Posted By Stefan Daunt It would appear that they have got themselves in a jam.

Posted By Yossarian First thing I thought A Campbell too. Ice cream at the thought that the solution is so obvious. Clots! I hope our media team can berry this one. Keep 'em coming... you know it's the only way to stay sane!

Posted By Paul Leadbetter It would appear that reasonable practicability is not part of the insurer's equation. Paul

Posted By Yossarian Indeed, for any such relationship to remain fruitful, the the insurers (and indeed the judiciary) need to sweeten up a bit to the realities of rural life. As an aside - It reminds me of the hullabaloo that the British Mountaineering Council made about the Working at Height Regs. They predicted that in consequence insurers would in the future require fee paying mountaineers to use an alternative safer means of access. Perhaps the BMC had a point.

Posted By Yossarian They did (and to my knowledge were reassured at the time by HSE & insurers that such outrageous behaviour would not occur) but someone seems to have gone against that principle here. ...Anyway back to strawberries.

Posted By Bob Shillabeer Before we all rush off and scream blue murder over this let's look at exactly what the old ladies accident was. Was it involving the farm machinary, or was it just faling into a hole. Both could be controlled by not using machines when the pickers are on site and by filling holes in where the public are permitted to go. If there is something that is specifically dangerous about the site what is being donwe to control that risk, by either preventing people from going there or by taking the risk away. The insurance company is trying to do one of two things in my mind, get more money out of the farmer or trying to get rid of the business because they don't make enough profit from it. Anyway it is not about health & Safety but more about corporate profit.

Posted By dangermouse ooo i get so angry when i read these type articles. I work in the agricultural sector and i visit fruit farms all over the country who manage PYO activites perfectly well and to a high standard. At this rate between insurers ,the claims culture of the public, and the newspapers we wont have a farm prepared to open to the public and who could blame them! please ISOH make a statement to these red tops!

Posted By Phil Rose I haven't read any of the links although I did hear the story on the news on the way in to work this morning. It always 'tickles' me when I see people on here and elsewhere saying that they are going to ask their insurer for advice. Most of the 'advice' that I have seen insurers give has been absurdly risk averse. When we were in the process of transferring ownership of a village pond from the district council to the parish council, the PCs insurers was insisting on fencing all the way around and warning signs. I can't help but feel that insurers (including ours) would do better to put up a more robust fight for some of the more frivolous claims. Unfortunately many have adopted an approach of pure economics and often settle rather than defend a claim purely because the cost of paying the smaller claims is considerably less than defending them.