Insurance tips?

JohnBoy

Our farm insurance is due for renewal.

Any tips on getting good deals/cover?

One area I know I need to look at is the buildings.

last year (our first year) the renewal came out with the buildings valued at around 30k

(3 span hayshed/silagepit with leantos on both sides, two cubicle houses, milking parlour and a machinery shed)

we figured it was way undervalued and asked a builder for an insurance valuation, he came back with close on 300k.

but reading the buildings page of the journal suggests that's madness. it might be close to the cost of building it all from a gree field site, but would rebuild costs generally ignore what's below ground? ie concrete slabs/tanks etc?

I suppose a shed manufacturer is who I need to talk to, or are there "standardised" rates for farm buildings?

Any other tips/suggestions

whelan1

i assume you are with either fbd or hibernian, did you get a quote off the company you are not with at the minute?

JohnBoy

I figured we should start by establishing what cover we need first.


We're through a broker with aviva at the moment

whelan1

JohnBoy wrote: »

I figured we should start by establishing what cover we need first.


We're through a broker with aviva at the moment

but if you get the person to come out from the insurance company they should be able to help you put a value on everything, thats what our person does anyways....she has a walk around the yard and tells us what she thinks and we can agree or disagree with her valuations, she is looking at things like that everyday of the week... you also have to remember that you have to have a valuation on the building that would cover the cost of it if you had to rebuild it

reilig

whelan1 wrote: »

you also have to remember that you have to have a valuation on the building that would cover the cost of it if you had to rebuild it

That's the main point to be careful about. If you insure a building for €30k and its rebuild cost was €90k, and if there was a fire and €30k worth of damage done to the building then you would only receive €10k worth of damages. ie. You only had your building insured for 1/3 of its value so they will only pay 1/3 of your claim.

So in its valuation, you will also need to include the costs of what is under ground such as tanks, slats, concrete etc. They want the valuation to be based on the cost of rebuilding it on a green field site.
I know that there is no need for it, but if the insurance company comes out to assess a claim, they will only be too delighted to see that you undervalued your buildings as it will mean that they have less to pay to you.

JohnBoy

Ok, so it should actually be the cost of building on a greenfield site, then our figures, while porbably high maybe arent as far out as I'd thought


I get your point too whelan1, let them do it themselves. years of being a "young male driver" has made me inherently untrustworthy of insurance companies.

Tora Bora

FBD are a bit like Carlsberg:rolleyes: If they were bank robbers, they would be the best bank robbers in the world:o

whelan1

Tora Bora wrote: »

FBD are a bit like Carlsberg:rolleyes: If they were bank robbers, they would be the best bank robbers in the world:o

very true but never take the quote you get as the quote you have to pay , there always room to negotiate

Curious Geroge

Got my renewal this morning too. With FBD for the ast 20+ years but we're up ~40% in the last 3 years. Has anyone changed over or seen a resonable drop on there quote.

Anyone mind sharing there costs.

Farm multiperil; house and farm, no cars. House @ 250 with 30% contents cover. Farm dwelling/contents, Outbuildings/Stock, Public Liability, All Risks, Livestock sections.

Outside of FBD and hibernian, can anyone recommend ?

BeeDI

Curious Geroge wrote: »

Got my renewal this morning too. With FBD for the ast 20+ years but we're up ~40% in the last 3 years. Has anyone changed over or seen a resonable drop on there quote.

Anyone mind sharing there costs.

Farm multiperil; house and farm, no cars. House @ 250 with 30% contents cover. Farm dwelling/contents, Outbuildings/Stock, Public Liability, All Risks, Livestock sections.

Outside of FBD and hibernian, can anyone recommend ?

Havent got my valuations to hand, but house and contents at 50%, plus slatted shed, plus hay shed, tractor, public liability.
FBD €210 more than Aviva through my broker.

TB

JohnBoy

Don have a price back yet, but the house is off the farm and insured seperately.

Couldnt arrange a time this week to meet someone from FBD (my fault not theirs) and insurance is up on friday, so will probably have to take what the broker gives us. Then again the broker's supposed to be looking for the best rate anyway.

Got another lad to look at the sheds and he revalued them downwards by between 20 and 50 percent.


Anyway I think the broker deserves the business after being able to dig out the reg number of our tractor, the details of which have long since disappeared. was well chuffed yesterday when we got the call about it.