Below, we inform you of the changes we are making to Rural Protect, which will take effect from 1st April. We also share our latest blog posts with you.
The following changes will apply to all Rural Protect policies incepting or renewing on or after 1st April 2021.
Excess Changes
Company Legal Liability and Pursuit - £2,500
o The excess will not be applied where there is a successful defence
o The excess buy-back to reduce this to £1,000 for Company Legal Liability is still available
Employment Practices Liability - £10,000
o The excess will not be applied where there is a successful defence
o In all other instances, where the advice of rradar is followed, this will reduce to £1,000
Our Fee
Please note that this is now £26.50.
Rating Changes
Despite the Covid pandemic, where many businesses have seen a reduction in activity, the agricultural sector has remained static and there has been no let up in the volume of legal and regulatory matters that we have been assisting policyholders with. As such, the product base rates are increasing, reflective of the volume and frequency of claims we are seeing.
There is a
definite need for the invaluable cover that the Rural Protect policy provides, and we will be sharing more claims examples with you over the coming months, showing where the policy has responded and removed the financial burden costly litigious matters can incur on a business or individual.
The rate rise will vary per policy, starting from 25%. Naturally, there will be fluctuations on this based on risk profile and individual claims experience.
Cover Changes
We have introduced a Contribution Clause as there have been a number of claims for Public Liability and/or Bodily Injury where the underlying Liability would also respond to the incident.
We have capped any claim involving dispute arising from the lineage, progeny; descending line of offspring or ascending line of parentage of any livestock or semen straws to £50,000 any one claim and/or period of insurance.
Additional Cover - Family Legal Expenses
Having received and taken on board your invaluable feedback, we now include Family Legal cover as a standard policy section of Rural Protect.
This cover extends to all owners, partners and directors of the business and their family permanently residing with them. As with the Personal and Company Liability sections, cover is provided on a mandatory basis.
The limit of indemnity is £100,000. For further details on the extent of cover provided, click here.
Please remember to review where there is a separate family legal expenses cover in force so that your client is not duplicating their cover, but more importantly not paying for something that they no longer need. This will be particularly relevant for existing Rural Protect policyholders who have a Farm Combined policy.