Smallholding insurance

Specialist insurance for smallholders, farmers and landowners

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Smallholdings farm insurance

Cultivating insurance excellence

Whether you have a smallholding with a few animals, or a more complex agricultural business, you need to have specialist advice on the right farm insurance for you. At Howden we can provide that advice through our knowledgeable and experienced team.

We use specialist farm insurers, to ensure that you have the right solutions for you as a smallholder, or as a larger farm – and at competitive rates, together with a high level of personal service.

Our approach

With over 30 years experience providing bespoke farm insurance solutions for smallholders and landowners we are committed to achieving the best possible solution we can for our clients, whilst reducing your costs wherever possible. To do this, we use a process underpinned by five key principles:

  1. Get to know you and build a detailed understanding of your requirements.
  1. Accurately identify your precise current and future insurance needs.
  1. Use our experience, expertise and knowledge of the agricultural insurance market to find the best solutions for you.
  1. Continue to support you throughout the year, not just at renewal, offering the highest standards of service at all times.
  1. Make the process of managing claims simple and hassle-free by handling all aspects of a claim on your behalf.

Our cover

  • Livestock Insurance
  • Agricultural Vehicle and Tractor Insurance
  • Farm Contents and Agricultural Building Insurance: This includes agricultural buildings, machinery and feed.
  • Employer’s Liability: In addition to any staff you may employ, having friends and family to help with your farm can be a wonderful experience, until someone is injured and seeks damages or compensation.  Even though you may not be paying them for their time, you are still responsible for them.  Always a separate section in a smallholder’s policy, it is vital to ensure your coverage includes this.
  • Landowners Liability: Whether your land is limited or expansive, as its owner, you may have a duty of care to those who traverse it. If the public is using your land they could be at risk of injury from poor maintenance or inadvertent mishaps and, as the owner, you could be liable for those injuries and held financially responsible.
  • Public and Product Liability:  Whether it is injury caused to visitors or their property, damage caused to underground utilities by digging, or through routine business deliveries, public liability insurance will cover your agricultural business if an unfortunate event has a negative impact on the public. Similarly, with Product Liability insurance, in the event of illness or injury caused as a result of products or produce originating from your farm and sold to the public, you will be covered.

Additionally, we can provide quotations for additional liability cover required for attendance at farmers markets, DIY livery facilities, Bed and Breakfasts and occasional educational visits etc.

Discover more about our Specialisms

Rural Commercial Legal Expenses Insurance

Livestock Insurance

Rural Motor Insurance

Equine

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Prompt and cheerful service, even when our whole world has fallen apart in a storm. Really good at telling us exactly what the insurers need to get a claim moving and chasing them through when they drag their feet. Thoroughly professional even when whoever is on your claim is on the phone so you have to deal with someone new. Why can’t other businesses do this?

Frequently Asked Questions

Smallholders Insurance cover can be purchased by calling 0330 016 2012  during our normal office hours, or by completing our form and we will get back to you.

Yes, but we need to quote you individually as our insurer’s rating is down to the individual property and not on postcode.

Farm gate sales are automatically included, but please advise what you sell as some items are deemed more high risk than others.

If you’d like a quote, please get in touch by calling 0330 016 2012 during our normal office hours, or completing our online form.

Farmers markets are automatically included.

If you’d like a quote, please get in touch by calling 0330 016 2012 during our normal office hours, or completing our online form.

Where you employ workers you are required to have insurance unless you are exempt on the following basis

  • You have a family business, which is not a limited company. All of your employees must be related to you – which includes husbands, wives, civil partners, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, stepfathers, stepmothers, sons, daughters, grandchildren, stepchildren, brothers, sisters, half-brothers or half-sisters.
  • You have a limited company where you are the only employee and you own 50% or more of the company’s issued share capital.

You may also need employers’ liability insurance for those carrying out work for you but are not your employees. For example, a casual worker helping with the harvest. If you are not sure please speak to us.

Our quotes are valid for 30 days.

This section of our policy is mandatory – every smallholder should have public liability cover to protect them against claims for damage or injury to persons or property which can be attributed to their negligence.

Our property insurance offers cover for any agricultural buildings, livestock, produce, fuels and fertilizers, animal feed and machinery – it can be tailored to suit your own individual needs.

  • Farm Buildings, Shelters, Stables etc
  • Tools & Machinery
  • Produce & Deadstock – hay, straw, feeds etc
  • Boundary Walls & Hedges
  • Metered water
  • Livestock
  • Public & Products Liability
  • Small farms or areas of land used for agricultural, horticultural or grazing purposes
  • Bare land not used for commercial purposes
  • Land and buildings to include retail sale of own produce
  • Cover includes exhibiting own livestock at shows, and educational visits where no charge is made
  • There is no minimum acreage
  • Riding Schools
  • Exported Products
  • Livery (Renting out stables for DIY livery is acceptable)
  • Farm visits if you receive payment
  • Organised shoots
  • Contracting
  • Property used for any other commercial purpose

Many of these can be catered for on other types of policy. Please contact us to see how we can help.

Please give us a call or request a callback – our policies are very adaptable.