Home and outbuildings
Dwelling, sheds, stables, tanks, pumps and fencing across the block rather than just the house footprint.
Lifestyle Property Insurance
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Lifestyle Property Insurance
Cover for rural residential acreage that sits between home and farm policies.
Rural residential blocks fall between two markets. Suburban home insurers often will not write acreage, outbuildings, dams and a few head of stock, while farm insurers assess the block against a working enterprise it is not. The common result is a house that is insured, sheds and fencing that are under-insured, and no liability cover for visitors or agisted horses.
What is it?
Lifestyle properties are typically two to forty hectare blocks with a dwelling, machinery sheds, stables or a hay shed, a tractor and slasher, tanks, a dam and a small number of cattle, sheep, alpacas or horses. Many sit on the bushfire interface around Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and some earn small income from agistment or short stays.
What does lifestyle property insurance cover?
Rural liability
Liability for visitors, agisted horses and stock that stray onto a road, subject to the policy terms.
Machinery and contents
Tractors, slashers, quads, tools and household contents kept on the property.
What affects the cost?
- Block size and improvements
- Bushfire attack level and access
- Livestock and horses kept
- Any income earned from the block
- Distance to a fire brigade and water supply
Worth raising on the call
- Income from agistment, produce sales or short-stay accommodation generally has to be declared.
- Boundary fencing is usually the most under-insured item on a lifestyle block after a fire.
- Horses kept for other people raise a different liability question to horses you own.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Grass fire takes the fencing
A fire runs through the back paddocks of a twenty hectare block and destroys two kilometres of boundary and internal fencing along with an open hay shed. The house survives, so the claim turns almost entirely on whether the fencing sum insured reflects what a contractor now charges per metre.
Agisted horse gets onto the road
A horse agisted for someone else pushes through a gate at night and is struck by a car on the road out the front. The driver claims against the property owner, and the rural liability section is generally what responds, provided the agistment arrangement was declared.
Storm strips a machinery shed
A summer storm lifts sheeting off an open-front machinery shed and driving rain gets into a tractor, a slasher and a shelf of tools. Whether the plant is picked up usually depends on whether it was listed as specified items rather than assumed to sit under contents.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming whether boundary and internal fencing are insured on a per-metre basis and whether that rate reflects current contractor pricing rather than a figure set several renewals ago.
- Worth confirming whether horses and livestock agisted for other people fall inside the liability section or are instead treated as property in your care, which is often worded differently.
- Worth confirming whether any income from agistment, produce sales or short-stay accommodation has been declared, since an undeclared commercial use of the block can affect how a claim is assessed.
Common questions
Can I just insure an acreage block on a normal home and contents policy?
Some home insurers will write small acreage, but many cap the land size they will accept, limit outbuildings past a certain value, and do not extend to fencing, livestock or rural liability. It is generally worth reading what the home wording actually includes before assuming the sheds, tanks and fences are picked up, because that is where most lifestyle block losses land.
Do I need a farm policy if I only run a few sheep or alpacas?
It depends on whether the block earns income and how the insurer classifies the use. A small number of animals kept for the household is commonly accepted on a lifestyle property wording, while selling stock, agisting for others or running produce commercially typically pushes the risk toward a farm policy. Eligibility and the policy terms are what settle it, so it is worth checking before renewal.
How much does lifestyle property insurance cost?
It depends, and no honest figure can be quoted without seeing the property. The main drivers are the dwelling and outbuilding replacement values, the bushfire attack level and access, how much fencing and water infrastructure is on the block, the machinery kept there, and whether any income is earned from the land.
Is my tractor or ride-on covered while I am slashing?
Generally only if it has been listed and valued on the schedule, and the terms can differ between working on your own block and working elsewhere. Damage caused while operating the machine and injury to the operator are also separate questions to the machine itself, so it is worth confirming all three against the policy terms and the PDS.
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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General information only. Any cover depends on the PDS, TMD, eligibility, underwriting, and policy terms. We use your details to respond to this enquiry.