Contract harvesters say they're being hit by massive insurance price hikes which could pass on costs to farmers and even end the industry if action is not taken.
Australian Custom Harvesters president Rod Gribble, Yenda, NSW, said insurance premiums had jumped in the last couple of years for everyone, but especially for contract harvesters.
"Years ago, [the premium percentage] used to be about one per cent. Now a lot of people are paying plus four and five per cent," Mr Gribble said.
"So if you've got an $800,000 machine and you're at four per cent, that's $32,000. Then you've got public liability insurance - that's more than doubled in the last two or three years."
Mr Gribble said it affected everyone in the supply chain.
"It affects growers, because basically, if the insurance gets too expensive, it's the end of the industry," he said.
"We don't want that, and growers don't want that. So those costs will have been passed on. There comes a point where it's just too expensive for everyone.
"It's inevitable that the price of harvesting is going up because the cost of the machine, the insurance and spare parts are going up, but some of the costs, specifically the insurance - that's a huge, huge jump."
Mr Gribble said the reasons behind the rise were complex, but contributing factors included several insurers overstating the risks involved and insurers leaving the market.
"There is a poor understanding about what the risk is for contract harvesters, and it also may be that they have 'x' amount of insurance on their books now - whether that's crop insurance or farm insurance - and they don't want any more potential risk on them, so they've potentially closed the books," he said.
"There's also been a few underwriters leave the market - Gallagher, Rural Affinity and Lloyds of London.
"For whatever reason, they've deemed that harvesting is too risky. We've been down this road before, so it needs another education process."
In 2017, insurance companies bumped up premiums after claiming a significant number of header fires the previous year involved contractors' machinery.
Mr Gribble said they clarified that data and confirmed that it wasn't contractors' machines that were the prime cause.
One Queensland contractor who wanted to be anonymous said his insurance quote this year had risen 800 per cent on last year.
"I bought a new header for $525,000 and a front for $225,000 and last year my premium was $6000. This year they want $54,000," he said.
"It's unaffordable. Australia won't have a harvest contractor industry if this keeps going."
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An Insurance Council of Australia spokesperson said insurance was currently a 'hardening market', meaning access to capital had become constrained and insurers' underlying costs were rising.
"The insurance industry recognises that many business sectors, including agriculture and farming, are facing challenges accessing the insurance they need to operate," they said.
"But at the same time insurers themselves are under pressure to provide a profitable product so solutions are often difficult to determine."
The ICA commissioned an independent strategic review of commercial lines of insurance, which was released on October 7.
"The final report found that while there is no one-size-fits-all solution, they do exist, but require collaboration and goodwill between the insurance sector, business sectors, and governments. The ICA has established a suite of actions as a result of this report," they said.
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