9 Things to Review For Your Farm Insurance Program

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From small farms to large agricultural operations, there is a lot going on, and a lot that can go wrong. Accidents happen, whether they occur in the process of managing your operation or just happen to occur on your property. It’s important to make sure you have the liability insurance coverage you need to help you navigate incidents when they occur, and the right farm insurance coverage overall. Here are some essential things to review for your farm insurance program:

1. Check the types of farm liability insurance you have on your policy.
2. Ensure you have the right property insurance for your farm.
3. Make sure you have the workers’ compensation insurance you need.
4. Review your general liability insurance.
5. Confirm who is covered by your policy.
6. Know what your current policy does not cover.
7. Know where your coverage applies.
8. Check the coverage on drones and other farm technology.
9. Understand where and how negligence can affect your coverage.

1. Check the Types of Farm Liability Insurance You Have on Your Policy

When it comes to covering accidents, the type of insurance that comes into play, what is and is not covered, how much is covered, and how any payouts are dispersed will vary. Different types of farm insurance cover different things. Every ag operation is different, and the coverage required can vary depending on various factors.

For comprehensive coverage, multiple types of coverage, or coverage added via endorsements to the policy, may be necessary. It’s important to review your insurance policy DEC page and understand what coverage you have for your farm before an accident occurs. If you have any questions about your coverage or whether something is or isn’t covered, have a conversation with your insurance agent.

They’ll be able to walk you through your policy, highlight what is currently covered and not covered, and recommend any updates to coverage to consider for your operation. This is particularly important if you have acquired new assets, added new business operations, made improvements around your farm, or anything else that could create new risks, create gaps in your coverage, or affect your coverage in other ways.

2. Ensure You Have the Right Property Insurance For Your Farm

Simply having property insurance for your farm doesn’t mean you are covered for everything that happens inside your property boundaries. Farm property insurance isn’t just about the grounds included in your property lines.

It can also include equipment, buildings, other structures, personal property, and more. Standard farm personal property can cover a lot, but there are also things that standard farm personal property does not cover, which require coverage to be added via endorsements to the policy or under other types of insurance.

3. Make Sure You Have the Workers’ Compensation Insurance You Need

Between family members working on the farm, volunteers, seasonal employees, independent contractors, custom operators, etc., there can be unique workers’ compensation scenarios around the farm. No matter how your ag operation is set up, you need to have the workers’ compensation insurance you need.

Workers’ compensation is a requirement in Pennsylvania and is a separate insurance policy, but farm workers’ compensation can be complicated at times. It’s important to review the insurance coverage you have for your farm to ensure you have a workers’ comp policy and that it includes the right workers’ comp coverage for your farm and how it operates. Depending on your operation, the basics of workers’ compensation could be enough, or you may have unique situations that require additional considerations for your workers’ comp policy.

4. Review Your General Liability Insurance

The time to discover gaps in your liability coverage is not when you need to use it and risk having your insurance claim denied. You have to have the right insurance in place before you need to use it in order to be covered when you file a claim. Review your general liability insurance and get familiar with what coverage you have and your current limits.

New operations, inviting the public onto your property, and more are all reasons why you need additional liability coverage for your ag operation. Depending on your ag operation and how it has changed since your insurance policy went into effect, you may need to adjust your policy limits, adjust where and how assets are listed, update your umbrella liability policy, add coverage, etc. to get the insurance coverage you actually need.

Having a conversation with your insurance agent, preparing a complete narrative of your business’s operations, asking about policy exclusions, and more are tips for buying general liability insurance that can help you when you need to review liability coverage for your farm.

5. Confirm Who Is Covered By Your Policy

Another one of the things to review for your farm insurance program, and any insurance policy, is who is covered by the policy. Confirm that everyone who needs to be covered is included, that no one who should be included is excluded, and that no one who should be excluded is still included.

The policyholder is the primary named insured and is always included. However, you need to review the named insureds on your policy to ensure that any relatives, other people, or other legal business entities are covered by the policy as intended.

