The Rural Voice, 1998-08, Page 26CRIME
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��' ' in Farm
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today. We will
be happy to
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needs.
Bob McNaughton
Graeme Craig
Donald Taylor
Banter. MacEwan & Feagan
Insurance Brokers Ltd.
John Wise Insurance
Broker Ltd
Exeter Ins. Brokers
Cockwell Insurance
Brokers Ltd....
527-1571
887-9381
482-9976
Est. 1876
524-8376
482.3401
235-2211
356-2216
McKILLOP
MUTUAL
INSURANCE
COMPANY
91 Main St., South
Seaforth
527-0400
1-800-463-9204
Fax 527-2777
22 THE RURAL VOICE
aft -
Between 1996 and 1997 there was
almost no growth in premiums.
However, due to the ice storm,
premiums in eastern Ontario may
increase, but that decision will be
made by each company's board of
directors.
Farm mutuals are community
based insurance companies entirely
owned by policyholders. There are
no stockholders and any profits arc
re -invested into the company or
divided among policyholders.
Last year, the board of directors at
McKillop Mutual Insurance in
Seaforth decided to give their
policyholders a 15 per cent refund
because the company had a good
year. To qualify for the refund the
policyholders had to have been
insured with the company for three
years.
Being a policyholder means
having a say in how the company is
run. Each policyholder has one vote
and they elect between six to 12
people to be on the company's board
of directors. One-third of the board is
then re-elected every year at the
annual meeting.
One way mutual companies are
trying to remain relevant to the
community is by attracting young
farmers and people outside of
agriculture as board members.
"I know one company who has a
• lawyer on their board of directors,"
said Randy Hutchinson, manager of
Ontario's largest farm mutual,
Farmers' Mutual Insurance in
Lindsay. "Not all of our members of
the board are farmers."
Since there aren't many new
farms springing up, Hutchinson said,
farm mutuals are required to look to
other sectors. Lindsay Mutual now
covers small commercial businesses.
Still looking to maintain their basis in
the farm community Hutchinson
knows the company has to continue
changing and adapting if it wants to
remain a viable business.
"The mutuals are starting to
expand into large corporate and
commercial farms," he said.
Lindsay writes some large risks,
their largest is between $5-6 million.
The company's sizeable risks are to
cover large pork and dairy farms.
Still these figures are considered
small potatoes to the big urban
insurance companies who have little
CKILLOP MUTUAI
INSURANCE COMPANY
1!;
MM
'1
McKillop Mutual Insurance in
Seaforth— around since 1876.
interest in covering farms.
While the Targe insurance
companies may not be looking at the
farm community the banks are
starting to take notice. Canadian
banks like Toronto Dominion Bank,
Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of
Montreal are putting more resources
into the agricultural sector as farm
lending has been gaining strength
over the past few years.
For the past several years farmers
have been putting large amounts of
capital into agriculture, for this
reason, banks are finding them
considerably more attractive.
Agricultural banking is not new.
The Royal Bank opened an
agricultural business centre in Exeter
in the early 1980s and has been
offering agricultural banking services
like specialized farm lending and
market advice for over 20 years.
What is new is the increased interest
from the other big banks and the fact
that banks are moving further into the
insurance business.
At present, farm mutuals can't
lend money to their clients, except
for financial products like GICs or
RRSPs, so for now banks and mutual
companies are offering different
services. But as farms keep heading
in the corporate direction and banks
keep swallowing up insurance and
financial companies in their path,
farm mutuals may have something to
worry about in a few years time.
Randy Hutchinson isn't too
worried. Having survived over 100
years in the business, Hutchinson
sees a place for farm mutuals as long
as they continue to provide good
services.
"A lot of people stay with the
company their fathers were with. If
the father was satisfied with the