Agricultural Engineers- Insurance

[Nigel Wellings]

As Insurance Brokers for Farms and Rural Businesses we have struggled for the last 20 years to find Insurance Companies that are willing to Provide Public Liability and Employers Liability cover for Agricultural Mechanics. I have a case at the moment with a very good mobile mechanic going out and doing repairs both on farm and in his own workshop. We are having difficulties finding an Insurer to quote at the moment.
Who are other small Farm Mechanics Insuring with? Do you know who the Insurance Company is? Will NFU do this cover without any problems? What sort of premiums are you paying?
I am not really asking these questions for my own personal gain but more importantly it is vital that the people providing this type of service are able to access Insurance cover at reasonable cost. Even as machinery gets more complex I feel there will be increased demand for good mechanics not weighed down by the costs of main dealerships.
I welcome your comments.

 

[njneer]

NFU couldn’t be less interested In my experience .
Seemed , disappointingly, to be too far from the norm for them and far too much like hard work for them to even look into as they didn’t have an off the shelf policy .
Really gave me the impression that they felt it was entirely beneath them , a sentiment i am finding more and more with the NFU.
Must have given them tens,if not hundreds , of thousands across our family in the past between farms and vehicle Insurance , including two haulage companies, but they were just not interested so they haven’t had a penny since.
Surprising really as it is a very agricultural business by its very nature.
I eventually found a firm in Glasgow (TowerGate Insurance ) and found them very straight forward when I was a self employed independent some years ago.
Very good cover , public liability and service cover covering indemnity for Repairs.
Had cover for the workshop I rented , which was part of another business , and cover for value of the vehicles that I had a fleet maintenance contract for.
NFU have simply taken custom for granted for far too long .An attitude of “ Well they are farmers and farmers always use the NFU” and are fast becoming out of touch with the changes within the industry in my opinion.
Premiums from memory were very reasonable, I felt, and gave me the confidence of a safety net behind when starting out as machinery is very expensive and mistakes are easily made and can be so costly a Mistake could finish you before you start.
Many customers found the presence of insurance in place gave them the reassurance of a professional outlook and not just another white van man.

 

[Baker9]

You have probably already considered this, but who insures the small car mechanic who has his own premises?
I have insurance to service Oil burners/boilers at customers premises through my local broker with a company called "Commercial Express". They may be worth a try.

 

[Nigel Wellings]

Sounds a bit like the BAGMA insurance scheme that Towergate insured you under. This was good cover, at very competitive premiums. It seems aimed at slightly larger dealers now and may well have got more expensive.
The NFU attitude is typical of so many Insurers I am afraid. Does not fit the tickbox so they dont want to know. I do think NFU attitude though varies hugely depending how keen local Agents are. Pleased to hear you were prepared to make a stand and move your business away.
As you say it is important that this cover is easily available at the right price both from Farmers point of view and the Ag Engineers point of view. It provides both parties with protection.
Appreciate your response

 

[Nigel Wellings]

You have probably already considered this, but who insures the small car mechanic who has his own premises?
I have insurance to service Oil burners/boilers at customers premises through my local broker with a company called "Commercial Express". They may be worth a try.

You are 100% correct and this is what frustrates me so much. There are plenty of companies out there willing to insure all types of car mechanics often with little or no experience but as soon as you mention Ag Engineers they run for the hills. Personally I consider car repairs higher risk insurance-wise than Ag but Insurers just dont want to understand Ag Engineers. Previously spoken to Commercial express and drawn a blank.
Thanks

 

[Battlefield Machinery]

From my understanding as a dealer, there are so many different facets to the business, that insurance is very difficult to obtain and have the correct coverage. Ours is on a motor traders policy , previously with an independent broker and currently with tower gate...but the supplier is Avviva

 

[Nigel Wellings]

From my understanding as a dealer, there are so many different facets to the business, that insurance is very difficult to obtain and have the correct coverage. Ours is on a motor traders policy , previously with an independent broker and currently with tower gate...but the supplier is Avviva

Aviva is the market leader I would suggest for Dealers and provide excellent cover in terms of their motor trade policy for Ag Dealers which includes all the correct liability cover for servicing and repairs. Problem is they dont really want the smaller end of the market. I think their minimum premiums kick off at £5000, which is way too high for a one man band.

