Derbyshire farmer disputes NFU Mutual storm payout

A Derbyshire beef farmer is demanding NFU Mutual review a claim offer he says he was “strong armed” into accepting after storm damage to his shed.

David Hunt, of Manor Farm, Oakerthorpe, runs a beef herd and butchery business and has been an NFU Mutual customer for more than 20 years.

He pays £6,000-£7,000 a year for his insurance policy, which is auto-renewed. In that time, he has made only one previous claim.

See also: NFU Mutual apologises and pays farmer full storm damage

In December 2024, nearly half the roof of his Dutch barn – housing cattle and 400 hay bales – was ripped off in a storm. Debris scattered across fields and left dangerous sections hanging loose.

Mr Hunt, 61, was initially offered £4,800, despite receiving repair quotes of up to £32,000.

“I lost a good chunk off the barn roof and the hay that was inside it. However, I later found out I wasn’t covered for the hay which was around another £2,000 loss,” he said.

“My local NFU agent came out and initially said we need to keep this claim ‘under the radar’, which I later found out to mean keep it under £4,000, so the agent could handle it himself.”

David Hunt with parts of the damaged barn © David Hunt

He added: “Any more than that, and the claim is passed over to an NFU Mutual claims team. The agent also suggested I find a neighbour with a telehandler and offer him a ‘drink’ to come and pull down the remaining pieces of the roof.

“I thought this was quite incredible and told him no way would I do that as it could be putting our safety at risk.”

NFU Mutual later explained the roof was covered under an indemnity policy – something Mr Hunt said he was never made aware of.

“NFU Mutual told me my roof was under indemnity insurance with a maximum cost of storm damage repair of £43,000, but was subject to a wear and tear deduction,” he added.

“I couldn’t understand how it was under an indemnity insurance as I never had requested that or was told about it. All these years I had been paying for it and wasn’t covered the way I thought I was.”

Eventually, NFU Mutual offered £7,500 plus £300 in compensation.

“I, personally, felt that an offer of around £15,000 would be acceptable, but it wasn’t to be. I really needed to get the shed repaired properly and felt I was ‘strong armed’ into accepting it,” he said.

Deduction ‘too harsh’

A local NFU Mutual insider said: “With this particular case, we can appreciate the customer did not fully understand the indemnity insurance and its entitlements.

“However, we also feel that the loss adjuster was too harsh with the deduction for wear and tear of the barn and believe the final offer should have been much higher for this particular customer.”

Since reading the media story of the County Antrim dairy farmer Gary McConnell, who challenged his NFU Mutual final claim offer, Mr Hunt has asked his insurer to review his claim.

NFU Mutual response

However, NFU Mutual said it did not consider Mr Hunt’s version to be a fair or accurate account of the case.

A spokesperson said: “Mr Hunt’s properties were insured on indemnity-only bases for years, clearly marked on his policy documents and noted at inception and renewal, meaning wear and tear would be deducted from claims. The customer had regular contact with his agency and could have asked for further explanation at any time.

“The barn was judged by independent loss adjusters to have around five years’ lifespan, but to protect Mr Hunt while remaining true to policy terms, we assumed 10 years, increasing the settlement. This was raised again after we saw the timber was in better-than-expected condition.

“We are satisfied the correct decision was made and will not be revisiting the payment.”