Does Farm Insurance Cover Injuries to Farm Workers?

Farms are dangerous places. And it’s not just you and your livestock who may come to harm – members of the public, farm employees and visitors are also at risk. But does your farm insurance cover your employees if they get hurt?

Yes – as long as you add this cover to your policy. Your farm insurance policy will automatically cover you for accidents involving members of the public but you’ll need different insurance for employees.

If you employ temporary or seasonal workers, this is still the case. You should always have the relevant insurance in place to protect everyone on your farm, whether they’re working or not.

In this article, we’ll cover the following questions:

• Does farm insurance cover my seasonal workers?
• Do I need separate insurance for myself as a farmer?
• Will members of the public have protection under my farm insurance?

Public liability comes automatically with your overall farm policy, but employee insurance does not. Farms are very dangerous places, so make sure all risks have adequate coverage before you make any new hires.

Getting employee insurance for your farm

If anyone else is working on your farm on a permanent, part-time or seasonal basis, you will need to tell your insurance provider. They will advise that you add a new section to your existing policy to cover those workers in the event of an accident.

If your family helps out, employers’ liability insurance also covers them and other unpaid workers or volunteers you have on your farm. However they must be aged over 16 if you are insured with FBD, Aviva or Zurich. If you are insured with Axa, they must be aged over 14.

When you ask for a quote for this kind of insurance, we will ask you a number of questions about the people who work on your farm. We will need to know if they are members of your family, how old they are (over 14 or not), if they are non-family volunteers or paid employees.

We will also ask you to estimate the amount you pay on wages per year. You’ll need to include family members in this figure.

Cover will be in respect of claims for personal injury resulting from accidents happening out of their working for you in connection with your occupation as farmer. There are many risks to people working on farms, including injury from livestock, machinery, or trips, slips and falls.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, all farmers have a duty to prepare a Farm Safety Statement. This is a document which outlines all the risks and hazards on their farm. If you have three or fewer employees, you can simply complete a risk assessment. Find out more on the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) website.

Cover for members of the public

Luckily, standard farm insurance will automatically include public liability insurance. This is because it’s one of the most important forms of insurance, especially for farmers.

Public liability insurance covers your legal responsibility to the public, visitors and suppliers should something go wrong while they’re on your farm. In the event of a claim against you following an injury, disease or property damage on your farm, public liability insurance will cover the amounts you’re legally responsible to pay. This could include hospital costs, loss of income, and damage to property.

Farms are incredibly dangerous places, and common public liability claims on farms include:

• Sheep or cows straying onto the road causing delays or collisions
• Livestock causing damage to walls and property
• Muck or slurry on the road causing accidents
• Falling trees and branches

You should never overlook the importance of public liability insurance. Talk to us today to make sure you have cover for any eventuality.

Personal accidents and farm insurance

One important factor to note is that as the farmer or business owner, you will not have cover under your employers’ liability insurance or public liability insurance in the event of an accident. This is because this insurance is specifically only to cover your employees and other people on your farm.

To make sure you have adequate coverage as well, you need to take out a personal accident section of your farm policy.

Adding on personal accident cover will provide you with a weekly benefit in the event that you are unable to engage in your usual farming activities. There are a number of options available in respect of personal accident cover with their associated prices, each of which will help ease your mind should the worst happen.

We will be happy to provide you with the options and costs and discuss which option might suit you best. Call us today, and talk to our farm insurance experts and we can walk you through all you need to know.