Summary:

The article presents results of studies in the area of insurance coverage of farmer population conducted in 2016 in the Szerzyny commune (Malopolska province). The data accumulated through surveys allowed for an assessment of real scope of insurance coverage concerning mandatory and voluntary agricultural insurances. Presented data cover individual kinds of insurances connected with running agricultural farms, including the division of farms according to the farmland area.
In the sphere of mandatory insurances, a fact of not fulfilling the obligation of signing insurance contracts has been noted, whereas in case of voluntary insurances, the use of insurance coverage may be stated as marginal. Generally, it may be said that the agricultural insurance market in Poland has faced serious barriers to its development. One of them is the barrier of demand, whose main factors are: the value of property necessary to cover with insurance, insurance awareness, but also a tendency to insure the property according to owner's financial abilities. The latter factor seems to be the most important.