Anger over skyrocketing costs for farm insurance

Cressy farmer Tom Hingston says his insurance costs have increased so much that he has had to remove coverage for some of his equipment and infrastructure.

Mr Hingston runs Carnarvon, a 688-hectare mixed enterprise farm that includes sheep, cattle and crops.

He said that his insurance premiums had skyrocketed.

“They’ve gone through the roof,” Mr Hingston said.

“We insure our irrigation pivots and all the premiums for them, plus the vehicles, have gone up so much.

“It’s gotten to the point now where it's so unsustainable you’ve got to look at dropping stuff.”

Insurance premiums were a concern for many farmers that Mr Hingston spoke with.

“We all talk in general and everyone says the same thing – it’s going up and you just got to wear it,” he said.

“But where does it stop and why should all our costs go up?

“We can’t pass it on; you can only get so much back.”

Mr Hingston said he now had a couple of pump sheds on the property that were uninsured.

“When they originally went in with variable speed drives, they were $30,000.

“Since then the variable speed drives have come down now to a more realistic price of $9000.

“I’ll have to wear that cost now and what I save on servicing the insurance I can put that money aside for when things do go wrong.”

Mr Hingston said there had been multiple instances where he had issues with his insurance company.

A few years ago, when a pivot at Carnvaron was damaged during a windstorm, it took around three months to be replaced.

“It seemed to take forever,” Mr Hingston said.

“And then we didn’t even get the full amount anyway.”

He was recently informed that one of the workers’ cottages on the farm, which was more than 100 years old, had been reclassified as being in a flood zone.

“I thought that it was not right and looked at the two-percentile flood level list,” Mr Hingston said.

“I asked the insurance company to pinpoint the cottage on the flooding risk map and where they pinned it wasn’t even close to where the house is.

“This is something they should be aware of and it was fairly disappointing.

“It was a $5000 jump for a cottage that was nowhere near a flood zone.”

TasFarmers CEO Nathan Calman said primary producers were becoming more concerned about insurance.

“Insurance costs have spiked in recent years across Tasmania,” Mr Calman said.

“And for many farm businesses, it is pushing essential business activities beyond viability.”