John and Sue Upton, along with their children, own 785 hectares in Rissington, Hawke’s Bay. The property is farmed by the family of John’s late brother-in-law as part of the Rissington Cattle Company. When Cyclone Gabrielle arrived in Hawke’s Bay, John and Sue were more than 300km away in Wellington and it was their first experience of a significant claim with FMG Insurance. Here is what John had to say about it.
The Upton Family were not expecting their first big insurance claim to arrive quite so quickly when they shifted to FMG just on two years ago. Cyclone Gabrielle had other ideas.
While the Upton’s farm is grazed by the Rissington Cattle Company, John and Sue pay the insurance premiums on the farm infrastructure which included a woolshed, farm office, shepherds’ quarters and the couple’s escape from the city country home.
Over the course of the Cyclone, torrents of rain fell in the hills above Rissington, damming the Mangaone River and sending water over the river flats and the Upton’s property. Like most of the region, the farm was left with no power, no water, no telephone and no road access. John and Sue were in Wellington with little insight into what was going on on the farm. The images on the television providing some daunting clues.
They made it to the farm two weeks later via a local’s IRB (inflatable rubber boat) across the river. The Mangaone River bridge had bowed out under the weight of water and debris. The water having risen 19 metres above its normal height.
There were slips and animals losses on farm and water was being pumped into cattle troughs via dams.
Their home was safe with its elevated vantage point but the farm office and shepherds’ quarters destroyed; and there was a large question mark hanging over the woolshed’s future viability.
A career lawyer and Kings Counsel no less, John has seen his fair share of insurance dealings in and out of courtrooms over his career representing both sides of proceedings.
He was taken aback in the days following the Cyclone when he received a call from FMG. It was Carolin, the Rural Manager who looks after his account.
“The first things she asked was are you ok and what can we do to help?” reflected John.
FMG had actually made more than 6000 calls to clients that had been in Cyclone Gabrielle’s firing line. John and Sue’s was just one of those.
“We got the claims lodged and we were then assigned an assessor, Paul. You could not have met a nicer guy and his first question was - how can we get you back on track?”
The questions that came next were those faced by many across impacted regions. What would the local bodies agree about future use of the land? Should they reinstate the shepherds’ quarters and office where they were? Could they lift them up or was a new site required? Was the 140-year-old woolshed repairable or not?
“Ultimately, we were paid out as a total loss for the woolshed and the shepherds’ quarters and farm office were paid out on its sum insured. The woolshed is now being rebuilt elsewhere, we have had a relocatable house come down from Auckland to replace the shepherds’ quarters and the future of the farm office is still a work in progress.”
A loss of rent policy kicked in as well helping provide some additional income while the office, accommodation and amenities were unusable.
“FMG’s approach was different from the very beginning and of my experience with other insurers. It was personal service, with personable staff” reflected John.
“They came out and saw us at the point of joining as a client. We went around the farm. They learnt about our business and our family and we learnt about theirs, the mutuality was present in every conversation”.
With the bridge at Rissington back in action, John and Sue are enjoying more visits to the Hawke’s Bay, enjoying some sunshine this February as opposed to rain and watching the repairs and recovery unfold with every trip.
