Sudden mechanical failure
Repair or replacement of plant that fails electrically or mechanically, subject to the policy terms.
Farm Equipment Breakdown Insurance
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Farm Equipment Breakdown Insurance
Cover for sudden mechanical and electrical plant failure.
Accidental damage sections generally respond to something happening to the machine. Breakdown responds to the machine failing on its own: a burnt-out irrigation pump motor, a seized vat compressor, a switchboard that lets go mid-season. On a farm the follow-on loss is often larger than the repair bill, because milk, produce or livestock depends on that unit running.
What is it?
Equipment breakdown, sometimes called machinery breakdown, covers sudden and unforeseen electrical or mechanical failure of fixed and portable plant. On farms that usually means irrigation pumps and motors, dairy vats and refrigeration, grain aeration fans, poultry shed ventilation and heating, generators, solar inverters, switchboards and compressors. It generally sits alongside the property damage section rather than inside it.
What does farm equipment breakdown insurance cover?
Deterioration of stock
Loss of milk, produce or livestock following a covered breakdown of refrigeration or ventilation.
Hire of replacement plant
The cost of hiring temporary pumps, generators or chillers while permanent repairs are carried out.
What affects the cost?
- Plant age and service history
- Value of the largest single unit
- Stock dependent on the plant running
- Backup power arrangements
- Limit chosen for stock deterioration
Worth raising on the call
- Wear and tear and gradual deterioration are generally excluded, so service records matter at claim time.
- The stock spoilage extension is usually the reason to buy the section, and its limit deserves a close look.
- Solar inverters and battery systems on farm are worth confirming as scheduled items rather than assuming.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Vat compressor fails overnight
The refrigeration compressor on a bulk milk vat seizes overnight and the whole vat is rejected at pickup the next morning. The repair is typically the smaller part of the claim, and the deterioration of stock limit becomes the figure that actually matters.
Irrigation pump motor burns out
A three-phase pump motor and its variable speed drive fail during a heat run and irrigation stops on a crop that needs water within days. Cover generally responds to sudden and unforeseen failure, and hire of temporary pumping is often part of the claim.
Poultry shed ventilation failure
A ventilation controller fails on a hot night and birds are lost before the alarm is answered and the shed is opened up. Whether anything is payable typically depends on the stock deterioration extension and on whether the alarm and backup conditions were met.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming whether a deterioration of stock extension exists at all, what limit it carries, and whether it covers livestock as well as milk and produce.
- Worth confirming what alarm, monitoring and backup power requirements apply, since these are commonly conditions precedent rather than recommendations.
- Worth confirming how wear and tear, gradual deterioration and lack of maintenance are treated, because service records generally become the evidence at claim time.
Common questions
What is the difference between breakdown cover and accidental damage?
Accidental damage generally responds to something external happening to the machine, such as an impact or a fire, while breakdown responds to the machine failing on its own from an electrical or mechanical cause. Many farm policies carry these in separate sections. That is why a burnt-out pump motor may not be picked up by the property damage section.
Does it cover solar panels and inverters on the farm?
Sometimes, where they have been scheduled. Inverters are a common failure point on farms and are increasingly listed under equipment breakdown, but they are not automatically included. Batteries and grid-connect equipment are worth confirming item by item rather than assuming they follow the panels.
Are tractors and headers covered under equipment breakdown?
Usually not under the fixed plant section. Mobile farm machinery is generally handled through a machinery breakdown extension of the farm machinery section, if taken, and often with age or hour limits applied. It is worth confirming which section your header, tractor or sprayer actually sits on.
What does farm equipment breakdown cover cost?
It depends on plant age and service history, the value of the largest single unit, how much stock depends on that plant running, backup power arrangements, and the stock deterioration limit selected. Older plant with no service records is generally the hardest to place and attracts the tightest terms.
General information only. Cover, limits and exclusions depend on the PDS, TMD, eligibility, underwriting and the policy terms. See farm insurance for the wider picture.
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