Insurance

Who do you have your public liability insurance with? Mine up for renewal and I'd like to look at a few other providers this time. Cheers

FMG

FMG for liability and contents. Building insurance through State.

FMG for all of it, after switching from long-time insurer AA Insurance, who don't do public liability and don't believe that a sprinkler system makes a house any less likely to burn down. Go figure.

I ended up paying a bit less per month but got a whole heap more cover, more on my contents, more on my car - I worked out I got about a third more insurance than I had before.

What do you need public liability insurance for? Surely that's why we have ACC?

A (No, really, I'd like to know)

If your stock gets out and wrecks someone else's garden/orchard/fencing. If you set fire to someone else's plantation/house through your bonfire getting out of control...etc etc etc.

There are also a heap of other things covered that I can't think of at this very moment....but none of them are covered by ACC. They cover you or something belonging to you causing damage to someone else's property or livestock or livelihood etc...

State
If your animals damage someone else's place,car on road, nextdoors gardens orany third parties things

Ok, so shouldn't urban dwellers have the same cover, in case they cause something to happen? At what point should a person consider liability insurance? Is it the size of a property, or whether you do or do not have animals?

A

ame;211365 wrote: Ok, so shouldn't urban dwellers have the same cover, in case they cause something to happen? At what point should a person consider liability insurance? Is it the size of a property, or whether you do or do not have animals?

A

Mostly it's to do with having animals, but also there are things around you that are inherently more dangerous on a farm.

For example, I doubt townies would be driving their tractor through their neighbour's fence, or accidentally burning down a pine forest, or have their dog maul their neighbour's champion race horse, or have a herd of their mad cattle go racing through their neighbour's award-winning garden, ranch slider, shed etc.

It's not a lot of money you pay, but it's for those weird things that happen when you're farming. My parent's had to claim on their public liability when a herd of mad cattle they had just bought went through 18 fences, a neighbour's ranch slider, several sheds, smashed up a vehicle or two, before they were finally caught and sent straight back to the previous owner.

Fortunately, no-one was hurt, the ranch slider broke but did stop the cattle entering the house and the insurance company was pretty good about it all. On another occasion, they claimed when a neighbour's bull went through the boundary, through their commercial glasshouse and destroyed half their crop. That neighbour didn't have liability insurance, and it cost him a lot. Not that he was friendly before, but he's never spoken to them again.

Just out of interest, given the discussion a while back about FMG policies, I have just had a look at their Liability Cover and was suprised to see that the Rural Forest Fire Cover on a LSB is only $50,000 and even more interesting that to get cover in the event of say, your stock getting out on the road and causing damage (that could be a $100,000+ truck swerving to avoid your cattle on the road and possibly being written off in the outcome) is now under Moral somethingarather and is something you have to purchase additionally. I'm sure that was not the case previously so maybe those of you with FMG policies need to go onto their site and download the information about what you are covered for.

Sod, I have not checked out State but for anyone out there - it is well worth checking you ARE covered and not assume anything. The areas that are really of concern to most small blockholders (at least to me) are stock getting out on the road (e.g.daughter's horses have been out three times in the past few years and each time because a gate was partially left open thoughtlessly) and being blamed for spray drift to the Orchard next door - or even the neighbour's garden. Never happened to me but I have seen the accusations in my neighbourhood.

The most dangerous thing about insurance is not knowing exactly what you are covered for. Saw an interesting article in a Weekend paper about some Insurance Companies' practise of making client's use their "preferred" Jewellery Company (they get a 30 - 40% discount) being referred to the Insurance Ombudsman. I always thought that was shonky and not what I would want if a precious ring was stolen. Paricularly if it was designed and made by a local Jeweller - not a mass producer. Interesting eh?

FMG this year but will look elsewhere next year, not too impresses with them to be honest!

Also Ame, I have a small boarding cattery and need to cover my butt should anything every happen (heaven forbid)

Also from time to time I have people here doing works of some kind, rather safe that sorry I think.

We are with AMI on their Legal Liability policy, aimed specifically at lifestyle blocks. Costs us $112.50 per year, cover is $2 million.

The policy covers our legal liability arising from or in connection with our farming operation for accidental damage to other people's property occurring anywhere in New Zealand. This includes things like damage to customer's vehicles, damage we cause if we were doing farm contract work on someone else's property, laibility under the Forest and Rural Fires Act , and other stuff.

ame, Lots more people should have it, including urban people. A few instances I can think of (that are not as exciting as Pumpkingirls wow!)
* people were trimming trees on their own property and a branch crashed through fence and garage of their neighbour.
* horse at a show sat on bonnet of spectators car
* dog escaped and caused car accident
* and one where neighbours kids did something to glasshouse (not break it) turned power off/on or something like that, caused neighbour to loose crop anyway and the neighbours kids parents were liable.

These were all urban people.

We are with AMI, have been happy with them so far, cover is good. We had looked at a couple of other liability insurance covers and the amounts were ridiculous - like 50K cover. We used to be with State - NEVER again!

Hi AME,

ACC covers damage to people, not damage to property.