Hobby Farm Insurance
Hobby farm insurance covers a rural property kept for enjoyment rather than income. Sutherland Insurance places it across Ontario for the dwelling, barns and outbuildings, equipment, small numbers of livestock and farm liability. Sutherland Insurance is an independent brokerage licensed by the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario that has brokered insurance in Guelph since 1870.
- Line
- Commercial insurance
- Area served
- All of Ontario
- Claims support
- In-house claims representative available to every client on a claim
What qualifies as a hobby farm?
Insurers treat a property as a hobby farm where the farming is not carried on to produce a living. The common markers are no outside employees, limited numbers of livestock and equipment, and income from the land that is incidental rather than relied upon.
The distinction matters because it decides which contract answers a claim. A standard homeowner policy is written for a residential lot and excludes farming exposures: a barn, a tractor, livestock and visitors to the property fall outside it. A full farm policy is rated for a commercial producer. Hobby farm cover sits between the two, and the point at which a property crosses into commercial farming is a rating question insurers ask at the time the policy is written.
What can an Ontario hobby farm insurance policy cover?
What a policy can cover
- Farm buildings and structures: barns, outbuildings, fencing and grain storage
- Farm equipment and machinery: tractors, implements and irrigation plant
- Livestock: death or injury of animals from named perils
- Commercial general liability: third-party bodily injury and property damage arising from operations
- Commercial property: the building where it is owned, plus fixtures, stock and contents
Commonly excluded under standard Ontario hobby farm insurance wordings
- Wear, tear and gradual deterioration
- Workplace injury to the business’s own employees, which falls to WSIB coverage in Ontario
- Overland flood and earthquake, unless added by endorsement
- Personal property unconnected with the business
- Intentional or fraudulent acts by the insured
Exclusions vary by insurer and by policy form; the issued policy governs.
Frequently asked questions
Does a homeowner policy cover a hobby farm?
A standard Ontario homeowner policy is written for a residential property. Barns and outbuildings, farm machinery, livestock and liability arising from farming activity fall outside that form, which is why a hobby farm is written on a farm-based policy instead.
How many animals can a hobby farm keep?
Insurers set their own limits on the number and type of livestock a hobby farm form accepts, and horses kept for boarding or lessons are treated as a commercial operation. The counts declared when the policy is written govern the cover.
What happens if the hobby farm starts selling produce?
Selling produce, eggs or meat to the public introduces product and public liability that a hobby farm form does not carry. Where those sales become regular rather than occasional, insurers rate the property as a commercial farm, and the policy is rewritten on a farm form that answers the added exposures.
Get a hobby farm insurance quote
A licensed Sutherland Insurance broker compares the available markets on every quote request.
Get a hobby farm insurance quote Call 519-822-0160
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