Insurance cover
The financial trauma caused by bushfire can be significantly lessened if you have adequate insurance cover. The need for insurance depends on financial circumstances and whether or not you are prepared to take a risk. Careful financial planning before a crisis is key to ensuring your farming future.
Choosing cover that suits you
When choosing your insurer, make sure the company you select has a good rural policy and fully understands your personal needs and the needs of a commercial farming or grazing property. Ask questions
Go through your policies with the company representative on an annual basis and adjust where necessary. The increasing complexity and cost of plant and equipment should be considered yearly when determining what to insure and to what level.
Saving costs with fencing
While fencing can be a big cost, it is an area where you can save on insurance.
Steel end assemblies and concrete or steel posts with ringlock or an equivalent prefabricated fence will withstand most fires. Even though the life span of the ringlock may be considerably reduced, you will be left with a secure property.
You can also save money insuring the end assemblies of fences that are erected with wooden strainer posts and stays with steel or concrete posts in the fence line.
Income protection
While asset and stock loss by fire is covered by insurance, you will likely lose income by the time they are replaced and reproduce. Business interruption insurance will provide you with the amount of profit that would have been earned had there been no fire. The cost of this insurance is similar to asset insurance rates.
Insurance checklist
Use this check list of items to remember when getting insurance:
- home buildings
- farm buildings
- machinery (mobile and fixed, including breakdown)
- fencing
- all major crops including re-sowing subsidy
- livestock
- electronic equipment
- working dogs.
Questions to ask when considering insurance
Below are some questions you can ask when choosing your insurance company.
- What is the risk of theft?
- What is the history of destructive wind, hail, flooding and fire in my area?
- Are there ways I can mitigate or reduce those risks before taking out insurance cover?
- Does my operation require straying stock cover?
- Does my farm have unique or uncommon operations, such as GM crops, hydroponics etc.
- Are these operations covered?
- Does my operation require public liability insurance?
