What is the Agents’ Liaison Group and what does it do?
The ALG is made up of NAGS members with one delegate being put forward from each region. The ALG is the primary conduit for operational and technical issues from the agency network concerning emerging policy from NFU Mutual.
The group meets at Stratford for formal quarterly meetings based around an agenda which mixes items agents bring to NFU Mutual and items that they would wish to raise with agent representatives. Meetings are also attended by NAGS Officeholders.
A key purpose of the group is to represent the issues affecting the agency network and to this end a bimonthly scorecard exists where progress on key issues can be monitored and new ones raised as they arise. The scorecard is produced by collating views from all areas and your delegates should be contacting you on a regular basis to get this information. Individuals can also write directly to the Agents Liaison Group mailbox, and we would encourage you to do so. It is important that when issues arise you continue to pursue them through normal channels i.e. underwriters, claims and local management is often this identifies regional variations. ALG cannot be the first port of call for every issue but rest assured we do monitor these closely and act when required.
However, in addition to putting your views forward the role of delegates is to ensure unwelcome decisions are fully challenged, understood and explained in order to bring real feedback to local NAGS meetings. In this respect ALG delegates have a difficult role as the explanation will not always meet with approval or agreement by colleagues. Rest assured that does not mean the case was not made professionally intellectually and with passion.
There are also occasions when we need to support a group decision in order to address the fundamental issues, for example the need to encourage take up and full utilisation of Dynamics throughout the network. The main ALG also provides delegates to subcommittees as required. ALG will continue to play a central role in responding to issues on the ground and seeking solutions that meet the needs of our businesses. Please support your delegates fully to ensure they have the best chance of achieving this outcome.
| Member | Region |
| David Blackwell | England – East Anglia |
| John Bloomer | England – Central |
| J Hugh Davies | Wales – South |
| Richard Forsyth | Scotland – South |
| Patrick Govier | England – South East |
| Jonny Hogg | Scotland – North |
| David Oliver | Northern Ireland |
| Jo Oliver | England – North West |
| Esther Pritt | England – East Midlands |
| Kate Sowden | England – North |
| Simon Spencer | England – West Midlands |
| Richard Turner | Wales – North |
| Simon Whattler | England – South West |
All things farming – motor, farm products, NIS related inc. renewables and Drones, RMS livestock, milk, arable and produce in all forms.
| Chair | Region |
| J Hugh Davies | Wales – South |
| David Oliver | Northern Ireland |
| Chair | Region |
| Gemma Heal | England – South West |
| Jo Oliver | England – North West |
Working with project leaders on rollout of the MSD/ CRM systems, Learning, embedding, adoption, processes and MI.
| Chair | Region |
| John Bloomer | England – Central |
Usage and processes around CSC, booking services, emergency coverage and all things related to out of hours service in issues with MD.
| Chair | Region |
| Richard Forsyth | Scotland – South |
| Chair | Region |
| Nicholas Pope | England – East Midlands |
| Chair | Region |
| Kate Sowden | England – North |
| Chair | Region |
| Simon Spencer | England – West Midlands |
| Chair | Region |
| David Blackwell | England – East Anglia |
| Chair | Region |
| Jo Oliver | England – North West |
| Chair | Region |
| Jo Oliver | England – North West |
All things I Achieve and Trace related, implementation of new system and T & C scheme, licencing, CPD, CLASS, New starters/ongoing learning and training.
| Chair | Region |
| Kate Sowden | England – North |
| Chair | Region |
| Simon Whattler | England – South West |
The role of an ALG Delegate
ALG delegates are voted in by their NAGS regions and will have a deputy lest they are unavailable for meetings. Besides attending the national ALG they are also involved with their regional ALG group to handle any local issues or areas of concern. They will also usually meet with RSC staff including the underwriting manager. Delegates will normally write out to you prior to each meeting to encourage you to contact them so they can bring up any issues on your behalf (but please don’t feel that it has to wait till one of these meetings), however all national issues need to be fed through to your National ALG Delegate or the agents liaison group mailbox.
At your local NAGS meeting your delegate will give a report of the national ALG meeting but it is also a good chance for your delegate to get feedback to take on regarding current issues. Heather Sweeney from H/O agency also compiles a comprehensive set of minutes from national meetings so if you cannot make the NAGS meeting then this is a good place to update yourself on the issues discussed and these can be found on the ALG page on Mutualnet.
It is vital to the ALG’s effectiveness that you complete the bi monthly Health Check survey as the results are put to ExCo (the top floor management) and these are taken very seriously by them so if you can try and complete this for each agency it is much appreciated.
If you have an issue you cannot resolve yourself then this can be put to your delegate and if a resolution cannot be achieved locally or it warrants wider discussion or debate as it highlights a trend or pattern of wider concern which is not a one off then your delegate will raise it to the ALG mailbox and the group .These issues then get collated and redirected to the appropriate working sub group such as T & C, CSC, AFG etc. and fed back to those who need to engage with us.
If required delegates engage the help of specific HO Technical staff and Underwriters, Project owners, Agency team or those appropriate to deal with the issue. Once we have made some head way or have a result we can feed that back to the agents concerned.
Cathy Davies who is the ALG National Chair also undertakes “speed dating” sessions in HO to cover off lots of the issues in one go as she will usually get better progress at these discussions as they are undertaken face to face with the decision makers and the ability to expand on the surrounding reasoning is always useful. Cathy also has regular chats with Nick Pierson , Sally Pemberton , Jane Cann, David Buckland, Laurie Pennington and Chris Berry to name a few, and Nick Turner when he is available.
Delegates cannot discuss employment status, commission, disciplinary issues, any remuneration issues, APBS, APA, Financial Services or RMS commission structure or Welfare – these are strictly NAGS issues and you should refer these to your NAGS regional chairman or county Welfare Officer as appropriate.
NAGS Council
Regional Committees
