The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Womble on November 07, 2016, 08:45:19 am

Title: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: Womble on November 07, 2016, 08:45:19 am
To quote from another thread: (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=79055.0)

You are responsible for your livestock which was straying on the public highway and will of course have public liability insurance to cover this

Yes of course I do Tim..... er......   :innocent:

OK, ok, I got half the way there in that I had a quote from NFU last year for public liability, product liability and employer's liability insurance. However, the quote came back at £600, which in my mind is out of the question to cover a business that turns over less than £2,000 a year (note that's turnover, not profit). So as a result, I filed the quote under a large pile of other paperwork and have spent the last 8 months pretending it isn't there  :-[.

I tried to get other quotes online this weekend, but couldn't find anywhere that even mentioned farming on their standard list of trades.

So, as per the poll, what insurances do you have in place, and if you don't mind, in the thread tell us who the policy is with, and roughly how much you pay?

Thanks all!
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: waterbuffalofarmer on November 07, 2016, 09:25:47 am
We have liabilty insurance, with the NFU am sure. All our animals are insured and the more expensive ones we are looking at getting bigger insurance for them. In my line of work you cant not afford to have insurance, because if something happens at least you have some protection, instead of nothing. We are completely insured via the NFU and so far it has been very good :)
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: CarolineJ on November 07, 2016, 01:50:41 pm
Public liability only at the moment, because I'm still setting up rather than selling anything at the moment.  From memory the premium was just over £300, but that includes buildings insurance for the house we're renovating and contents cover for the sheds.  Policy is through Farmers and Mercantile.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: bazzais on November 07, 2016, 02:37:35 pm
Wouldnt worry - someone hit your sheep with their car - they dont have a leg to stand on.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: bazzais on November 07, 2016, 02:39:46 pm
Just tell them to be glad it wasnt a heavier item they drove into or they would be dead too.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: bazzais on November 07, 2016, 02:40:25 pm
BTW - sorry to hear about your ewe.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: Rosemary on November 07, 2016, 03:37:48 pm
Because of our set up, we have NFU farm insurance with public, product and employers liability. Costs us an arm and a leg. We also have house insurance with them so there are no "gaps" in cover. (I'm pretty risk averse). The NFU Lifestyle policy doesn't have enough cover for us, even though we are a very small business.

NFUM are supposed to be launching a Smallholder policy any day now.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: Womble on November 07, 2016, 09:55:58 pm
Thanks for the replies everybody.


I should just clear one thing up - it wasn't me who had the accident, it was sheeponthebrain, who described everything in this post. (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=79055.0) It just got me thinking about insurance again though.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: Foobar on November 08, 2016, 11:07:46 am
I have my NFU renewal reminder sat in front of me now as I need to increase some things since I moved.  I have my contents insurance with them and have added on the stuff for my smallholding.  I have public and employers liability included.  Price is quite reasonable now (~£300 for everything) - I got a quote from MVF and it was heaps more.
You do need public liability insurance if you have livestock.
Title: Re: Smallholding insurance - again!
Post by: Clay on November 25, 2016, 03:49:36 pm
 I would say yes you do need public liability insurance for livestock. It only needs for an animal to stray into a public road and if there was an accident you will be liable. Also if a member of public goes onto your land and something unforeseen happens again you could be liable.