What claims are the injured parties entitled to under civil liability insurance?
The injured person will be able to demand compensation for the damage suffered. This means for her not only the right to compensation but also compensation and possibly additional benefits. The maximum amount of the sum insured has been determined by the regulations and amounts to:
EUR 1,000,000 – in the event of damage to property
EUR 5,000,000 for personal injury.
In practice, this means that it is very difficult to exhaust the sum insured. Theoretically, however, if the damage exceeded this established limit, the aggrieved party would have to demand the remaining amount not from the insurer, but directly from you as the perpetrator of the damage.
Farmer’s liability insurance – summary
- each owner (co-owner) of a farm must take out compulsory farmer’s civil liability insurance,
- in this case, “agricultural holding” means agricultural land with an area of more than 1 ha, as well as agricultural land and land (regardless of the area) on which agricultural production is carried out,
- the farmer’s civil liability insurance pays compensation for damages caused by you, your employees, or people staying with you on the joint farm,
- injured third parties may come to the insurer. Such a right is also available to injured employees, but only on the condition that they previously received compensation from KRUS and it turned out to be insufficient, and that you are responsible for the damage,
- under the farmer’s civil liability insurance, it is possible to claim not only compensation but also compensation, annuity, and other benefits due to the injured parties – up to 1 million (damage to property) or 5 million euros (personal injury),
- as a farmer, you must also have a second compulsory insurance – agricultural buildings.
Who is subject to the farmer’s liability insurance?
Pursuant to the Act (the Act of May 22, 2003, on compulsory insurance, the Insurance Guarantee Fund, and the Polish Bureau of Motor Insurers), every person engaged in agricultural activity, who has an area of agricultural land exceeding 1 ha in total, is required to conclude a civil liability insurance contract for the farmer and buildings agricultural. This obligation does not apply to companies engaged in agricultural activities.
When to take out the policy?
The farmer’s civil liability policy should be concluded on the day on which the farm was acquired. This means that the purchased farm should be insured on the same day, unless the previous owner had such insurance, and it is still operational. The change of ownership must be immediately reported by the current owner to the insurance company. If the new owner wants to change the insurer, he must terminate the existing insurance contract within 30 days from the date of purchase of the farm.
How long does the third-party liability insurance cover?
The contract of civil liability of a farmer and agricultural buildings is concluded for one year. If the farmer had a compulsory insurance policy and forgot to extend it after one year, the insurance is automatically extended for another year. Insurance coverage begins upon the conclusion of the contract.
Farmer’s liability liability
Farmer’s liability insurance is insurance that applies to third parties exposed to damage due to agricultural activity. The group of third parties includes members of the family jointly running the farm and living on its premises, as well as external farmworkers. In the event of an accident resulting in death, health detriment, damage, loss, or destruction of third party property, compensation is paid under the agricultural third party liability insurance policy. This protects the farm owner from having to pay a large sum of compensation out of his own pocket.
A farmer’s liability insurance covers also all slow-moving vehicles, e.g. agricultural harvesters. Therefore, the farmer is not obliged to conclude a motor third-party liability insurance policy for these vehicles.
Compulsory building insurance
In addition to the farmer’s civil liability insurance, the farm owner is obliged to conclude an insurance contract for buildings that are part of the farm. Pursuant to the Building Law Act, the object to be insured must be over 20m2 large, with foundations and a roof. Compulsory insurance for buildings covers only walls, all installations needed for normal functioning, paint coatings, and plasters.
Any elements of equipment and movable property inside the building are not covered by compulsory insurance, so in the event of damage or loss, we will not receive any compensation for them. If we want to protect ourselves against such an accident, we should conclude a voluntary insurance policy.
It should be remembered that the obligatory policy does not protect against random events such as overvoltage, smoke, soot, water damage, fall of an antenna or a tree. Only the voluntary policy provides insurance against such events.
