Fire claims on Scottish farms have risen sharply, prompting insurers to urge farmers to act now rather than wait for a loss.

The warning comes from The Scottish Farmer's coverage of the rural insurance sector, where underwriters report a marked increase in fire-related claims on farm policies. The rise tracks a pattern seen across the UK: hotter, drier summers, more machinery and electrical infrastructure on farms, and stored forage and straw volumes that feed any spark.

Farm fires are rarely small events. A single blaze can destroy a hay barn, a combine, a workshop and a season's stored feed in one afternoon. For a family enterprise, that is not one loss but several at once: machinery, stored crops, buildings and, in the worst cases, livestock. Replacement lead times for high-capacity combines and tractors can run into months, which extends the true cost of a fire well beyond the settlement figure.

Why are claims rising now?

The insurance sector points to a combination of pressures. Hot, dry summers raise the fire risk in standing crops and in straw and hay stores. Modern farms carry more electrical load than a generation ago, from grain dryers and ventilation fans to electric vehicles and battery-charging kit in workshops. Older wiring, often installed decades ago and extended piecemeal since, is a recurring factor in farm fire claims.

Machinery adds its own risk. Combines and balers collect dry chaff and dust around hot components during harvest. A blocked filter or a bearing running hot can ignite material that a clean machine would shed safely. Insurers repeatedly cite poor housekeeping around engines as a preventable cause.

What should farmers do?

The sector's advice to farmers is direct: act before the next claim, not after it. The practical steps underwriters and farm assurance schemes emphasise are consistent and low-cost:

• Keep combines, balers and forage wagons blown down and free of chaff at least daily during harvest
• Fit and maintain fire extinguishers on every self-propelled machine, and check them annually
• Store straw, hay and silage away from buildings, fuel tanks and livestock housing
• Inspect and update electrical systems, particularly in older barns and workshops
• Keep fuel, fertiliser and chemicals in dedicated, separated storage
• Clear vegetation and rubbish from around buildings and yards, which removes fuel at the boundary
• Check that insurance cover reflects current replacement values for machinery and stored crops

That last point matters more than farmers often assume. Machinery prices and used-equipment values have moved sharply in recent years. A policy valued against prices from several seasons ago will underpay a total-loss claim, and the shortfall lands on the farm business.

What does the rise in claims change?

For farm businesses, the sharper claims trend changes two decisions. First, it raises the value of prevention spend: extinguishers, wiring upgrades and separator distances between stores are cheap relative to a single loss. Second, it strengthens the case for an annual insurance review that walks the yard with the insurer or broker, checking sums insured against real replacement costs rather than rolling forward last year's figures.

Underwriters reward demonstrated risk management. Farms with documented maintenance, tested fire equipment and separated storage are better placed at renewal, both on premium and on terms. In a hardening market where rural fire losses are climbing, that gap between prepared and unprepared farms will widen.

The sector's message is not alarm. It is arithmetic. Fire claims are rising, most causes are known, and the preventive steps are established practice rather than new investment.

Farmers should watch for renewal terms this season, review sums insured against current machinery values before harvest, and treat the next pre-harvest machinery service as the moment to fit and check fire equipment.