 

[ACEngineering]

As Insurance Brokers for Farms and Rural Businesses we have struggled for the last 20 years to find Insurance Companies that are willing to Provide Public Liability and Employers Liability cover for Agricultural Mechanics. I have a case at the moment with a very good mobile mechanic going out and doing repairs both on farm and in his own workshop. We are having difficulties finding an Insurer to quote at the moment.
Who are other small Farm Mechanics Insuring with? Do you know who the Insurance Company is? Will NFU do this cover without any problems? What sort of premiums are you paying?
I am not really asking these questions for my own personal gain but more importantly it is vital that the people providing this type of service are able to access Insurance cover at reasonable cost. Even as machinery gets more complex I feel there will be increased demand for good mechanics not weighed down by the costs of main dealerships.
I welcome your comments.

Yes, i'm with NFU.

Gets expensive when you start adding a lot of welding and gas cutting in to the mix though! i do very little of that now so it cut my costs quite a lot. You need to speak directly to your local branch ideally get them to come out to workshop even.

 

[ACEngineering]

As Insurance Brokers for Farms and Rural Businesses we have struggled for the last 20 years to find Insurance Companies that are willing to Provide Public Liability and Employers Liability cover for Agricultural Mechanics. I have a case at the moment with a very good mobile mechanic going out and doing repairs both on farm and in his own workshop. We are having difficulties finding an Insurer to quote at the moment.
Who are other small Farm Mechanics Insuring with? Do you know who the Insurance Company is? Will NFU do this cover without any problems? What sort of premiums are you paying?
I am not really asking these questions for my own personal gain but more importantly it is vital that the people providing this type of service are able to access Insurance cover at reasonable cost. Even as machinery gets more complex I feel there will be increased demand for good mechanics not weighed down by the costs of main dealerships.
I welcome your comments.

If you cant get anywhere with your NFU contact then try Mike at Deddington Office, he sorts all mine out.

 

[Nigel Wellings]

Very good point re welding and gas cutting. There are occasionally cheap insurance quotes available on on line platforms but when you read the small print they often exclude;work away from the premises, use of welding, gas and grinding equipment and liability in respect of faulty workmanship. As @battlefieldmachinery said ensuring you have correct cover is paramount.

 

[Nigel Wellings]

If you cant get anywhere with your NFU contact then try Mike at Deddington Office, he sorts all mine out.

Thanks-Mike Wynn was a friend of mine when I worked for NFU many moons ago- top bloke

 

[Phil P]

I’m also with the NFU, cover me for usually public liability etc, indemnity on repairs, up to 5 machines in the workshop for fire and theft, cover on tools in the workshop and vehicle. There’s a couple of other more bits which where a bit more tricky to sort as I do work for an airport also some shot blasting and the odd bit of on-site fabrication/welding, they did in sort it though.
The only thing I didn’t go for was to drive other people’s tractors on the road as it would mean a separate motor trade policy and was just way to expensive for what I’d use it.
We have the agent come out every year and go through all our policies and adjust them as needed and also screw them down on price as much as possible.

 

[Farmer_Joe]

prob of no help but 15 years ago when i was a vehicle mechanic self employed and just started from small premises (shed on farm!) axa did my trade policy/indemnity/multi vehicle cover and were excellent and very competitive at the time.

 

[MF-ANDY]

NFU couldn’t be less interested In my experience .
Seemed , disappointingly, to be too far from the norm for them and far too much like hard work for them to even look into as they didn’t have an off the shelf policy .
Really gave me the impression that they felt it was entirely beneath them , a sentiment i am finding more and more with the NFU.
Must have given them tens,if not hundreds , of thousands across our family in the past between farms and vehicle Insurance , including two haulage companies, but they were just not interested so they haven’t had a penny since.
Surprising really as it is a very agricultural business by its very nature.
I eventually found a firm in Glasgow (TowerGate Insurance ) and found them very straight forward when I was a self employed independent some years ago.
Very good cover , public liability and service cover covering indemnity for Repairs.
Had cover for the workshop I rented , which was part of another business , and cover for value of the vehicles that I had a fleet maintenance contract for.
NFU have simply taken custom for granted for far too long .An attitude of “ Well they are farmers and farmers always use the NFU” and are fast becoming out of touch with the changes within the industry in my opinion.
Premiums from memory were very reasonable, I felt, and gave me the confidence of a safety net behind when starting out as machinery is very expensive and mistakes are easily made and can be so costly a Mistake could finish you before you start.
Many customers found the presence of insurance in place gave them the reassurance of a professional outlook and not just another white van man.

Couldn't agree less with this. I was with Coop insurance from the days when you used to have a rep call on you. They stopped commercial stuff a few years ago and farmed it out to someone else. Tried nfu 2 years ago and they designed a bespoke policy based on another engineer they deal with but wanted tool insurance too. The combined policy was cheaper than my 2 old separate policies. Thought it might justve been a cheap deal to get my business but this years policy with members discount was slightly cheaper.