Death or injury in transit
Stock killed or humanely destroyed following an accident, fire or overturning of the vehicle.
Stock Transit Insurance
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Stock Transit Insurance
Cover for livestock while loading, travelling and unloading by road.
Livestock in a crate is exposed in ways that stock in a paddock is not. Heat, delays, smothering, downer animals and rollovers all happen on the road, and a carrier is generally not liable for the animals unless negligence is established. That leaves the owner carrying the value from the loading ramp through to the destination.
What is it?
Stock transit cover follows livestock moving by road between properties, saleyards, feedlots, processors, agistment and export depots, whether on a farm truck, a contractor's B-double or a road train. It applies to cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and horses, and can extend across loading, the journey and unloading depending on how the policy has been arranged.
What does stock transit insurance cover?
Loading and unloading
Losses at the ramp, which is where a large share of transit injury claims begin.
Contracted carriers
Cover arranged by the owner where a carrier's limited liability does not respond.
What affects the cost?
- Species and value per head
- Distance and route travelled
- Own truck or contracted carrier
- Season and heat exposure
- Loading facilities at both ends
Worth raising on the call
- Carriers commonly trade on conditions that limit their liability, so owner cover is the practical fallback.
- Cover is often limited to death following a defined event rather than any loss on the journey.
- Heat stress and smothering without an accident are frequently excluded and worth confirming before summer.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Cattle crate rolls on a range road
A loaded crate overturns on a wet range road and cattle are killed outright or destroyed on humane grounds at the scene. Cover for the animals generally responds to the overturning as a defined event rather than through any claim against the carrier.
Breakdown on a hot afternoon
A truck breaks down mid-journey and sheep stand in the crate for hours in the heat before a replacement vehicle arrives. Losses from heat and delay without an accident are frequently outside the wording, which makes this a very different claim to a rollover.
Lambs smother on a long run
Lambs on the bottom deck smother during a long haul to a processor and are dead on arrival. Whether that is recoverable usually depends on whether cover is limited to death following an accident or is written more broadly.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming whether cover starts at the loading ramp or only once the vehicle is in motion, and whether it continues during rest stops and overnight spells.
- Worth confirming whether stock held in saleyard or depot pens at either end of the journey is included, since yard time is often outside the transit definition.
- Worth confirming whether the limit applies per load or per vehicle, and whether a road train carrying multiple decks stays within it.
Common questions
Isn't the transport company responsible for my livestock?
Carriers commonly trade on conditions that limit or exclude their liability for the animals unless negligence can be established, and proving that after a road incident is not straightforward. That is why owner-arranged transit cover exists, and it is worth reading the carrier's conditions of carriage before assuming their policy stands behind your stock.
Does stock transit insurance cover heat stress?
Frequently not. Many wordings respond to death following a defined event such as collision, fire or overturning, rather than to losses that occur without an accident. Heat, delay and smothering are worth raising specifically with a broker before summer carting starts, and the answer will come back to the policy terms.
Do I need it if I cart my own stock in my own truck?
The exposure is the same regardless of who is driving, and a motor policy on the truck generally covers the vehicle rather than the animals in the crate. Whether your farm policy already extends to stock in transit on your own vehicle is worth checking, because it is often a separate declaration.
What does stock transit insurance cost?
It depends on the movements and cannot be quoted without them. The main drivers are the species and value per head, the distance and route travelled, whether you use your own truck or a contracted carrier, the season and heat exposure, and the quality of loading facilities at each end.
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.