Farm Insurance Brokers

Covers the farmhouse, sheds, silos, fencing, yards and other fixed structures against fire, storm and theft. Flood is typically excluded as a standard condition of farm property cover across the market, rather than assumed to be included, and needs a specific arrangement if it applies to the property. Cover is usually arranged on a defined value or replacement basis, and underwriters assess bushfire exposure using address-level mapping data rather than a manual risk questionnaire at quote stage.

Farm packs commonly cover harvested and stored crops against events such as fire and storm damage, but a crop still standing in the field is typically outside a general farm package altogether. Named-peril cover for a standing crop responds to hail and fire, and is typically arranged as its own standalone policy rather than a section of a general farm package. Both drought and flood generally sit outside these named-peril products, so growers in drought-exposed regions increasingly add a parametric insurance product alongside their named-peril cover for rainfall or weather-index protection.

Livestock is often excluded from a standard farm pack policy in the first place, largely because of the mobile nature of stock, the practical difficulty verifying and valuing individual animals, and the biological risks involved, reasoning the insurance industry itself has pointed to when explaining low livestock insurance uptake. Where it is included, treatment differs markedly by insurer. Some farm property policies insure livestock as an asset for a specific set of listed events, commonly fire, lightning, theft, riot and impact, and some extend to livestock in transit between the property and a saleyard or processor, occasionally with a specific sub-limit for a collision or vehicle rollover within a set distance of the property. Storm and rainwater damage to livestock left in the open air is a common carve-out even where livestock is otherwise insured, so it needs checking rather than assumed alongside general storm cover. Sums insured are usually set per head or per mob, and cover can be scaled up or down as herd or flock numbers change through the season. Illness and notifiable or epidemic disease outbreaks generally sit outside standard cover and need a specific extension. Working dogs and horses are sometimes treated separately from general livestock and can carry broader event cover under the one policy.

Standard farm pack livestock cover responds to a narrow list of events, such as fire, lightning, explosion, impact by vehicles and theft, rather than illness, disease or birthing complications. Some panel products extend this with specific benefits relevant to valuable stock: cover for livestock killed in a dog attack (excluding dogs owned by the insured, an employee or a resident), and a separate theft of livestock benefit requiring the loss to be reported to police. Separately, some insurers offer liability cover specifically for high-value animals, protecting against claims if the animal itself causes injury or damage, which is a different product to a mortality or death policy for the animal. A genuine full mortality policy covering illness, accident and birthing complications for stud or breeding stock is a specialist bloodstock or livestock product, typically arranged through a dedicated underwriter rather than included in a standard farm pack, so it shouldn’t be assumed as standard and is worth confirming before relying on it.

Standard farm property and motor sections respond to external causes such as fire, theft, storm damage and collision. A separate machinery breakdown extension is needed for internal mechanical, electrical or hydraulic failure, such as an engine or gearbox fault, since this sits outside a standard property or motor policy. Older machinery is often settled on its depreciated value rather than full replacement cost, and some insurers offer an optional add-on for lost income during the repair period.

Public and products liability cover for legal costs and compensation if a visitor, contractor or member of the public is injured, or a neighbouring property is damaged, as a result of the farm’s operations. This is separate from workers compensation, which covers injury to employees. Diversified activities such as farm stays, farm tours or direct farm-gate produce sales usually need to be declared and may require a specific extension, since undisclosed commercial activity can affect a claim.

Covers utes, trucks, quad bikes and other registered and unregistered vehicles used on the property, alongside mobile plant such as loaders and slashers.

Replaces lost farm income and covers extra costs if trading is interrupted by damage that’s covered under the farm’s property, structures or machinery sections, such as a fire or storm. Some policies extend to loss of agistment income if agisted stock needs to be moved due to fire damage to pasture or fencing, and to extra wages if a shearing delay is caused by fleece moisture preventing shearing, though this kind of benefit is usually capped and doesn’t cover the first short period of any delay.

Built for smaller-scale operations running fewer commercial crops or stock, hobby farm cover typically combines property and liability protection with optional extensions for a small number of animals, sheds and outbuildings, scaled to the size of the block rather than a full commercial farm program. Some insurers set specific eligibility criteria for what counts as a hobby farm, such as a turnover threshold from primary production of around $50,000 a year and a property size cap around 50 hectares, alongside conditions based on livestock numbers or farm infrastructure present. These thresholds vary by insurer, so it is worth confirming against the actual policy rather than assumed.