Their animals. Your land. Your liability.
Taking in someone else's cattle or horses feels like a favour with a bit of income attached. But the moment those animals are on your land, you're the one responsible for keeping them in, keeping visitors safe, and answering for the damage if something goes wrong. The animal's owner insures the animal. That does nothing for the claim that lands on you.
Where an agistment arrangement gets exposed
Agistment stacks three risks on top of each other: animals that aren't yours to control, owners coming and going to tend them, and boundaries those animals will test. The person who agists with you assumes you've got it handled. If an animal gets out or someone gets hurt, that assumption becomes your problem. All scenarios below are illustrative examples.
The owner who came to check their horse
An owner drives up to feed and check their agisted horse. Crossing the paddock in the wet, they slip near a gateway you knew was churned up, and injure their back. They argue you let them onto land you knew was unsafe.
The animal that got onto the road
A gate latch fails and two agisted cattle wander onto the road after dark. A driver hits one, writes off the car and is hospitalised. They claim against you as the person responsible for the land the animals escaped from.
The break-in next door
Agisted stock push through a tired boundary fence overnight and get into a neighbour's establishing pasture, setting it back a full season. The neighbour bills you for the loss and the repairs to their fence.
Two things agistment owners assume are covered
Care, custody and control — and the owner's own cover
First, the animals themselves. Public liability covers what those animals do to other people and their property. It does not cover injury to, or the death of, the animals in your care. That's a care, custody and control matter, and it's excluded from most liability wordings. If an agisted horse is hurt on your land, that's a different conversation, and often the owner's own cover.
Second, the owner's insurance. People assume the animal's owner carries the risk. Their policy may protect their animal, but it doesn't answer a claim against you as the landowner, and it doesn't help when the person injured is the owner themselves.
Common questions
Doesn't the animal's owner insure their own stock?
They might insure the animal, but that policy protects their asset, not your liability. If a third party is injured, or the owner themselves is hurt on your land, the claim comes to you, and their cover won't answer it.
How many animals can I agist under this?
The agistment option currently covers up to 100 cattle or horses. If you're running more than that, or the agistment has grown into a full commercial operation, give us a call so the cover matches the scale.
I take agistment money, does that rule me out of this cover?
No. Agistment is a recognised land-use option when you quote, income and all. It's only when the numbers climb past the cap or the operation becomes something larger that we'd need to look at it differently.
If an agisted animal is injured on my land, am I covered?
Generally not under public liability. Animals in your care fall under the care, custody and control exclusion. That risk sits with the owner or under separate cover. Worth being clear about it in your agistment agreement up front.
I also run a few of my own animals on the block.
Then you're into hobby farm territory as well, so mention it when you quote or call, and we'll make sure the land-use option covers both.
Should I have a written agistment agreement?
It's good practice. It sets out who's responsible for what, which helps if a dispute ever arises. It's not a substitute for cover, but it makes claims cleaner.