What isn't covered by farm insurance?

Farm insurance can cover a lot of different things, but no policy covers every risk a farm could face.

What isn't covered depends on the insurer, the policy and the sections you've chosen.

This is why it's worth looking beyond the headline list of benefits when comparing farm insurance.

What is an insurance exclusion?

An exclusion is something the policy specifically doesn't cover.

But there's another important distinction.

Sometimes something isn't actually “excluded”. It simply isn't part of the cover you've selected.

For example, a farm policy might offer machinery breakdown as an extra section. If you haven't selected that section, you shouldn't assume machinery breakdown is covered just because your machinery appears elsewhere on the policy.

That's why it's worth checking:

• what's included
• what's optional
• what's limited
• what's specifically excluded

Is flood covered by farm insurance?

It depends on the policy.

Don't assume farm insurance automatically includes flood cover.

Insurers can treat flood differently and the cover available can depend on the individual product and property.

If flood is an important risk for your farm, check it specifically when comparing policies.

Are crops covered?

Farm insurance and crop insurance aren't necessarily the same thing.

A farm policy may cover some harvested farm property such as hay or grain while standing crops or loss of crop yield may need different insurance.

If crops are an important part of your income, check exactly what happens if they're damaged and whether separate crop insurance is needed.

Are livestock covered for illness or death?

Having livestock listed as farm property doesn't necessarily mean every reason for an animal's death, injury or illness is covered.

Livestock cover can vary considerably between policies.

If livestock are valuable to your farm, check:

• which animals are covered
• what events are covered
• whether illness is included
• whether accidental injury or death is included
• whether limits apply
• whether specialist livestock or bloodstock cover is needed

Is machinery breakdown covered?

Not automatically.

Farm machinery can be insured against certain types of damage without mechanical or electrical breakdown being included.

Some insurers offer separate machinery breakdown cover.

If losing a major piece of machinery would cause a serious problem for your farm, check both physical damage and breakdown cover.

What about wear and tear?

Insurance is generally designed for insured events rather than the normal ageing and deterioration of property.

Policies can exclude things such as wear and tear, gradual deterioration, corrosion or poor maintenance.

The wording differs between insurers, so check the policy rather than assuming every type of machinery or building damage is covered.

What if the farm is left unattended?

Some policies can have conditions or restrictions when a property is left unattended for a long period.

This can affect cover for things such as theft or other losses.

If nobody regularly lives or works at the property, tell the insurer and check whether any special conditions apply.

Are farm stays and visitors covered?

Don't assume they are.

If you run accommodation, tours, events, farm-gate sales or other activities that bring people onto the property, this can change your liability risk.

Tell the insurer what you do and check that your cover matches those activities.

What about agistment?

If you let other people keep animals on your property, make sure your insurer knows.

Your policy may treat animals owned by somebody else differently from your own livestock, and agistment can also affect your liability cover.

Is contracting work covered?

If you take your machinery off the farm and carry out work for other people, tell your insurer.

Farm equipment used only on your own property may be treated differently from machinery being used commercially elsewhere.

Check whether your farming and contracting activities are both covered.

What if I don't maintain my property or machinery?

Insurance shouldn't be treated as a replacement for normal maintenance.

Policies can contain exclusions or conditions relating to wear, deterioration or failure to look after insured property.

Keep machinery, buildings and other farm property properly maintained and keep records where it makes sense to do so.

An exclusion doesn't always mean the risk can't be insured

This is important.

Something not covered by one part of a farm policy may be available through:

• another section of the policy
• an optional extra
• a separate policy
• a specialist insurer

For example, machinery breakdown may need to be selected separately, while some crop risks may require specialist crop insurance.

The question shouldn't just be “Is this excluded?”

It should also be:

“If it isn't covered here, is there another way to insure it?”

What should you check before choosing farm insurance?

Before taking out a policy, think about the things that would cause the biggest financial problem if something went wrong.

Then check whether they're actually covered.

That might include:

• the farmhouse
• sheds and farm buildings
• fencing
• machinery
• vehicles
• livestock
• crops
• liability
• business interruption
• flood and other natural hazards
• activities away from your farm

Read the policy documents and ask questions if anything isn't clear.

Finding out before you buy is much better than discovering an exclusion when you're trying to make a claim.