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Poly Hive

Queen Bee
Joined
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Location
Scottish Borders
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12 and 18 Nucs
At the moment there are two sorts as I understand it.

Bee Disease Insurance or BDI for short which compensates for frames, floors and excluders but not for the hive bodies.

Third party liability which most have via the BBKA or Local Association, and there are differing limits for that some offer 5million and some but 2.

The astute reader will have spotted a couple of holes here, the primary one being no compensation for bees lost to disease, and the 2nd one being no payment for lost hive bodies.

There is a model where the Association acts as insurer for hives and public liability. However where there are big losses in a year, then the pay out limited to 10% of the pot to avoid going bust is split between the claimants, so in a poor year the pay out might be pennies and in a good one pounds.

If there were to be a policy which was aimed at proper coverage not just bits and bobs here and there, how much would you the consumer be willing to pay?

Beekeeping has traditionally been a low cost hobby but times change and I feel there is a place now for more of a superior insurance which covers the beekeeper properly but that of course will come at a price as does any good insurance.

Over to you.

PH
 
Assuming a "life" of about 20 years I would be prepared to pay 5%+ of the replacement cost for each hive, and up to 10% for the bees.

Public liability has got to be 5 mil in these sue sue sue times

One thing for sure it aint going to be cheap.
 
Assuming a "life" of about 20 years I would be prepared to pay 5%+ of the replacement cost for each hive, and up to 10% for the bees.

Public liability has got to be 5 mil in these sue sue sue times

One thing for sure it aint going to be cheap.

but whats the value of Bees..just a May/June nuc....overwintered early nuc, or plus 25kg of sugar....... full hive,


loss of honey?....get expensive

i like a fixed repalcement cost per hive,say in three bands low, medium and high rates £250, £350, £500 compensation
 
We are talking insurance here..... the companies that have special "let's wriggle out of paying" departments, so the likelihood of your actually seeing any money in the event of a claim is at the very least debatable, and then theres's the biggie- do we really need public liabilty? Can anyone nominate even one case of anyone being sued over damage caused by their bees (and how the heck would they prove it was your bees?)
 
Brosville please.

I am not asking for feedback on house insurance or car insurance.

I am NOT discussing insurance companies at all.

I am asking what the member ship consider a reasonable figure to pay to cover disease losses, vandalism and 3d party.

This is a serious matter that deserves some serious answers and is a large piece in a jigsaw that some of us are working pretty hard on making a success.

However I need to know how people feel about it and what is reasonable.

PH
 
so am i right in thinking that this type of cover is not yet avalible.
 
To a point yes but not a great system.

It is something that there is scope to improve, the problem though is price. At what point does it become too expensive?

PH
 
so am i right in thinking that this type of cover is not yet avalible.

Yes.

At the moment there is one company that gives you disease insurance, and then you get 3rd party public liability cover if your bees sting someone or if your honey poisons someone.

There's not really any cover for theft/damage to beehives. You would have to go down the 'unsecured agricultural property' route, where premiums are so high it is probably cheaper to buy new hives if they get nicked or set on fire by some enterprising vandals.
 
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Yup Midlands and there is another model which is up and running in the UK, just not in England.

So what cost is reasonable?

This seems to be difficult so.

Is £50 to cover 5 hives too dear?

Is £10 too much?

I need some sort of assistance on this forum. Not comments but some reasoned thoughts as to what is or what is not (just as valuable) reasonable.

Please?

PH
 
Yup Midlands and there is another model which is up and running in the UK, just not in England.

So what cost is reasonable?

This seems to be difficult so.

Is £50 to cover 5 hives too dear?

Is £10 too much?

I need some sort of assistance on this forum. Not comments but some reasoned thoughts as to what is or what is not (just as valuable) reasonable.

Please?

PH

ok, it not a car but i pay £400 in london 60% discount..comp insurance for £16000 of car and third party

so pro rata i pay £10 for £400 , so i would pay £10 if that included hive eqipement, bees, honey etc upto to £400
 
We are talking insurance here..... the companies that have special "let's wriggle out of paying" departments, so the likelihood of your actually seeing any money in the event of a claim is at the very least debatable, and then theres's the biggie- do we really need public liabilty? Can anyone nominate even one case of anyone being sued over damage caused by their bees (and how the heck would they prove it was your bees?)

I'm not going to name name's incase my memory is wrong, however, I'm certain that a well known South Coast Beefarmer found himself on the wrong end of such an action a few years ago, and although he won, it cost him a lot of money to defend the action.

If admin wants to pm me I'll name the man in a private message, but it's not my place to bandy name's around on an internet forum. It's enough to know that it is a very real possibility.

Regards
roland
 
Rolande there is no need to specify a case.

What I am discussing does not involve major Insurance companies bar the 3d party liability as that will be needed as no group can absorb multiple multi million claims unless they are a "proper" insurance company.

I am bar the last comment pondering what a self help group can achieve.

More I feel that what is currently available.

PH
 
I think that a tenner per hive for insurance against theft and vandalism would be a fair price. ;)
 
thank you tonybloke and I have to agree.

For some though that is a serious price.

More comments please?

PH
 
Rolande there is no need to specify a case.

What I am discussing does not involve major Insurance companies bar the 3d party liability as that will be needed as no group can absorb multiple multi million claims unless they are a "proper" insurance company.

I am bar the last comment pondering what a self help group can achieve.

More I feel that what is currently available.

PH

Hi PH,

Appreciated, just pointing out in reply to Brosville that these things do happen. As I understand it (at a cursory glance) the BBKA liability cover does not include legal fees to defend an action.

As for insuring against theft/vandalism/damage I would have thought that we're entering a tricky area: it's one thing if our hives are in our own garden but what about multiple out-apiaries where we can only ever offer limited security?

Interesting topic though.
Regards,
roland
 
The astute reader will have spotted a couple of holes here, the primary one being no compensation for bees lost to disease, and the 2nd one being no payment for lost hive bodies.


PH

When you look at the "no payment for lost hive bodies" portion, I am assuming that this is related to the BDI portion of the text.

In this aspect, I am assuming that the insurers will not cover the cost of Hive bodies/supers as under current rules from FERA https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/downloadDocument.cfm?id=7 (member access), there is NOT a requirement to destroy the hive bodies for any of the foulbrood's, just sterilisation using flame or chemicals.

Therefore, why should the insurers bear the cost for the destruction of a hive when it is not required, but is a decision that the beekeeper has made and not as a result of an enforceable act.

This said, the Bee Inspectors should be the guys with the knowledge and I can only assume (having not witnessed or know of anyone who suffered any of the foulbroods) that should the current measures be inadequate, that their opinions would be voiced.

Personally, I agree with the destruction of the hive bodies as I am not convinced that scorching will eradicate all spores, some of these wooden components can have deep crevices and cracks that spores can still lurk and be untouched by flame.

So to sum my thoughts up, unless the legislation changes to include destruction of hive bodies, then there is no requirement for the insurers to insure them. However, should the beekeeper decide to ensure total eradication, then that is his prerogative.
:nature-smiley-016:
 
I would also consider paying say £5 a month if i were covered for diseases, Theft, public liability, etc.

But for that i would expect equipment to be replaced inclusive of bees.
 
Grizzly?

£60 per year per hive? Inclusive of bees? Nucs currently running at £140, and hives at £200 or so.

Interesting.

PH
 
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