Home and sheds
Dwelling, outbuildings, fencing and contents on acreage.
Hobby Farm Insurance
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Hobby Farm Insurance
Cover for lifestyle blocks and small acreage.
A lifestyle block sits awkwardly between a home policy and a commercial farm policy. Home insurers often will not cover the acreage and stock; farm insurers assess it differently from a commercial operation.
What is it?
Hobby farms and lifestyle blocks typically run a home, sheds, small numbers of stock, a tractor and some machinery on acreage, sometimes with a small income stream from produce or agistment.
What does hobby farm insurance cover?
Small livestock and machinery
Stock, tractors and implements at lifestyle scale.
Liability
Injury to visitors, contractors and neighbours arising from the property.
What affects the cost?
- Block size and what is run on it
- Whether any income is derived
- Machinery values
- Distance to fire services
- Public access to the property
Worth raising on the call
- Standard home policies commonly exclude farming activity and stock.
- Any income from the block usually changes how it is assessed.
- Public liability on acreage is broader than most owners expect.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Visitor injured by a horse
A friend's child is kicked while helping around the horses on a weekend visit and needs surgery and time off school. Liability arising from animals kept on acreage is generally a farm or lifestyle liability question rather than a home policy one, so the claim usually turns on which policy was actually in force.
Shed fire takes the tractor and tools
A fault in a shed power board starts a fire overnight and the tractor, slasher, mower and hand tools inside are all lost. Because acreage sheds and machinery are frequently left off a home policy, claims like this commonly reveal that only the dwelling and its contents were insured.
Bushfire burns fencing and the pump
A grass fire comes through the block and destroys boundary fencing, a poly water line and the pump at the dam. Fencing and water infrastructure are often either omitted or insured at figures set years ago, so the shortfall usually shows up at claim time rather than at renewal.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming how any income from the block is treated, since agistment fees, farm-gate sales, weddings, short-stay accommodation or produce sales commonly move the risk out of a purely domestic assessment.
- Worth confirming whether the tractor, quad or side-by-side is covered away from the property, on a public road or when lent to a neighbour, because cover is often restricted to use on the insured land.
- Worth confirming how the liability section treats stock or horses straying onto a road, and whether there are fencing or containment conditions attached to it.
Common questions
Can I just add my acreage to my home insurance?
Some home insurers will cover small acreage, but many limit the land size and generally exclude farming activity, livestock, machinery and fencing. Where the block runs stock or machinery, a rural or lifestyle policy is usually the better structural fit, so it is worth comparing what each product actually includes rather than assuming the cheaper schedule is equivalent.
Do I need public liability on a hobby farm?
Most lifestyle block owners arrange it, because visitors, contractors, neighbours and animals all create third-party exposure that a home policy may not fully address on acreage. It is not compulsory in the way motor CTP is, but the potential claim size is usually well beyond the value of the shed it happened in.
Is my quad bike or side-by-side covered?
Farm bikes and side-by-sides generally need to be scheduled by make, model and value rather than sitting inside contents, and cover is often limited to use on the insured property. Insurers may also apply conditions around rider age, helmet use and rollover protection, so those are worth checking in the wording.
Does selling eggs or agisting horses change my insurance?
Usually yes, because any income from the block tends to move it from a domestic assessment toward a commercial one, and it can bring product liability and care of others' animals into play. It is better to disclose it up front than to have it emerge during a claim, since non-disclosure can affect how a claim is handled.
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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Cover questions for your employees and workers.
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General information only. Any cover depends on the PDS, TMD, eligibility, underwriting, and policy terms. We use your details to respond to this enquiry.