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NFU Mutual provides a range of business insurance options across a number of trades and professions.
It started in 1910 as an insurance provider for farming communities in the Midlands but has since expanded its offering to include business insurance, along with home insurance and motor insurance. NFU Mutual is owned and run by its membership, and underwrites its own insurance policies.
NFU Mutual has 295 local agency offices across the UK, aiming to provide a personal service to members including quotes that are built around your business.
Always check terms & conditions for suitability before applying.
These pros and cons are based on a survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.
NFU Mutual offers its insurance and expertise through its local agents, which you can contact online or over the phone, or visit at an office.
Its origins lie in farming, but it has built a sizeable offering for business of all shapes and sizes, including sole traders. You’ll find the standard liability covers, along with protection for vehicles and rental properties.
Find out more about NFU business insurance – including how it measures up to key priorities of business owners, according to our NerdWallet survey.
NFU Mutual offers a large range of insurance for sole traders, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations. This includes:
Cover will be up to certain maximum limits and there may be restrictions, depending on your specific circumstances. There are also many optional add-ons (at an extra cost), such as goods in transit cover to protect transporting your goods, or engineering insurance for machinery and plant.
NFU Mutual also offers a range of agricultural cover with its farming insurance and corporate insurance, including group personal accident insurance and life insurance for employees.
Here’s a closer look at the features of insurance offered through NFU. We’ve also considered what business owners said was most important to them in our NerdWallet survey.
NFU Mutual offers cover for a large number of trades and sectors, with just a few examples below:
If your trade or sector isn’t mentioned on the website, or if you’re not sure if it would cover you, an NFU agent can help explain.
You can pay your premiums annually or in monthly instalments. You won’t pay interest on monthly payments or a cancellation fee if you end your cover before the term is up. You can also make adjustments to your policy without being charged a fee.
In our survey, the option to pay monthly was the second most important factor, with annual payment ranking fourth. So having this choice is a priority for many.
Web-based policy management was ranked third in importance in our survey, so it’s a key consideration for many businesses. You can submit queries to NFU through its online form, and an agent will call you back. While this isn’t so much an online portal, it is a clear route for queries. You can get a quote for some types of cover online.
You can call its UK-based agency offices about your cover to make changes or get a quote. Lines are open 9am-5pm on weekdays, but not on weekends. You can also fill in a form online to get a call back about your query.
Phone support was only ranked eighth in importance in our survey, with effective self-service through an online dashboard seen as more of a priority for most. However, the local, in-person or phone option could make the process feel more personal when compared with large, national contact centres.
To make a claim on your business insurance, you will need to know the policy you are claiming on and how you bought it, as well as how urgent it is. The routes are as follows:
Claims are by phone, though if you bought through an agent it is possible to fill in an online enquiry form to notify NFU and then receive a call back.
In our survey, being able to make a claim online was the number one priority in the survey, considered an important factor for nearly half (48%) of business owners.
NFU Mutual has a Trustpilot rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on over 4,000 reviews (as of 8 March 2023). Bear in mind that this rating is for the entire NFU Mutual brand, not just for their specific business offerings.
You can shop by specific professions and trades, such as caterers, tradespeople, office workers, event organisers and wholesalers. This might be a useful way to see the usual types of insurance applicable to the risks of your business and the packages (and optional add-ons) available.
In our NerdWallet survey, shopping by industry was ranked seven out of 10 in importance, with convenience and industry expertise a factor worth mentioning for some.
Always focus on your own business risks, though, as these won’t be the same for everyone. This is something an NFU agent can help you consider.
The business insurance you choose needs to address the specific risks your business faces. There is a wide choice of cover available, but some businesses need at least the following cover to be able to operate:
When it comes to choosing between providers after getting a quote, always look at the level of cover provided, not just the price.
You can get a quote for an NFU Mutual business insurance policy in the following ways:
You can also use an online form to get a quote for some types of cover, such as retailer insurance. You fill in details about your business, including its legal structure, turnover, location and when you started trading, as well as basic personal details and your preferred policy start date. You will then receive a call back.
Some possible ways to pay less for your business insurance by buying it with NFU Mutual include:
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