Caving Hut Buildings Insurance

[Ed W]

Can anyone recommend a decent buildings insurance provider for a caving hut?  One of my clubs has been using the NFU for years, but the prices have become ever steeper, and on top of this they are almost insisting that we need additional PL insurance for the hut (which I believe is covered by our BCA insurance).  The quote we have for this year is getting to the point where it will be taking up about a third of our subscription income.  Any ideas about more cost effective buildings insurance for the club property would be most welcome.

Cheers!

 

[bograt]

I agree  that NFU is not your  best alternative, Orpheus caving club  (OCC) seems to have this sorted!.

 

[Les W]

Wessex has a bespoke policy from NFU which was very reasonable however I don't know how much it is now. We were paying a lot and it went to 2 grand one year so we got NFU Wells brance involved (one of the partners is a WCC member) and they designed us a policy specifically for our risks rather than the on size fits all policy that we had previously. The premium dropped to around ?500.
Our previous cover was for a clubhouse and included stuff like cover for gaming tables and other irrelevancies.

I could put you on to our man at NFU if you wanted but I do need to check how much we pay now.

I do recall hearing, at the last BCA Council meeting I believe, that BCA's new insurer was looking at a policy for club huts. It might be worth a shout to BCA's Insurance Manager...

 

[martinr]

Wessex has a bespoke policy from NFU which was very reasonable however I don't know how much it is now. We were paying a lot and it went to 2 grand one year so we got NFU Wells brance involved (one of the partners is a WCC member) and they designed us a policy specifically for our risks rather than the on size fits all policy that we had previously. The premium dropped to around ?500.
Our previous cover was for a clubhouse and included stuff like cover for gaming tables and other irrelevancies.

I could put you on to our man at NFU if you wanted but I do need to check how much we pay now.

I do recall hearing, at the last BCA Council meeting I believe, that BCA's new insurer was looking at a policy for club huts. It might be worth a shout to BCA's Insurance Manager...

MCG changed to NFU at the same time the WCC did, we dealt with the same Partner at NFU who was a WCC member and he designed a policy specifically for our risks rather than the on size fits all policy that we had previously. As with the WCC our premium dropped by many hundreds of ? although I can not remember the exact amount. NFU had no issue with MCG taking BCA PL (after they had sight of the BCA policy)

I suppose these things change with time, but as NFU is a mutual I'd be suprised if another insurer can provide PL any cheaper than they do?

 

[martinr]

I agree  that NFU is not your  best alternative

Just interested to know why you say this?

Orpheus caving club  (OCC) seems to have this sorted!.

Do you want to share - who do they get buildings and contents insurance from?

 

[bograt]

I agree  that NFU is not your  best alternative

Just interested to know why you say this?

I know of two regional secretaries in my area who give totally opposing advice on insurance to landowners, I suspect they are paid on commission, and therefore try to push up the price.

Re; OCC, just by observation, they seem happy with their deal, it may be NFU, I don't know, they may have a decent regional sec., you will have to ask one of their officers.

 

[martinr]

Hiscox perhaps?

 

[martinr]

I agree  that NFU is not your  best alternative

Just interested to know why you say this?

I know of two regional secretaries in my area who give totally opposing advice on insurance to landowners, I suspect they are paid on commission, and therefore try to push up the price.

Re; OCC, just by observation, they seem happy with their deal, it may be NFU, I don't know, they may have a decent regional sec., you will have to ask one of their officers.

Do you have any evidence that NFU are more expensive than any other insurer? How do you observe that a club is happy with its deal?

 

[bograt]

Do you have any evidence that NFU are more expensive than any other insurer?

Not evidence, just experience, they are the best deal for agricultural insurance, but they are not the best for non farmers.

 

[Chris Crowley]

The Croydon cottage in Ystradfellte is insured by the NFU at less than ?500

 

[Blakethwaite]

Ecclesiastical may ne able to give you a reasonable quote, their rates generally used to be good. No idea what their position in regards to caving huts in particular is though.

 

[Jenny P]

Orpheus have just renewed their Hut insurance with NFU and it cost ?700. 

We did get quotes from other insurers, including Perkins Slade (the new BCA insurers), who had suggested they might be willing to take on insuring club huts.  In the event the best quote was from NFU so we went with them again.  We have been insuring with them for quite a few years and switched to them from our previous insurers (Cornhill), who didn't seem to understand the nature of a "club premises" when it was a caving club "hut".

Don't forget that what you pay will depend on the the actual value of the premises and its facilities and, to some extent, the area it is in and the immediate surroundings.  So it would probably be reasonable to expect that the Orpheus Cottage would cost more to insure than the Croydon.

 

[bograt]

Just as a point of interest Jenny, do you know which office your regional NFU secretary works out of?
There appears to be a world of difference between Chapel and Matlock offices, maybe your's is Ashbourne?

 

[Jenny P]

I don't know, I'd have to look it up.  I'll check and post the information.

Another point worth making re. cost is that the Orpheus insurance with NFU covers contents as well as the building itself so this could make quite a difference.

 

[Jenny P]

The Orpheus Hut Insurance was taken out with the Matlock branch of the NFU insurance outfit.  AFAIK they have been very helpful and we have used them for many years.

Does help to have the building and its contents valued professionally before you start to search for insurance.

 

[cavegirl99]

Hi All,

I'm resurecting this thread.  Our Caving Club Hut insurance is due for renewal, we are currently using Howdens, but it is a while since I've shopped around to check that the price is competitive.  It would be helpful to know what companies other clubs are using to get an idea of who to approach for quotes, or if anyone has any specific contacts that I could speak to that would be really helpful.

cheers
Jo

 

[Jenny P]

Can only suggest you try NFU.  But, as indicated in earlier posts, it may depend on which local office you are dealing with and also on the value of your Club Hut.  Orpheus, in Derbyshire, deals with the Matlock branch and they have always been very helpful. 

Note what I said as well:
Does help to have the building and its contents valued professionally before you start to search for insurance.

Wessex seem to do well with NFU as they have a bespoke policy and worth noting what Les W said about this.  Don't know if BCA has got any further yet as Les said:
I do recall hearing, at the last BCA Council meeting I believe, that BCA's new insurer was looking at a policy for club huts. It might be worth a shout to BCA's Insurance Manager...

I will raise this at the next BCA Council meeting.