Neil McFarlane, Jewellery trade, T.H. March & Co.

Neil McFarlane has just been recognized in the 2018 Top Specialist Brokers report by Insurance Business UK

Neil McFarlane, Jewellery trade, T.H. March & Co.
https://www.thmarch.co.uk/

JEWELLERY TRADE

CEO
T.H. March & Co.

A chartered insurance broker and associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute, Neil McFarlane has accumulated more than 30 years of experience in the industry, having been with T.H. March since 1983. He was appointed to sales director in 2005, became managing director in 2012 and recently took the helm as group chief executive. Known for his work with SaferGems, an initiative that serves as a national crime-reporting scheme within the jewellery trade, McFarlane has been listed on Professional Jeweller’s Hot 100, in association with the Company of Master Jewellers. He speaks at events and to various media outlets on the finer details of jewellery and art insurance, and on topics such as dealing with insurance fraud and incorporating the use of emerging technologies in insurance.

IBUK: What do you enjoy most about working in this speciality?
Neil McFarlane:
I enjoy our involvement in a vibrant, fascinating, dynamic and high-profile sector. At T.H. March, we are fortunate to work within a team of dedicated, highly trained, professional staff who are all passionate about our specialisation. This has been built up over a very long time, not overnight, and it has developed to the point that the jewellery trade is in our DNA.

IBUK: What are the biggest risks in this sector?
NM:
Loss and damage or injury arising from criminal activity is clearly going to be top of the list. Typically these are break-ins, robbery to shops, and physical attacks to wholesalers and sales reps; also, postal and transit losses and the risky shipment of high-value goods.

T.H. March was instrumental in formulating the term ‘jewellers’ block insurance’, which is now the sector and industry standard. Jewellers’ block policies will include cover for stock, goods in trust and money, and will generally have an in-built increase in cover for the Christmas period. In addition to this, all other contents pertaining to the business premises are covered, including shopfront, glass, exterior clocks and signs, safes, tools, personal effects, computers, documents, etc.

IBUK: What’s the biggest challenge you face when insuring jewellers?
NM:
The evolution of crime against the jewellery trade – the company works hard to keep apace with it. Crimes against jewellers are now more sophisticated than ever with organised crime, moped gangs, targeting of premium brands, fraudulent transactions – and added to all these is the growing risk of cyber attacks. We are proud to have co-founded, in partnership with the National Association of Jewellers, the highly successful SaferGems anti-crime initiative in 2009.

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