insurance

[moonwood]

any recomondations as to woodland insurance,just checking as ours is due soon,although not a lot,has any one ever made a claim,

[tracy]

We use RAP, (rural Arbour products) No idea if there are any others that would do.

I am investigating SWOG linking up with BTCV and their insurance, which would mean we would be insured to help on eachothers land.

But, as always, this is taking time to figure out ;-)

No, we haven\'t made a claim, anyone else?

Tracy

[Binz]

HI

I was going to ask the same question as I\'ve just received the reminder from RAP (£106 per year) as the policy expires 30th June. They say in their letter that \"a very sizeable claim has been notified under this scheme\", does anyone know anything about this?

Binz

[tracy]

LOL, I am dying to know as well!

I will pursue the BTCV thing as fast as I can and let you know how I get on! We have also received our RAP renewal.

[tracy]

BTCV insurance looks interesting, but complex. We would need to have BTCV chainsaw certificates etc. I will continue to look into it for the future, but in the meantime, paid our RAP insurance - so just letting you know not to wait for me to sort BTCV. I need to look into it much more first!

Tracy

[Binz]

thanks Tracy

B

[Duncan]

I made a claim via RAP, which is now in dispute. RAP are a \'group policy holder\' - they deal with a Broker (Willis in Dundee) and the insurance company is Royal & Sun Alliance. My circumstance was that a healthy mature chestnut on my boundary which fell in a storm across the A26 where it blocked the road for a while. E Sussex CC charged me over £500 to clear it from the road. Hence I claimed.

Willis sent out a loss adjuster (Agrical) to inspect on site, and his report confirmed it was a healthy tree. The dispute is now between the Council who believe they are legally entitled to bill me, and Willis (broker) who\'s first view is that because the tree was healthy its was not my fault, and therefore there the Council has no claim against me. If the tree were diseased or dead, it implies they would pay up becasue I would be liable and the Council could demonstrate my negligence; here I would be covered!! In other words, \"don\'t manage your trees and you\'re insured: Manage your trees and you\'re not covered\".

A bird told me that the problem with my claim is with ref. to another claim for c. £quarter-million, where a similar principle in causing dispute - where a \'healthy branch\' fell on a car in a storm and caused either a serious injury or a death: and they are suing the wood owner. I think Insurance MUST cover healthy trees to make any sense!! I have asked the broker to reconsider their position and pay up on well-managed trees causing a problem, which is the basis of the RAP advice. Any other advice out there?

[Darren]

These insurance company\'s love to find ways of not paying. You would think a fallen tree is a fallen tree no matter what it looks like or what health it\'s in.

[tracy]

Thats all a bit scary really - makes me wonder what the point of insurance is....

[tracy]

It has been brought to my attention by Greyman that our understanding of what is actually insured through RAP may be flawed. Lets all share:

If you have taken out RAP insurance, what do you think that covers? (there is no prize if you get it right;-)

I thought it covered all 3rd party accidents- unless they were using a tool. So, broken leg in a bunny hole, tree falling on someone - all covered. I also thought it covered people that I dropped a tree on....(not on purpose!!)

Mike may think differently. Sean says his understanding is that 3rd party are NOT covered if injured by owners doing woodland work. What do you all know? This is very important for us to know about and understand.

Tracy