Established for the people of the South West of England, and owned by the people of the South West, Cornish Mutual's goals are its customers goals, everything they do is in their members' best interests. Through their insurance products and services they are here to safeguard members businesses and communities against a range of risks.
Cornish Mutual is navigating the changing market of new legislation, developing technology and the move towards insurance becoming a commodity by adding value and a renewed purpose to attract and retain customers.
Cornish Mutual believes consumers do not have an emotional connection to the mutual business model so it has returned to the roots of mutuality. For Cornish Mutual, this is protecting the farming community of southwest England, also recognising themselves as members of that community that happen to provide insurance products.
Cornish Mutual is using ‘mutual behaviour’ to create its point of difference. The company believes its products, while comparable to others on the market, is not its route to differentiation, even though it is a relationship-driven business.
In its role of protecting the farming community, Cornish Mutual is developing a low-cost, high-value product around loss prevention, which includes site visits, administration, assessments and training. This is already producing an increase in Cornish Mutual’s rural business and, importantly, provides another reason to engage existing Members and new customers beyond just offering pure insurance products.
Other added-value solutions include Member benefits, Cornish Mutual's range of Member Benefits offers Members deals and discounts on everything from everyday essentials to cars and holidays. Cornish Mutual is also providing a programme to support Members through the current challenges facing the farming community, seeking to stand alongside Members and empower them with the knowledge and ideas to build a vibrant future for their business. This programme features insights from industry specialists and the experiences of other farmers in areas such as business resilience, environmental requirements and changing market demands. The service has been built up as a one-stop shop for discussion on these topics.
This case study was featured in the ICMIF report Leveraging the mutual difference (published February 2022).
Click here to access the report.
Cornish Mutual also recognises that the next generation of farmers is a key part of ensuring a successful future for its community. To this end, a Next Generation group has been set up, designed to improve the industry skills and knowledge of Members’ families and their young farm workers aged 25-45 years. And for young people starting out on their careers, bursaries are offered to agriculture students studying in the South West, to support their training and development.
Cornish Mutual wants to grow sustainably and, by expressing its mutuality in the market, move towards becoming an iconic brand having differentiated itself in the agricultural market.
About Cornish Mutual
In 1903, a group of visionary Cornish farmers got together and decided to come up with a better way of insuring their farms. Today, Cornish Mutual is still a mutual organisation with the same purpose of working to protect the farming community, offering insurance to farms, businesses and people living and working in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. Customers automatically become Members, and any profits are re-invested in the business.
Cornish Mutual is the only general insurer based in the South West of England. In 2012, Cornish Mutual gained ‘Chartered Insurer’ status. It was the first mutual insurance company in the UK and the first insurer in the South West to achieve this level of recognition from the CII. It has consistently high customer satisfaction and retention levels.
