It was apparent .. that theirs was, perhaps, an unconventional relationship...

"On 6 December 2009 a house known as Crossfield and owned by the First Claimant, Mrs. Barbara Cooke, as she then was, suffered substantial damage by fire." She claimed against the insurance policy with the NFU, along with her on-off-on partner, Michael Parker, who she married a few months later. They claimed the rebuilding costs, the contents, and the loss of rent they were going to get from the property.

The NFU said no, you did not act with 'utmost good faith' on the insurance application, and he either burnt the place down himself or got someone else to do it anyway. They relied on two previous insurance claims which he'd made, and said that the lease claiming to rent the place out for £3,500 was a sham.

In summer 2012, it ended up in the High Court for them to decide. ( Read more... )