The impact of inflation on your farm
Inflation has impacted the agricultural industry, affecting the cost of farming equipment and the value of farm assets.
“With rising input costs, it is important to check whether your farm insurance is up to date to ensure you are adequately covered in the event of a loss,” said Alec Jones, Farm Insurance Specialist with Achmea Australia.
Alec emphasises the importance of regularly reviewing your insurance policy to ensure it provides adequate coverage, especially as your business grows.
"As your agribusiness expands, so does your exposure to risks,” Alec emphasises.
“When it comes to farm insurance, we encourage agribusinesses to consider the rising costs of labour and materials, driven by supply-chain shortages and inflation, and how this may impact the cost to replace or rebuild insured items in the event of a loss.
“If your insured sum does not keep pace with your growth and these market-factors, you may find yourself underinsured. This means facing the risk of a shortfall if you need to rebuild or repair your farm buildings, and not having sufficient funds to get your business back up and running,” Alec said.
“As a Farm Insurance Specialist with Achmea Australia, we take the time to get to know your agribusiness and what you value most through our on-farm approach to insurance,” Alec said.
Alec said understanding the common causes of underinsurance can help you avoid the risk. These include:
- Underestimating the replacement cost of your house or farm buildings when nominating your insured sum.
- Not updating your insurance policy to account for market changes or renovations that can increase the value and replacement cost of your insured buildings.
- Increases in labour and building materials after a catastrophe, which can push the cost to rebuild above your selected insured sum.
- Intentionally reducing your insured sum to lower the cost of your premium may cause the insurance cover not to cover the replacement cost.
Talk to Achmea Australia directly about how you can tailor our All-in-One-Farm-Pack to the unique requirements of your agribusiness.
“If you think you might be at risk of underinsurance, now is a good time to check your insurance policy is up to date,” Alec said.
Achmea Australia’s All-in-One-Farm-Pack offers Guarantee Against Underinsurance optional cover, which is available for eligible farm buildings. With this option, Achmea Australia will arrange and pay for the repair or rebuild of your insured building to the same condition as when it was new, or they will pay you the equivalent amount.
“Through Achmea Australia’s purpose of keeping farmers farming, I am passionate about supporting the insurance needs of agribusinesses.” Alec said.
As a specialist agricultural insurer, Achmea Australia supports thousands of agribusinesses across Australia through its co-operative approach to farm insurance.
Contact Achmea Australia today to request a farm insurance quote or appointment. Call 1800 724 214 or visit Achmea here.