Insurance Times Awards 2024: Sedgwick and NFU Mutual partner to deliver ‘fast and effective response’

1. Why did you put yourselves forward for the Claims Partner of the Year category? 

This was a true partnership approach to managing a rare and complex technical claims event that potentially impacted over 3,000 UK sugar beet growers. Each claim was accurately adjusted and finalised within 14 weeks to meet the hard contractual deadline.

This landmark case demonstrates that with the correct collaboration, financial protection against widescale extreme weather-related crop damage can be achieved within the agricultural sector.

This is highly relevant as climate change takes its toll, with UK cereal crop yields estimated to decrease by 30% this year, due to exceptional rainfall preventing or ruining seed planting.

2. What do you think makes your entry stand out, and why should you win the award?

In response to an exceptional claims event that threatened national food security, Sedgwick delivered a team of specialists with the skills, expertise and knowledge to provide the specific support required by NFU Mutual, NFU Sugar, British Sugar and their farming customers.

With extensive experience handling agricultural losses, each of Sedgwick’s three key team members was uniquely qualified in critical niche areas – parametric cover, agricultural botany, agricultural economics, accounting and auditing.

This distinctive combination worked in close partnership with NFU Mutual to deliver a fast and effective response to this complex and time-sensitive situation.

3. What would winning this award mean to you and your firm?

We all go the extra mile to deliver the excellent service that customers expect in a crisis, but there are times when that response stands out as exceptional.

Winning this award would mean the world to NFU Mutual, Sedgwick and the colleagues who provided the specific skills and experience to deliver great outcomes for UK sugar beet farmers in a rare and challenging agricultural claims situation.