several clients on their table at the Clubs annual sponsors dinner. Representing the company were Paul Aston-Evans and Alec Bond who were joined by local farmers Geoff and Anita Bright and their two sons Sam and Will. From a little further afield came clients Janet, Ted and Robert Jones who farm in Nesscliffe, Shropshire and run Rob Jones Tractor Hire.
The meal was a lovely pork roast, carved expertly at the table by Ted Jones and was greatly enjoyed by all. The after dinner speeches included the usual light hearted Rugby stories and jokes from the Luctionians President and an informative but highly entertaining guide to the symptoms of prostate cancer by consultant urologist David Baxter-Smith . The club is a great supporter in the fight against the disease and even opens its doors as a drop in centre for blood tests.
Despite the cold weather and every other game in the league being cancelled, Luctonains had kept their pitch from freezing with a fleece and were more than prepared to meet visitors Nuneaton RFC. In glorious winter sunshine the match kicked off, with Luctonians stealing an early try in the first 3 minutes which was confidently converted. Luctonians maintained the tempo, finishing the first half with a commanding 21-3 lead. The second half was finished off with two more converted tries for a confident 35-3 victory.
Coming back into the warm our party enjoyed more of the hospitality indoors whilst watching the televised Italy Vs England, many amongst us agreeing that the quality of the rugby had been better outside. In all the day had been a fantastic success for club and sponsor with everyone agreeing that it had been a Saturday afternoon to remember.
Caroline Startin chaired this year’s event thanking the heavens for a glorious day, “last
year we were knee deep in mud” Caroline said “it takes a lot of the worry away when the
weather behaves!”.
A great turn out made for a worthwhile day. I had the best cup of tea I’ve had in a long time!
We have just been the subject of a hacking attack on our website www.fandmgroup.co.uk. As you might see if your search results show a Farmers & Mercantile page in the results it appears that as well as selling farm & farm related insurances you can also buy some nice boots from F&M.
You will be pleased to hear that this isn’t true. We continue to focus on what we do best providing insurance to farmers and we are getting our technical team to address the hacking attack.
Please note that no confidential data has been exposed to any threat. Our systems are well protected and our marketing website is completely separate from our administrative systems.
We have a winner of our draw, sponsored by F&M’s Engineering Inspection Division, Mr Greg Bliss, Stilton, Peterborough, won the 2 tickets to see England vs Wales at Twickenham later this month.
Greg’s reaction was firstly one of shock that very quickly turned to jubilation, he said “I’ve been with F&M for 15 years and this is the first time I’ve ever had anything out of them!” he then went on to say “in all seriousness whenever I get another quote it proves that I’m in the right place.”
The famous Rugby quote “Run at the spaces, not at the faces” embodies the message that the Engineering Inspection department are selling, don’t run toward trouble – limit your liability on all lifting machinery!
We were recently informed of two farm vehicles which were recovered during January, after being stolen, as a result of having our recommended tracking systems installed.
We have recently added details to our website of our Farm Vehicle Tracker & Immobilser offer available to farmers across the UK.
