<strong>By: King Price</strong>

King Price, the only insurer in South Africa that offers car premiums that decrease monthly with the values of the cars, has launched a new division that, it says, will revolutionise agri insurance in the country.

The new offering provides personalised levels of cover for every farmer’s needs and budget, as well as cover and benefits not offered by any other insurer in South Africa – including a unique ‘low claim benefit’ that farmers can use to offset claims costs and excess amounts.

While the insurer doesn’t offer crop insurance at this stage, King Price’s head of business insurance, Kobus Stapelberg, says that all other assets and livestock can be fully covered. Highlights include built-in spread of fire coverage, and vehicle repatriation from neighbouring countries. They also offer what they call ‘the best livestock and game coverage in the country’, in partnership with AnimalSure Underwriting Managers.

“Farmers generally want two things from their insurance: flexible products, that allow them to tailor their cover to their specific needs and to change their policies quickly and easily; and personal relationships,” said Stapelberg.

“Through the relationships we have with our brokers, we’re able to provide the personal touch they’re looking for to get the most from their insurance. A prime example of this is our agreement with Agruma, an underwriting management agency that caters for the specific needs of the agri sector, including rural commercial businesses. They’re our first major agri client, and our UMA agreement with them has brought in an immediate R115 million of premium.”

Farmers will also have peace of mind that any potential claims will be paid through King Price’s relationship with Germany-based global reinsurance giant Munich RE, which is underwriting the company’s entire agricultural book.

Apart from farms and farming-related assets, every agricultural policy has a personal portion linked to it for houses, contents and family cars. In a first for the local insurance market, King Price will be offering R20,000 unspecified risk cover for every R1 million insured.

“We did months of research into the market and saw that the available agriculture insurance products don’t really meet the needs of modern farmers,” said Stapelberg. “For example, it’s vital that we help our farmers manage their own risks better to be able to save money on insurance, which is often seen as a grudge purchase.”

King Price believes that its ability to be instantly competitive in the agricultural sector is enabled by its industry-leading technology and data analytics capability. This allows the company to be agile and make the quick changes that farmers need, and also offers the ability to add innovative products - like incorporating drone technology for farm security and animal management – in the future.

<strong>Other features of King Price’s </strong>agri<strong> insurance include:</strong>

<ul>

<li>Power surge cover up to R50,000.</li><li>Tyre coverage: 10% of the insured value with a minimum of R50,000.</li><li>Personal liability is included with public liability.</li><li>Livestock and game coverage, which may extend to cover for capture, loading and transit.</li><li>Buildings, home contents and portable possessions cover is treated as a single section, and isn’t based on insured events. Portable possessions cover automatically includes 2% of the insured value for home contents, with a minimum of R10,000.</li><li>Home contents cover includes up to R50,000 cover for dependent students, pupils and parents in old-age homes.</li><li>Deposit premium, which can be negotiated if the monthly premium is more than R50,000.</li>

</ul>

More details about King Price’s agricultural insurance offering can be found <a href="https://www.kingprice.co.za/business-insurance/agriculture/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.kingprice.co.za/business-insurance/agriculture/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1562674220630000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHSnHQIp5P8-oQn7Iz11xBoomTIjQ">here</a>