Doing nothing with the block? Still liable for it.
A block held before sale, waiting on approvals, or sitting in the land bank feels like a dormant asset. Legally it isn't. Australian law makes the owner responsible for what happens on the land, including to people who were never meant to be there. The less you're doing with it, the easier it is to forget that. The liability doesn't forget.
Where an empty block gets exposed
The risk on vacant land isn't what you're doing. It's what other people do on it, and what the land does on its own. People cut across it, dump on it, and get hurt on it. Trees fall and fires start. None of that requires your involvement, and all of it can come back to you as the owner. All scenarios below are illustrative examples.
The shortcut that went wrong
Kids use your block as a shortcut between streets. One trips over old rubble left on the site and breaks a leg. The parents argue you left the land in a dangerous state and failed to secure it, and they claim against you.
The dumping you didn't do
Someone dumps building waste, including asbestos sheeting, on your unfenced block. Before you find it, wind spreads fragments onto neighbouring properties, triggering clean-up obligations and claims from multiple neighbours at once.
The tree that came down
A dead tree on your land falls in a storm and crushes a car parked on the neighbouring property. The owner claims you failed to maintain the land and manage an obvious hazard.
The line where this cover stops
"Not using it" doesn't mean "not liable"
The assumption that costs owners most is that "not using it" means "not liable." It doesn't. Occupier's liability applies to land you're simply holding, and it extends to trespassers.
The second thing to watch is the development line. This cover is for vacant, undeveloped land. The day construction or development works begin, you've moved into a different risk, and you need Contract Works insurance. Public liability for a bare block won't answer a claim arising from a building site. If a sale is about to turn into a build, tell us before the first machine arrives.
Common questions
The land's just sitting there, why would I be liable?
Because Australian law ties liability to ownership and occupation, not to activity. If someone is injured on your land, or conditions on it damage a neighbour, you can be held responsible, trespasser or not.
I've got "no trespassing" signs, isn't that enough?
Signs help, but they don't eliminate your liability. Courts have found landowners liable for injuries to trespassers even where the land was signed and warned.
I'm about to start developing, is this the right cover?
Only up to the point construction begins. Once works start, you need Contract Works insurance. This cover is designed for the holding period before that.
The land's in a deceased estate I'm administering, who's liable?
The person administering the estate can be personally exposed for what happens on estate property. Covering the land takes that risk off your own shoulders while the estate is settled.
How much cover do I need?
You can choose from $5 million, $10 million or $20 million per claim, with legal defence costs paid in addition to the limit and an excess starting from $500. If you're unsure what limit suits the block, we can talk it through.
It's in a bushfire zone, does that matter?
The cover can respond where fire from your land damages a neighbour. You should still maintain firebreaks as your council requires. Failing to could affect a claim.