International Cooperative and
Mutual Insurance Federation

During the recent ICMIF Conference Charles Beighton, General Manager Strategy & Marketing, NFU Mutual, gave a presentation on the values based strategies that are fundamental to how NFU Mutual operate.

Key values for NFU Mutual said Charles are trust, prudence, value for money, quality and customer focus. He told delegates, “we are about improving the overall quality of members’ lives. We recognise the emotional and human side of managing claims and the impact that we have on peoples’ livelihoods. We provide services at a fair price backed by a first class service and advice. We have placed integrity and accountability to our members at the heart of our business.”

This ethos has clearly served NFU Mutual well as they now have a national presence of over 300 offices; they are the market leader in the farming sector and have approximately £12 billion in assets under management and have won many prestigious awards in recent years.

NFU Mutual have a very clear focus on their customers and the markets they serve and state that no-one will ever be more important to them than farming and the rural community. This commitment is at the heart of their business and helps to align the whole business. It influences underwriters and how they rate risks; the claims settlement philosophy and also how authority is delegated to self-employed agents.

NFU Mutual’s agents go above and beyond the call of duty to deliver the required service levels. This in turn leads to retention rates of 95% and the highest levels of advocacy of any UK financial services organisation. Each agent works hard to establish great levels of trust with customers; they ensure that they are visible and accountable locally to their members and very much part of the local community.

The moment of truth comes though when a customer comes to make a claim and this is where NFU Mutual seeks to ensure that their values based approach shines through and they really do deliver on their promises to their customers. Their slogan is “We do right by you” and this is key across the business. During the recent flooding in the UK there were NFU Mutual agents paying out cheques to members in person who had been affected by the floods even before written claims had been received. “Our slogan, “We do right by you”, is a strong rallying statement in a marketplace which has abandoned a strong point of view” says Charles. However, as Charles says, “having values is one thing but you’ve got to live up to them”.

A conviction brand such as NFU Mutual lives or dies by the actions of its people and not just its advertising and, as Charles says, “This only comes true when your people turn up to work and deliver it day by day”.