A Day with a Rural Broker Part 4

The meeting was held in the farm house with the farmer, his wife and son present across an old wooden table that stood firm below the map of the land that had been owned by the family over many generations.

After double-checking all of the farm assets and vehicles for the purposes of fleet insurance, we got to the Rural Protect policy itself.

This was the point at which my interest peaked, as I really wanted to know what rural clients heard about us and the way in which they reacted.

My guide and mentor for the day gave a five-minute overview of cover and an example of fees for intervention that is covered by the policy but not by the NFU (the farmer’s existing provider). Then, from the family team came multiple questions about data protection, regulatory bodies, levels of support and if they needed to keep the relationship they had with the local firm to whom they went for guidance (and got charged for it).

With questions answered and fears allayed, it was then time to talk costs. Just like the auction mart where farmers were trying to get the best deal, I saw the same skills of negotiation come into play.

After a short but costly (for the broker) back and forth, the deal was done and the new client signed up with a much better deal for insurance. In addition, they were now fully protected by rradar and the Rural Protect policy.

Traveling back to the office, my guide and I got to talking about why she would earn less on a deal but spend the same amount of time on it. Her reply chimes perfectly with her as a person and the brokerage’s ethos.

“We have a duty to farmers and the rural community to get them the best deal but that includes the best coverage. I don’t want any farmer being in the position that they lose everything because they didn’t have the support of a broker who understood their business and cared for it like their own”.

With that, my day finished. However, on the drive home and in writing this, I reflected on how much passion, community spirit and willingness to help resonates with our firm. Rradar, the underwriters at HBU and the brokerage work so well together because we are looking after the client to make sure they can feed us all.

Oh – the name of my guide, mentor, broker extraordinaire is Debbie Airey and if, after reading this, you want to speak to her then their website is http://www.ccibltd.net/.

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