This case concerned an arable farmer who had engaged a third-party contractor to drill maize seed and place fertiliser across 14 of his fields. Due to the failure of the third-party contractor, around 50% of the crops failed to emerge, causing substantial loss to the farmer. This was the first occasion that the farmer had experienced such failings in over 20 years.
Business Type: Arable Farm
Section of cover: Company legal liability (CLL)
Applicable cover: Legal Pursuit Extension – Contract Disputes
Circumstance: An arable farmer suffered a substantial loss after engaging a third-party contractor to drill maize seed and place fertiliser across 14 fields.
Legal fees value: £48,000
The scenario:
A maize grain farmer instructed an experienced agricultural and farm contractor to drill and place urea fertiliser into his seedbeds alongside the maize grain seeds.
The contractor was instructed to drill approximately 265 acres of seeds and place fertiliser alongside the seeds over 14 fields across 4 different blocks of land. It was the contractor’s responsibility to identify where and how to correctly place the fertiliser and ensure it is placed at the right depth.
As the crops began to emerge, it soon became apparent that there was a problem with the distribution as only half of the rows of maize grain had emerged.
The farmer initially instructed his usual agronomist to investigate the seed and fertiliser. The agronomist concluded that the placement of the fertiliser by the contractor was either:
- too close to the grain
- unevenly distributed
The farmer thereafter instructed an independent agronomist who concluded that the fertiliser had been placed too close to the seeds, in doing so, overdosing the seeds and causing toxicity.
As a result, the farmer incurred an estimated financial loss of over £160,000 and had to undertake:
- extra soil analysis to review the health of the soil
- additional weed control as weeds began to grow through the crops that didn’t emerge
- maize stubble clean up from the residue of plants left on the soil surface
At this point, the farmer contacted their insurance broker to make a claim against the contractor.
What Happened:
rradar was appointed following notification from the broker.
Due to the monetary value of the claim, the case was allocated to rradar’s high-value commercial disputes team who recommended pursuing a claim against the contractor. The farmer shared his expected outcome of the case, and provided a range of settlement figures that he was prepared to accept.
A senior rradar solicitor specialising in high-value commercial disputes drafted a letter of claim and it was sent to the contractor, outlining the case and detailing the losses sustained by the farmer as a result of the breach of contract. They also:
- drafted correspondence and engaged with the contractor
- engaged and instructed appropriate experts
- advised and agreed a case strategy with the farmer
- instructed and liaised with counsel
- negotiated settlement with the contractor’s legal representatives
The outcome:
Through the support of rradar’s expertise, the case was settled for £150,000 without the need to issue proceedings, which aligned with the farmer’s expectations.
Things to consider:
Business owners face risks of contractual breach even when using trusted suppliers to complete routine tasks. In this situation, the farmer had been trading for over 20 years and used the same third-party contractor to carry out a job with no prior issues. However, as a result of the contractor incorrectly placing the fertiliser and breaching the terms of the contract, the farmer suffered a significant financial detriment.
By having the rural protect policy in place, the farmer was able to seek advice and support from rradar. The farmer has since renewed his policy in the event that something like this happens again.
What if the farmer didn’t have a Rural Protect policy? Due to the costs involved in pursuing a claim, it is unlikely that the farmer would have been able to bring the claim without the rural protect policy, which covered:
- legal fees
- counsel’s fees
- experts’ fees
“This case highlights how even longstanding commercial relationships can go wrong, and the financial consequences of a contractual breach can be severe. Access to expert legal advice through an insurance-backed policy can be invaluable in these situations. It enables business owners to confidently seek help quickly, knowing they have the support to navigate complex disputes without the immediate burden of legal costs. In this instance, early legal intervention helped secure a favourable settlement without the need for court proceedings – a result that protected the farmer’s business and provided satisfactory closure.”
Kris Roper, Associate Solicitor, High Value Commercial Disputes – rradar
If you would like to know more about Rural Protect and our partnership with rradar, call us on 01653 609090 or email enquiries@hbunderwriting.co.uk.
