verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message the national farmers union mutual insurance society limited type mutual founded 1910 headquarters tiddington stratford upon avon england key people lindsay sinclair chief executive products life general pensions and investments number of employees 3 815 1 slogan it s about time website http www.nfumutual.co.uk the national farmers union mutual insurance society limited trading as nfu mutual is a uk registered mutual insurance composite . it underwrites more than 1 billion 2008 in annual premium in life and general insurance lines for rural communities within the uk . nfu mutual is based in stratford upon avon warwickshire . in contrast to insurance companies owned by their shareholders nfu mutual is owned by its policyholders . unlike most other uk insurers nfu mutual sells its policies predominantly through a network of tied agents which are located mainly in rural areas . at the end of 2014 nfu mutual had 639 2013 655 nfu mutual agents working out of 319 2013 323 offices . 2 nfu mutual employs around 3 800 people throughout the uk . 3 this network enjoys a close relationship with the national farmers union nfu . in 1909 the nfu mutual was formed to offer insurance as an inducement for farmers to join the nfu . many of the agents double as local union representatives . many agents are self employed and all are tied to nfu mutual products . from 1980 the nfu mutual has accepted risks from outside of the farming community . nfu mutual direct was set up in 1996 to provide telephone and internet call centre services . the affiliate avon insurance plc provides personal protection and personal injury insurance . nfu mutual is currently engaged in a program to open new branches where nfu mutual has never ventured before including battle east sussex ; southport merseyside ; and oxford city centre . a further ten were planned for 2010 . citation needed contents 1 management 2 history 3 mutual bonus 4 see also 5 references 6 external links management edit there are currently 13 people on the board of directors with these key individuals chief executive lindsay sinclair chairman of board of directors richard percy finance director kim arif lindsay sinclair the current ceo joined nfu mutual from ing direct in autumn 2007 . a new zealander aged 52 he is the first external ceo to be appointed at nfu mutual . ian geden his predecessor was at nfu mutual for more than 40 years . nfu mutual has strong financial solvency . it has assets of more than 10 billion and a standard & poor s credit rating of aa as of february 2005 . nfu mutual has a very high retention rate . each year between 89.5 % and 94.5 % of policyholders renew . 2 in 2008 the general insurance book paid out 86 for every 100 premium received . acquisition costs are high reflecting the costs and commissions inherent in maintaining the branch network . net written premium for general insurance grew by over 5 % between 2007 and 2008 . citation needed the average for complaints upheld in favour of complainants in general insurance first half 2014 as shown on the financial ombudsman s website is 36 % and the nfu scored 38 % . they are rated by which 4 as no 1 insurer although fare slightly worse than average with complaints upheld against them . 5 under resolved cases tab on this webpage highlights this data . this is shown on the nfu website also under fos data . it should be noted that the first column is not comparable check the general insurance column only . 6 history edit nfu mutual was formed in 1910 by 7 local farmers as the midlands farmers mutual insurance society ltd. with working capital of just 190 . it was formed to provide an inducement for farmers to join the nfu which had been formed 2 years earlier . the provision of cheap insurance cover for nfu members contributed to the early growth of the nfu and nfu mutual . life insurance cover was introduced during the 1920s . although originally providing insurance only for members of the national farmers union the mutual diversified outside of the farming industry during the 1980s . over half of the policies by number now originate outside of the farming community . nfu mutual currently trades within only the uk channel islands and isle of man . from 1948 to 1966 it offered insurance in rhodesia now zimbabwe and zambia kenya and tanganyika now in tanzania . in 1954 the nfu mutual orchestrated the building of the new skyscraper farmer s mutual house in harare . famous policyholders include david lloyd george aneurin bevan and anthony eden . mutual bonus edit as the nfu mutual does not have shareholders a large proportion of its profits are returned to customers in the form of a discount off the premiums of renewing customers . the maximum premium discount is 7 % depending on the number of years that the policyholder has been using the mutual . as part of the 100th anniversary nfu mutual intended to double the bonus for one year only . see also edit national farmers union england and wales national farmers union of scotland royal london group references edit a b c http www.nfumutual.co.uk global pdfs % 20 % 20document % 20library company information report and accounts 2013.pdf a b report and accounts 2014 pdf . report and accounts 2014 . 2014 . nfu mutual careers site about us . http www.nfumutual.co.uk personal our story heritage and awards awards industry ratings http www.ombudsman complaints data.org.uk http www.nfumutual.co.uk complaints complaint data victor head ; a triumph of hope the story of the national farmers union mutual insurance society limited ; the national farmers union ; 1985 ; http www.nfumutual.co.uk global pdfs % 20 % 20document % 20library company information report and accounts 2013.pdf external links edit official website www.nfumutual agencies.co.uk v t e agriculture in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom agriculture companies arla foods uk bernard matthews farms dairy crest faccenda group farmcare frontier agriculture genus m ller wiseman dairies nfu mutual norbrook group openfield vestey group conservation grazing marsh hedgerow removal rare breeds survival trust government and regulation agricultural land classification agriculture and horticulture development board potato council animal health and veterinary laboratories agency british cattle movement service the country code crown estate department of agriculture and rural development northern ireland department for environment food and rural affairs institute for animal health legislation meat and livestock commission natural england rights of way in scotland rural development council rural payments agency scottish government enterprise and environment directorate single payment scheme history agricultural revolution british timber trade celtic field common land corn laws diggers dutch barn enclosure haughley experiment highland clearances highland potato famine lowland clearances napier commission rationing run rig rural reconstruction association scottish agricultural revolution swing riots victory garden women s land army foot and mouth 1967 2001 2007 nations and regions england agriculture in london cuisine cornwall devon fishing scotland animal breeds shetland crofting scottish crofting foundation cuisine factor fishing royal highland show wales cuisine royal welsh show t unnos non governmental organisations unions farmers union of wales national farmers union england and wales national farmers union of scotland ulster farmers union young farmers clubs of ulster british egg industry council british poultry council country land and business association fresh start initiative institute of biological environmental and rural sciences james hutton institute museums museum of english rural life national museum of rural life national non food crops centre nottingham arabidopsis stock centre rothamsted research royal highland and agricultural society of scotland soil association tenant farmers association universities and colleges cafre royal agricultural university scotland s rural college sectors beekeeping june gap fell farming forestry other countryfile eglu farmers weekly farming today hurdles category retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title nfu mutual & oldid 716620931 categories insurance companies of the united kingdommutual insurance companiesagricultural insurancecompanies established in 19091909 establishments in englandhidden categories articles needing additional references from october 2013all articles needing additional referencespages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from october 2013warwickshire articles missing geocoordinate dataall articles needing coordinates navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 22 april 2016 at 19 50 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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