Particularly for farmers and ag operators, you need to check and confirm that your policy has sufficient coverage for seasonal or short-term employees. If you work with independent contractors or custom operators for contract farming, coverage can become complicated; you will want to talk to your insurance agent to make sure your insurance policy extends coverage to everyone you need it to and in the situations that apply to your operations.

6. Know What Your Current Policy Does Not Cover

In addition to checking the types of coverage you have on your current policy and who is covered on it, it is also essential that you know what your current policy does not cover. You need to be familiar with the exclusions on your policy. In order to avoid costly surprises, get familiar with the common exclusions on your policy and be proactive about working with your insurance agent to obtain coverage for anything you need.

For example, nonfarm activities may be excluded from your general farm liability policy. Depending on the insurer and your policy, activities like snow removal or landscaping could be excluded. If this is the case for you and these are things you do to help out the community or between seasons, you’ll want to close that gap and get the coverage you need via a policy rider, an endorsement, or other policies. Your insurance agent will be able to recommend the best options for your specific situation.

7. Know Where Your Coverage Applies

Along with being familiar with the common exclusions on your policy, you also want to know where your coverage applies. One of the things to review for your farm insurance program is where you have on- and off-premises coverage. Essentially:

• Does your coverage follow you and your equipment when you leave your property?
• Will your liability coverage be sufficient for accidents that occur outside of your property lines,
• like out on the road, at an event, etc.?
• Is there a difference in coverage for roadway accidents that occur as part of farming activities versus nonfarming activities, or at an off-site location, like a horse show?
• Do you need additional coverage for anything you will be transporting?

These are all good questions to keep in mind as you review your farm insurance coverage and talk with your insurance agent.

8. Check the Coverage on Drones and Other Farm Technology

Precision agriculture, farm drones, and more are all farm technologies that can make managing and operating farms more efficient. However, you want to make sure you are reviewing your farm insurance policy and checking the coverage you have on drones and other farm technology.

New technologies can create new risks, which can affect your coverage. When it comes to drones and agribusiness, additional policies are often required for coverage, and coverage can vary depending on how drones are being used on your farm.

When you are considering adding new technologies to your farm operations, a conversation with your insurance agent is a good idea. They will be able to help you identify any potential gaps that could be created with your current policy, identify the updates you may need, if any, and help you navigate the best options for your unique situation.

9. Understand Where and How Negligence Can Affect Your Coverage

Regardless of the coverage you have, negligence can void any liability insurance claims you may have. Intentional damage, fraud, illegal activities, lying or misrepresenting information on applications for coverage or when filing claims are all obvious ways negligence pops up in insurance.

Negligence can also be less intentional and obvious. If something occurs on your property and it could have been caused by a lack of maintenance, care, or repair on your part, you could be held liable. For example, if you are inviting the public onto your property, you are responsible for keeping the premises free of hazards within reason. This is one of the ways farmers can help avoid frivolous liability claims.

Should someone get hurt on your property due to your lack of reasonable maintenance or repair, or due to an attractive nuisance that you did not secure, negligence could affect your coverage in that situation. Depending on the situation and the requirements for coverage on your policy, a claim could be denied, your insurer may determine that only partial coverage applies, or you could still be held accountable for costs associated with the incident.

Get the Insurance Protection You Need For Your Farm

These are a few things to review for your farm insurance program. Having the right insurance coverage and enough of it can help you manage risk and cover unexpected expenses from accidents on the farm. Reviewing your farm insurance policy regularly, talking with your insurance agent to make sure there are no gaps, and making sure your coverage is updated as needed can help make sure you get the insurance you need for your ag operation.

If you need to review your farm insurance policy or update your coverage, contact Ruhl Insurance, a Division of Horst Insurance, at 717-665-2283 or 800-537-6880. We can help you get the insurance you need for your farm.

Disclaimer: Information and claims presented in this content are meant for informative, illustrative purposes and should not be considered legally binding.