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NFU business insurance: at a glance
NFU Mutual provides a range of business insurance options across a number of trades and professions.
It started in 1910 as an insurance provider for farming communities in the Midlands but has since expanded its offering to include business insurance, along with home insurance and motor insurance. NFU Mutual is owned and run by its membership, and underwrites its own insurance policies.
NFU Mutual has 295 local agency offices across the UK, aiming to provide a personal service to members including quotes that are built around your business.
NFU Mutual Business Insurance
- Maximum Cover AmountsEmployers Liability: £10m
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NFU business insurance pros and cons
Pros
- Local agents can help you design your cover and manage your policy in person or over the phone.
- You can pay your premium annually or in monthly instalments.
- You can shop by specific industry or trade.
- You can make a claim over the phone.
Cons
- Customer service agents cannot be contacted at weekends.
- Self-service policy management is limited, as you need to contact an agent.
- You can submit your details for a quote online, but you’ll only receive a price through a callback.
These pros and cons are based on a survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.
NFU business insurance key features
- Packages available for a range of industries and trades
- Local support and expertise through its agent network
- No fees for monthly payments, cancellation or policy adjustments
NFU business insurance full review
NFU Mutual offers its insurance and expertise through its local agents, which you can contact online or over the phone, or visit at an office.
Its origins lie in farming, but it has built a sizeable offering for business of all shapes and sizes, including sole traders. You’ll find the standard liability covers, along with protection for vehicles and rental properties.
Find out more about NFU business insurance – including how it measures up to key priorities of business owners, according to our NerdWallet survey.
What types of business insurance does NFU offer?
NFU Mutual offers a large range of insurance for sole traders, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations. This includes:
- Employers’ liability insurance: This covers legal and compensation costs if a permanent or temporary employee becomes injured or is ill, or dies, due to their work.
- Public liability insurance: This covers compensation costs and legal fees if your business activities cause personal injury, illness or death, and property loss or damage to a member of the public.
- Product liability insurance: If you design or supply a faulty product, this covers compensation and legal costs if a client claims against you. This is paired with public liability insurance.
- Contents and stock insurance: This is cover for your business belongings or stock if they are stolen or damaged.
- Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance: This can cover associated costs if directors, officers, managers or partners are accused of wrongful acts, such as misleading statements and wrongful trading. There is also management liability for sole traders.
- Commercial vehicle insurance: This covers a range of vehicles you use to keep your business running, such as vans, heavy and light goods vehicles, and motor fleets.
- Landlord insurance: This covers fixtures and fitting of properties you rent out. It also covers loss of income if, for example, after a fire or flood makes your rental property uninhabitable, and replacement locks if keys are stolen. Optional extras include business travel, employers’ liability and contents insurance for your belongings.
- Commercial vehicle insurance: Whether it’s a van, truck, HGV or motor fleet, this can pay out if you are involved in an accident or the vehicle or contents are stolen or destroyed (up to a limit).
Cover will be up to certain maximum limits and there may be restrictions, depending on your specific circumstances. There are also many optional add-ons (at an extra cost), such as goods in transit cover to protect transporting your goods, or engineering insurance for machinery and plant.
NFU Mutual also offers a range of agricultural cover with its farming insurance and corporate insurance, including group personal accident insurance and life insurance for employees.
NFU insurance features
Here’s a closer look at the features of insurance offered through NFU. We’ve also considered what business owners said was most important to them in our NerdWallet survey.
Professions and trades covered
NFU Mutual offers cover for a large number of trades and sectors, with just a few examples below:
- caterers
- estate managers
- manufacturers and wholesalers
- car traders
- retailers
- builders
- carpenters
- plumbers
- electricians
- accountants
- solicitors
If your trade or sector isn’t mentioned on the website, or if you’re not sure if it would cover you, an NFU agent can help explain.
Payment options
You can pay your premiums annually or in monthly instalments. You won’t pay interest on monthly payments or a cancellation fee if you end your cover before the term is up. You can also make adjustments to your policy without being charged a fee.
In our survey, the option to pay monthly was the second most important factor, with annual payment ranking fourth. So having this choice is a priority for many.
