The current government have recently announced a tranche of changes to inheritance tax which will start from April 2025, most notably the reduction in Agricultural Property Relief which has been heavily criticised by the farming community who have faced spiralling input costs alongside other issues such as climate change. The proposed changes, staggered over three-years ..read more

Castleacre Director, Hugo Johnsen and Dr Roger Draycott presented the GWCT East Anglian Grey Partridge Conservation Award to a Cambridgeshire farming family. The award and farm walk were hosted at Willow Farm near Sandy in Bedfordshire and was organised by a previous winner, Simon Maudlin. This year’s winners, Andrew and Richard Ramply, of Ramply Farms in St Neots Cambridgeshire, are already award-winning arable farmers who are known for their environmental interests. Castleacre Director, Hugo Johnsen said ‘ The walk at Willow Farm was a terrific opportunity to learn about Grey Partridge Cons ..read more

We explore some of the main areas for consideration when buying and insuring high value high performance cars. Top Ten Tips 1. TrackersDoes the vehicle you want to insure already have a tracker or will you need to install one? Expensive cars are vulnerable to theft and while some insurers will fit a tracker as part of their service others will ask owners to put this in place themselves. Insurers are now really tightening up on trackers and it is not enough to have one fitted they will often specify the type of tracker required and evidence that they have been properly maintained – if a tracker ..read more

High energy costs and environmental concerns have meant that more property owners are considering self-funding renewable energy solutions at home. For the owners of historic houses, listed properties, or homes within conservation areas, a complete transition to alternative renewable energy sources, or even a partial conversion is more problematic. Aesthetic considerations, planning issues and insulation all play their part but insurers can also have an impact on the difficulties. Underwriters often view renewable energy technologies, such as biomass boilers, ground, and air source heat pumps ..read more

The Rebuild value of a Listed Building is often higher than Market Value and this matters when you are looking for insurance In complete contrast to modern buildings the re-build cost of a listed building often far outweighs the market value of a property; despite this many owners still base their insurance value on the mortgage value of a property (usually the minimum insurance requirement for a modern building).  Others will turn to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Building Costs Information Service.  While the BCIS estimates are generally accurate they are calculated to ..read more

The dramatic rise in the cost of building materials, labour shortages and supply issues has led to a rise in rebuild costs for all buildings and increased risk of Underinsurance COVID 19 and Brexit have both had huge impacts on the UK economy but since the end of lockdown, many UK businesses recovered much faster than expected. Construction, which was buoyant pre-pandemic (and one of the few industries allowed to continue operating during lockdown), has been slowed by a string of problems which has had a knock-on effect on all homeowners. Just two years ago RICS reported that the rise in build ..read more

Many people are choosing to renovate or extend their properties rather than move, particularly in urban areas but often people mistakenly rely on their contractor’s insurance to protect their home during structural renovations. Castleacre Insurance Broker Melanie Ambrose explains ‘people do not always realise that if you are starting a building project at your home you need to advise your household insurer first. If you do not, this can invalidate your existing cover. If you undertake major building works which exceed a certain value your household insurer will suspend cover during the works ..read more

In 2022 Autocar reported that Range Rovers were the second most stolen vehicle in the UK with many insurers unnerved by a spate of claims and losses. The British Insurance Brokers Association have recently warned about the difficulty of finding insurers willing to offer stand-alone insurance not just for Range Rovers, but other high-value cars owned by Londoners. Specialist car insurers ERS agree that there has been a significant increase in high-value car thefts in London in particular and Chubb have just announced that they have teamed up with Global Telemetrics to offer their clients the la ..read more

Castleacre have acquired private client insurance brokers Merritt Insurance Services. Former Director of Merritt, Jonathan Merritt, will work alongside the Castleacre team over the next two years as client policies are transferred over. Both companies specialise in looking after clients with complex insurance requirements and the transition to Castleacre offers enhanced benefits for Merritt clients. In addition to property, fine art and specialist car cover, Castleacre provides bespoke Life and Private health insurance, Trustee and Executor insurance cover amongst other specialist protection ..read more

A crucial aspect of any refurbishment or renovation project is helping a client ensure potential risks are covered by insurance. Being clear at the outset, when you start a building project protects not only the client but architectural and design consultants and project mangers, but it isn’t always obvious what the best course of action is – particularly where the project is high value and involves multiple contractors. Most household insurance policies will normally cover minor works to a private residence up to a reasonable limit, allowing homeowners to undertake small building projects wit ..read more