Are you ready for country living?

Real estate figures show that Kiwis are searching for rural property, and who could blame them? Escaping the city to your oasis every evening and weekend is hugely appealing. 

Along with a rural postcode, moving to the country means getting a lot more land and often acquiring livestock, so it’s a big change from city living. But one thing many people don’t seem to change is their insurance. 

Some things happen in the country that would never happen in the city... like your cow escaping the yard and being hit by a passing car. It’s essential you’re prepared for these kinds of things, so where do you start? 

Here are the top five things you should know when insuring your lifestyle block.

1. Liability. Being new to the country, mistakes can happen. Plus, you don’t know what you don’t know. Did you know that if your sheep, goats or cows escaped your farm and caused damage to your neighbour’s property, you could be held liable?  Likewise, not all insurers can help you with your legal costs and certain fines and penalties if you accidentally breach legislation – like the Resource Management Act. 
2. Livestock. One of the best parts of being on a block is being able to raise animals. Whether you get alpacas, cattle, deer, goats, llamas, pigs or sheep, it can be worth insuring them for theft, accidental death, injury and illness.
3. Fences. Fencing is a perfect example of something you must take much more seriously on a lifestyle block. Not all insurers can cover your lifestyle block fencing under their standard house policies, so be sure to talk to them about your farming needs and ensure you’re adequately covered.
4. Additional structures. Some structures on lifestyle blocks such as bridges, culverts, gates and mailboxes may not be automatically covered under your usual house insurance, even if they’re within your residential boundary, so it pays to check.
5. Farm contents. Having a lifestyle property often means adding a few new things to your content cover. This is where having an insurer with rural knowledge comes in handy. It can be worth covering things like troughs, animal feed, generators, tools, pumps and motors that service your lifestyle block.