Latevo Back to The MPCI Market

After a year of not offering multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) policies, Latevo is back to the MPCI market with a new offering.

The new product, known as Latevo Farm Income Protection (FIP), is a three-tiered level of cover available to growers for $14-$26 per hectare, which will protect 40-90% of average crop income.

Andrew Trotter, Latevo chief executive, said teaming up with “like-minded” underwriters at Lloyd's enabled them to roll out the FIP product.

“Our new model is split into three categories, enabling progression during the season, depending on seasonal conditions and the grower's choice,”

Trotter told Grain Central. “We have made significant changes from our original product, making (it) more specific to the individual farmer.”

Trotter said in some cases, Latevo polices were half the price of similar ones it offered in past years, and “with the price now in the correct range, farmers can look at how added certainty will improve their business and
grain-marketing decisions.”

The FIP product is split into the following categories:

Category 1 – suited to below-average
seasons, or the start of the growing season; and provides cover at 40-50pc of farm revenue. It doesn't require a detailed income assessment.

Category 2 – covers 65-75pc of farm revenue,
and is suitable for an average season; and

Category 3 – covers 80-90pc, and is available
for above-average seasons.

Growers opting for categories 2 and 3 need to undergo individual farm entity assessments for a one-off fee of $5,000 plus GST, which is eligible for the federal government's $2,500 insurance rebate scheme.

Growers who have taken out Category 1 insurance can upgrade to higher categories as the season progresses and pending seasonal conditions, such as average rainfall and an adequate farm management rating.

Latevo's FIP offering is further enhanced by its partnership with Agri-Analytics, which helped streamline the application process through the Latevo app; and Geosys, which developed Latevo Crop Monitor, to provide farmers real-time access about their crops and the season, Grain Central reported.

TAL to Fork Out $900,000 In Refunds to Funeral Insurance Customers

Insurer TAL will pay out a total of $900,000 in refunds to 1,200 Insuranceline-branded funeral insurance customers, Australia's corporate watchdog has announced.

In a report to ASIC , TAL said it had failed to switch off annual cost-of-living increases to premiums and cover after customers reached the age of:

75 for the over 50s/55s insurance plans;

and

80 for the Insuranceline funeral plan.

The insurer was required to switch off the increases by the terms of the policies.

For eligible customers, TAL is offering two options: a refund of the portion of premiums paid for the annual cost of living increases after the relevant ages of 75 or 80; or to maintain the higher level of cover and
higher premiums, with no refund.

Policyholders who opt for the refund will have their cover reduced to the level it would have been at if the error had not occurred.

Policyholders whose policies have lapsed will also be refunded by TAL.

“Customers should be confident that they are not being overcharged for their insurance, and insurers should have safeguards in place to prevent this,” said Peter Kell , ASIC deputy chair. “When an overcharging error is identified, the insurer should act quickly to rectify the problem.”

All affected policyholders will be contacted by the insurer over the coming months. For customers who have queries about this matter, they may contact the insurer at 1300 303 781.

ASIC acknowledged the cooperation of TAL in reporting and handling of the issue.

Balancing Cyber Risk and Mitigation

Clients should focus on both security and insurance simultaneously as they rise to meet the challenge posed by cyberattacks, an expert has said.

Speaking, Sarah Stephens, head of cyber, content and new technology risks at JLT, said that some firms find their bow into cyber security and insurance daunting but should not put off purchasing cover.

“It can appear to be a really difficult thing to figure out for some businesses when they start the journey of thinking about cyber risk transfer,” Stephens disclosed.

“They think how does that [insurance] sit into cyber risk management overall? They think they need to get their security to a near perfect level before they can even pursue insurance.

“It doesn’t have to be that you get to perfect and then you are ready to show yourself to the cyber insurance market - it is almost more important to have that risk transfer in place when your security level is lower.”

Stephens said that rather than focusing on perfecting their mitigation and waiting to purchase insurance, businesses should look to place cover and build-up their security portfolio at the same time.

As a broker, Stephens said that explaining where a business currently sits in terms of its mitigation and security and continuing to go back to underwriters as strategies change and mitigation measures are put in place is critical.

“Certainly, cyber insurance underwriters have become more and more sophisticated and their expectations continue to grow in terms of what good looks like,” she said.

“You increase your ability to get broader coverage, lower excesses, and better premiums the more you invest in thoughtful cyber security measures.”

Stephens said that insurance and security can work better together through innovative partnerships that see insurers, brokers and cyber security firms offer products.in tandem.

Highlighting as an example Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty’s tie up with cyber security firm Zeguro, which outsources the role of a chief information security officer for SMEs, Stephens said that insurance and security can “work hand in hand together” to protect clients.

"Genetic Disposition" Leads To Thriving Insurance Career

Lloyd’s is the oldest insurance market in the world and Chris Mackinnon (pictured), Lloyd’s country.representative for Australia, has more experience than most.

Mackinnon has led the Australia arm of the market for.the last three years, following 27 years as a broker, but he brings more family history to the role than you may expect as the fifth generation Mackinnon to work in the market.

“The best way of describing it is a genetic disposition,” Mackinnon said.

“So my father was a marine underwriter, my grandfather was a marine underwriter and deputy chairman at Lloyd’s, my great grandfather had his own broking firm that he sold to Howdens in 1911 and his brother, my great, great uncle Percy, was chairman of Lloyd’s five times in the 1920s and 1930s.

“Percy and Norman’s father, my great, great, great, grandfather was Benjamin Mackinnon who was an underwriter in the 1870s.”

Mackinnon’s mother was also a members’ agent, while his brother and cousin are also in the insurance industry.

“I didn’t fall into insurance, I stepped into insurance knowingly and deliberately - but like most people probably took the view of, well, I’ll get a job in insurance until I find out what I want to do in life,” Mackinnon said.

“I’ve been in the insurance industry for 30 years now, and I still don’t know what I want to do in life, so I’ll stick with insurance!”

The Lloyd’s offices in Sydney are a testament to the Mackinnon family history in the market with royal invitations from three Lloyd’s office openings lining the walls and a commemorative plate, given to Percy in 1904, adorning one of the boardrooms.

Mackinnon said that his move to Australia early in his career was a “defining point” which saw him realise the true scope of the industry.

“The reality of seeing a description of a risk on a piece of paper as opposed to when I moved out to Australia and actually went out on site with customers and saw a ship yard or submarine being built, as well as the tangible nature of what we do and not being chained to a desk and getting out in to the field and meeting real people with real risks and helping them, was to be the defining moment where I thought ‘this is brilliant’,” Mackinnon continued.
Describing his career as “diverse and fascinating,”

Mackinnon is still passionate about the industry and about Lloyd’s, so much so that a sixth generation of Mackinnon is also heading to London.
“People say are you forcing your kids into insurance?

Not at all, they have seen the passion that I have and the passion of my parents and my brother,” Mackinnon
continued.

“I have 22-year-old and 20-year-old children.

The 22-year-old has just finished his Bachelor of Commerce and is looking to move to London and my 20-year-old daughter is up at Newcastle University doing criminology and psychology – so I reckon she’ll make a good broker!”