Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Small holders insurance - do i need it?  (Read 9165 times)

Sarahjane610

  • Joined Jun 2016
Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« on: February 25, 2017, 11:27:15 pm »
Hi all,

Looking for some advice re insurance for smallholding.  Our house is a bit strange in that it is on a road of several detached houses of different sizes fairly close together.  Originally the house had about an acre at the back like the others and each garden looked onto farmers land.  The previous owners of our house bought the land from the farmer and our house has now 10 acres of land which on one side runs behind 7 houses on the road.

Over the last 2 years, I've added hens, pigs and sheep to the land.  We don't have any big machinery apart from a quad and a small ride on mower as we rent mostly. 

As far as I can see, the only real risks are, a pig or sheep getting into someone's garden and causing damage and our quad and mover getting stolen?  Is it worth getting insurance?  Is there something I've missed?  At this point I'm temped to leave it but would like opinions from you guys first!

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2017, 08:26:44 pm »
The big risk you need to insure against is a pig or a sheep getting out onto the road and causing a traffic accident - if someone is injured you could be looking at thousands and thousands in costs and compensation.  I'd say third-party liability is a must.

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2017, 03:17:57 pm »
You need public liability insurance to cover any accidents caused by your animals.

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2017, 03:40:26 pm »
Would anybody be willing to say what they're paying for public liability insurance?  I had some ludicrous quotes last year and threw them in the bin in disgust. I really need to look at it again though.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Sarahjane610

  • Joined Jun 2016
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2017, 06:42:52 pm »
Thanks guys - I would love to hear some figures as well as so far they look really high.  As the animals are all electric fenced inside stock fencing and to get to a road they would have to go through someone's house, I'm still leaning on the side of hoping for the best and maybe putting aside some money in case........

DavidandCollette

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2017, 09:12:12 am »
I think it is a must. Will get my figures out later and post. Apart from escaping animals causing mayhem you also need to take account of unwelcomed visits by numpties who might mak a claim having sustsined an injury whilst trying to rob you

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2017, 01:08:47 pm »
I get £2m public and product liability for £100 a year.  That's on the AXA Smallholders policy, bought through Farmers & Mercantile.

BrimwoodFarm

  • Joined May 2016
    • Brimwood Farm
    • Facebook
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2017, 04:50:37 pm »
I get £2m public and product liability for £100 a year.  That's on the AXA Smallholders policy, bought through Farmers & Mercantile.

That's great to know. I got a quote of over £500 from NFU and that was only for a small business add-on with maximum turnover of £10K.

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2017, 05:42:33 pm »
Yes, same here, Brimwood Farm, except our quote was £600 a year, for a business that turns over less than £2K!

Thanks for the info, Caroline. I'll definitely follow that one up  :thumbsup: .
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

PK

  • Joined Mar 2015
  • West Suffolk
    • Notes from a Suffolk Smallholding
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2017, 09:06:25 pm »
Following this lead I got a quote from F&M yesterday just for £2m public liability (no cover for farm buildings or equipment, nor loss of livestock as I am primarily interested in public liability insurance) and it came out at £350.

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2017, 10:00:06 pm »
So let me get this right, the price to insure against some placid, peace loving herbivores getting out and causing an accident, or nibbling a passing walker to death, is the same as it costs to insure a tonne or so of metal capable of travelling at 90mph?    ???

I sail an extreme racing dinghy that I am only barely in control of most of the time, and insuring it fully comp. including £5M of third party sorry I ran you over liability costs less than that.

Bonkers!
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

CarolineJ

  • Joined Dec 2015
  • North coast of Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #11 on: March 05, 2017, 12:17:54 pm »
Following this lead I got a quote from F&M yesterday just for £2m public liability (no cover for farm buildings or equipment, nor loss of livestock as I am primarily interested in public liability insurance) and it came out at £350.

Crumbs.  I guess this is one of the occasions where living in the middle of nowhere has its advantages!

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #12 on: March 05, 2017, 12:25:39 pm »
So let me get this right, the price to insure against some placid, peace loving herbivores getting out and causing an accident, or nibbling a passing walker to death, is the same as it costs to insure a tonne or so of metal capable of travelling at 90mph?    ???

I sail an extreme racing dinghy that I am only barely in control of most of the time, and insuring it fully comp. including £5M of third party sorry I ran you over liability costs less than that.

Bonkers!


I think deer could also be described as similar to your "placid, peace loving herbivires" and they can write your car off! Most cows might also be described as such until they get their silly head on!

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #13 on: March 05, 2017, 03:34:48 pm »
That's right Harmony, but I think you're mixing up hazard and risk here.

Of course a sheep could write off a car, or even worse cause it to crash injuring the passengers. However, it costs me £200 to insure my car (less if I only wanted third party). Surely there is more chance of me crashing my car into another car or pedestrian during my daily driving than there is of my sheep getting out AND causing an accident? I just don't get the disparity between the different premiums, that's all.
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

Black Sheep

  • Joined Sep 2015
  • Briercliffe
    • Monk Hall Farm
Re: Small holders insurance - do i need it?
« Reply #14 on: March 05, 2017, 04:50:01 pm »
But you have multiple sheep and they could potentially each escape and cause accidents (or other liabilities) 24 hours a day. You have one car and only drive it for a limited period each day (or less).

I guess premiums are also influenced by the chances of a successful claim (a car accident could be partially the fault of more than one party whereas a sheep escape is more likely to all be attributed to the owner) and the size of that claim (are most claims on car insurance small amounts for minor damage as opposed to major injuries?).

 

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