Fire insurance and prevention for farm buildings and hay stacks

Summer is a time to consider the risks associated with hot weather and fire insurance. The contents of farm buildings in the summer are liable to dry out quickly and catch fire much more easily than at other times of year. At this time of year farm buildings are stacked up with straw and hay which dry out incredibly quickly in hot weather. For example, if there is a bulb dangling from the ceiling then there is a grave danger that a heap of dry grass piled too close to it could combust.

Also farmers should be very wary of how any glass or mirrors or even discarded empty bottles are situated as they concentrate sunlight onto exposed surfaces and it is a surprisingly common occurrence how often this results in fires.

Once a building full of tinder-dry material goes up in flames, it is almost impossible to put the fire out.

Farmers should also take care as to how they stack their straw or hay, or face the possibility of being uninsured in the event of a fire.

Insurance conditions for stacking bales have become increasingly stringent and it is essential to keep up to speed with the terms of cover – and specific fire insurance conditions – in an insurance policy.

First of all, farmers need to be aware if there’s a stack limit in their policy which is defined by value rather than volume. If a farmer has a stack with £60,000 worth of straw or hay – whether stored in an enormous barn or in the open – and it all goes up in flames, there’s a strong chance that it will have exceeded the limit set out in the terms of the insurance policy.

Insurers are reacting to the many fires which have devastated both huge stacks and the barns in which they are kept.

The best way for farmers to comply with the terms of the policy – and its fire insurance element – is to split their stacks and keep them in different barns or locations.