The cost of farm insurance is expected to increase over the next few years. While recent bushfires and natural disasters have had a part to play, the bigger picture is much more complicated.
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Achmea Farm Insurance risk specialist for the Southern Highlands, Tablelands and the South Coast Gerard Bennett said the company implemented a 10 per cent increase before the fires last year.
Mr Bennett said the increase was just "coming into play now".
He said the recent bushfires definitely would make an impact but it was difficult to know the extent.
Mr Bennett said Achmea hoped to maintain insurance levels for the near future.
"There is no doubt that bushfires and natural disasters caused increases but there are a number of factors that went into it," he said.
"You can expect some increase due to natural weather events happening worldwide but not just because of the bushfires.
"It's more complicated than that."
The insurance broker said there was a commercial as well as a financial side.
He said they had to factor in the competitive market as well as desirable and undesirable risks.
He said that while every farm was different, the annual fee for a small farm policy came in around $3500 to $4000, the average farm was between $10,000 to $15,000 and larger businesses more than $20,000.
Mr Bennett said registered vehicles and major buildings were commonly insured but the areas people tended to brush over was livestock and fencing.
He said they were slightly more expensive to insure but were the "key assets to run a business".
Mr Bennett offered advice to farmers looking into their insurance policy.
He said it was important to read and completely understand your policy and review it on a yearly basis. It was also important to seek alternative quotes at least every three years.
Insurance Council of Australia CEO Rob Whelan said so far insurers had received 37,804 claims totalling $2.34 billion in relation to recent bushfires.
He said bushfires made up almost half of last season's natural disasters, with the total claims bill now more than $5.3 billion.
