Rural Insurance, the Harrogate-based specialist agricultural insurer, has announced a new long-term capacity deal with Zurich Insurance plc.

The five-year deal worth £41m will see Zurich Insurance plc providing capacity for Rural’s Farm, Farm Motor, Rural Business Motor, Livestock and Hailstorm products from 1^st November 2017, replacing XL Catlin as Rural’s primary capacity provider.

The new deal does not change existing capacity arrangements for its Renewable Energy, Motor Breakdown, Agricultural Contractors Liability products.

Commenting on the new partnership, David Cahoon, Underwriting and Technical Director at Rural Insurance, comments: “We’re delighted to enter this long-term partnership with Zurich Insurance plc. This new arrangement brings Rural a partner with more than 30 years’ experience in farming, an international footprint and an underwriting appetite that will enable Rural to advance its ambitions for the ever-diversifying farming sector.  

“I’d like to extend my thanks to the Zurich team for their effort in a smart and efficient onboarding process that bodes well for our future development”.

Conor Brennan, Head of Retail General Insurance at Zurich Insurance plc concludes: “To be working with Rural is extremely gratifying. Our detailed industry knowledge combined with their robust customer relationships will allow us to work towards the common goal of mitigating and protecting against agricultural risk.

“Indeed, to further build lasting relationships in the farming industry is not only exciting but vital to our businesses and we look forward to the next five years of exploring new opportunities in the sector.”