Rural wants to double in size

Rural Insurance wants to double in size within the next three years and become a top three player in the agricultural market.

The insurer wrote £5.1m of new business in the last financial year and increased its overall GWP to £23m from around £19.5m the year before that.

Managing director Simon Stevens said that despite NFU’s market dominance, there was still enough room for other players.

He said: “Our aim was to double the size of Rural by 2015 and become a top three player in the market segments we compete in. These results illustrate that we remain firmly on course to achieve our objectives.”

Stevens said Rural wants to launch a new equine product, extend its ability to quote against environmental pollution by farmers and introduce broker schemes for smallholders. The insurer also wants to push for more business in the south of England and write more business through firms such as Broker Network.