A Taranaki couple have been left high and dry after finding out a farm bridge destroyed by recent floods was not insured.
Brian and Mary Gilberd thought they had done everything right when they took out a farm insurance package a number of years ago.
On April 30, the couple woke to find torrential rain had ripped out their main farm bridge, a vital connection to 100 acres (40.4ha) of farmland on the other side of the Okahu Stream.
The pair believed they were well covered with an extensive AMP insurance package that included $100,000 natural disaster cover, an additional $30,000 natural disaster cover and a $20,000 bridge cover.
That package cost $6400 a year.
"When we first bought the farm 23 years ago, we insured everything fully. The following year we put the bridge in. We told the agent we had put the bridge in for $20,000. We wanted cover for it," Mr Gilberd said. However, the couple have been told the policy does not cover the loss of the bridge.
Insurance adviser Gary Dunlop, of Hawera, took over the couple's insurance portfolio three weeks ago and was sympathetic to their plight.
"What that (the bridge cover) is saying is a sum of up to $20,000 would be paid out for a bridge that was worth no more than that. If it is over that, it has to be itemised."
"They genuinely thought they were covered. They had no idea.
"Like most business contracts, the important thing is to have a serious review of the policy every year. Look at the values, look at the options, look at the scope of the cover. Ask questions."
Because the bridge's replacement cost was over $20,000, and it was not separately itemised the Gilberds were not covered.
Mr Gilberd has been told it will take three months before a replacement bridge can be built and it will cost about $40,000.
Mr Dunlop says it would cost $175-$200 a year to insure a $40,000 bridge, but it would have to fit certain criteria, including an engineer's report, before it was accepted by any insurance company.
The sum is certainly something Mr Gilberd could have afforded, if he had been aware.
"My advice to others who have bridges and think they are covered, go and make sure it is itemised and what you are covered against. We are let down and annoyed," Mr Gilberd says.
"I am very naive and typical of other guys. I thought I had done everything right, but my cover was nowhere near satisfactory. I hope from our misfortune, we might save somebody else. I'm grumpy at myself."
The Gilberds' bridge was 16 metres long and sat 5.5m above the Okahu Stream.
Most of the bridge has disappeared. What remains is unusable because it has been damaged.
Three other farmers' bridges were also washed away on Ngariki Rd and another two were damaged, while an Ihaia Rd farmer lost one bridge and had a second damaged during the flooding.
"It was a valuable part of my farm. I struggled to pay for it," Mr Gilberd says.
He is now carving out a ford so that stock can cross, while he waits for the bridge to be rebuilt. He is receiving insurance for his fences and other items damaged in the flooding.
Brian and Mary Gilberd thought they had done everything right when they took out a farm insurance package a number of years ago.
On April 30, the couple woke to find torrential rain had ripped out their main farm bridge, a vital connection to 100 acres (40.4ha) of farmland on the other side of the Okahu Stream.
The pair believed they were well covered with an extensive AMP insurance package that included $100,000 natural disaster cover, an additional $30,000 natural disaster cover and a $20,000 bridge cover.
That package cost $6400 a year.
"When we first bought the farm 23 years ago, we insured everything fully. The following year we put the bridge in. We told the agent we had put the bridge in for $20,000. We wanted cover for it," Mr Gilberd said. However, the couple have been told the policy does not cover the loss of the bridge.
Insurance adviser Gary Dunlop, of Hawera, took over the couple's insurance portfolio three weeks ago and was sympathetic to their plight.
"What that (the bridge cover) is saying is a sum of up to $20,000 would be paid out for a bridge that was worth no more than that. If it is over that, it has to be itemised."
"They genuinely thought they were covered. They had no idea.
"Like most business contracts, the important thing is to have a serious review of the policy every year. Look at the values, look at the options, look at the scope of the cover. Ask questions."
Because the bridge's replacement cost was over $20,000, and it was not separately itemised the Gilberds were not covered.
Mr Gilberd has been told it will take three months before a replacement bridge can be built and it will cost about $40,000.
Mr Dunlop says it would cost $175-$200 a year to insure a $40,000 bridge, but it would have to fit certain criteria, including an engineer's report, before it was accepted by any insurance company.
The sum is certainly something Mr Gilberd could have afforded, if he had been aware.
"My advice to others who have bridges and think they are covered, go and make sure it is itemised and what you are covered against. We are let down and annoyed," Mr Gilberd says.
"I am very naive and typical of other guys. I thought I had done everything right, but my cover was nowhere near satisfactory. I hope from our misfortune, we might save somebody else. I'm grumpy at myself."
The Gilberds' bridge was 16 metres long and sat 5.5m above the Okahu Stream.
Most of the bridge has disappeared. What remains is unusable because it has been damaged.
Three other farmers' bridges were also washed away on Ngariki Rd and another two were damaged, while an Ihaia Rd farmer lost one bridge and had a second damaged during the flooding.
"It was a valuable part of my farm. I struggled to pay for it," Mr Gilberd says.
He is now carving out a ford so that stock can cross, while he waits for the bridge to be rebuilt. He is receiving insurance for his fences and other items damaged in the flooding.
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