Online policy management
Web-based policy management was ranked third in importance in our survey, so it’s a key consideration for many businesses. You can submit queries to NFU through its online form, and an agent will call you back. While this isn’t so much an online portal, it is a clear route for queries. You can get a quote for some types of cover online.
Phone support
You can call its UK-based agency offices about your cover to make changes or get a quote. Lines are open 9am-5pm on weekdays, but not on weekends. You can also fill in a form online to get a call back about your query.
Phone support was only ranked eighth in importance in our survey, with effective self-service through an online dashboard seen as more of a priority for most. However, the local, in-person or phone option could make the process feel more personal when compared with large, national contact centres.
Making a claim
To make a claim on your business insurance, you will need to know the policy you are claiming on and how you bought it, as well as how urgent it is. The routes are as follows:
- If you bought your cover over the phone with Mutual Direct: You can call a designated phone number. Lines are open on weekdays between 9am and 6pm.
- If you bought your policy with an NFU agent: You need to make the claim through the agent. You can search for local agents through the website.
- If it’s an emergency and outside working hours: If the situation puts anyone’s health at risk, has created poor working conditions, or might damage your property, you can call a 24/7 phone line outside normal working hours.
- If it’s a commercial vehicle claim: Phone lines are open 24/7.
Claims are by phone, though if you bought through an agent it is possible to fill in an online enquiry form to notify NFU and then receive a call back.
In our survey, being able to make a claim online was the number one priority in the survey, considered an important factor for nearly half (48%) of business owners.
Customer reviews
NFU Mutual has a Trustpilot rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on over 4,000 reviews (as of 8 March 2023). Bear in mind that this rating is for the entire NFU Mutual brand, not just for their specific business offerings.
Can you shop by profession with NFU?
You can shop by specific professions and trades, such as caterers, tradespeople, office workers, event organisers and wholesalers. This might be a useful way to see the usual types of insurance applicable to the risks of your business and the packages (and optional add-ons) available.
In our NerdWallet survey, shopping by industry was ranked seven out of 10 in importance, with convenience and industry expertise a factor worth mentioning for some.
Always focus on your own business risks, though, as these won’t be the same for everyone. This is something an NFU agent can help you consider.
How to choose the right business insurance
The business insurance you choose needs to address the specific risks your business faces. There is a wide choice of cover available, but some businesses need at least the following cover to be able to operate:
- You need employers’ liability insurance by law if you employ anyone in the UK who isn’t family, or if you employ family and your business is a limited company.
- Some professions, such as solicitors and architects, are required to have professional indemnity insurance by their governing bodies and regulators.
- You may be asked to have a specific level of public liability insurance to carry out some work, including public sector contracts.
- If you use a vehicle for work (other than commuting), you should consider business car insurance or commercial vehicle insurance. If you drive any motor vehicle, you are required by law to have proper insurance.
When it comes to choosing between providers after getting a quote, always look at the level of cover provided, not just the price.
How to get NFU business insurance
You can get a quote for an NFU Mutual business insurance policy in the following ways:
- Request a call back: You can complete an online form and an agent will review your details and call you back with details about your quote.
- Contact your local agency: NFU Mutual has a network of over 295 local agencies and you can call or arrange for an agent to visit and arrange your quote.
You can also use an online form to get a quote for some types of cover, such as retailer insurance. You fill in details about your business, including its legal structure, turnover, location and when you started trading, as well as basic personal details and your preferred policy start date. You will then receive a call back.
How to save money on NFU insurance
Some possible ways to pay less for your business insurance by buying it with NFU Mutual include:
- There are no cancellation fees if you decide to cancel during the policy term.
- You won’t pay interest if you pay your premiums monthly by direct debit.
- You don’t pay fees if you need to make changes to your policy, mid-term.
- For farmers, there are discounts on other services and waiving of some excess charges with its Union Advantage programme.
Review methodology
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Best means our ‘Best’ and is based only on what products we have aligned to our surveys, which form the basis of our reviews and ratings. This means that there will be other products on the market that we have not included in our ‘Best’ pages. Best does not mean it’s best for you, nor does it mean the ‘cheapest’.
Our reviews may display lenders’ rates. This additional information has not been included in our evaluations but is still very important when choosing a product. Rates offered can depend on circumstances, amount and term. Always check details before proceeding with any financial product.
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