BY: Kim Welcher, CIC, CISR
kwelcher@bankersinsurance.netcreate new email | (540) 213-2333
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Do you need farm liability insurance, or will your homeowners policy protect you? Farm liability insurance protects against liability resulting from farm operations, and even small farms can mean big claims. But what are “farm operations”? A few of the activities which may indicate the need for farm liability insurance can include:
- Raising cattle or other farm animals
- Raising horses, providing horse lessons, or otherwise generating income from horses
- Boarding farm animals for others
- Raising crops, including hobby farming
- Driving tractors or farm equipment on the road
- Selling farm produce
- Offering farm or vineyard tours
- Providing agricultural entertainment such as a corn maze or hayrides
- U-Pick farming
- Any means of generating revenue from a farm
If you perform any of these operations, speak to your insurance agent to ensure you are properly protected. Homeowners insurance provides limited protection for farm exposure, primarily because is not designed to protect business operations – and farming is a business. Because farm operations vary, claims can come from places you wouldn’t expect. Farm claim examples can include:
A tractor or other piece of farm equipment causes an accident while on the road.
Horses get spooked during a lightning storm, break out of their pasture, and are hit by a vehicle causing injury to the driver and passengers.
A visiting friend has their foot crushed by a cow.
A toddler tries to feed the geese. The birds chase her, resulting in a concussion.
A buyer claims they became ill after eating produce sold at a farmers’ market.
Any bodily injury or property damage caused by farm operations.
Farm Liability Insurance
Farm liability insurance covers injuring others or damaging their property, even for operations away from the farm. It protects when clients, visitors, guests, or service personnel – basically any third party – is injured due to farming operations. Operations can be on land owned, rented, or leased, and the coverage even goes wherever farm machinery and equipment may be. It protects against acts of your animals, such as paying for medical costs should they injure someone or paying to repair a vehicle that collides with them.
In addition, several other coverages can be endorsed (added) to farm liability insurance, broadening its protection. These additional coverages include:
Custom Farming
Performing custom farm work for others for a charge, such as cultivating crops, cutting hay, or weighing livestock.
Farm Employers Liability
Extends medical payment coverage to include protection for people who may assist during peak season. Note that this is very limited protection. If you hire any part-time or full-time labor, we recommend the purchase of workers compensation insurance which provides greater protection for you as well as the employee.
Livestock Care, Custody, and Control
Protects against liability related to having animals that belong to others in your custody, not only for the injury or damage they may cause, but also for injury you may cause to them. Examples can be boarding horses, finishing cattle, or artificial insemination operations.
Unlicensed Farm Truck Liability
Extends farm liability protection to include vehicles not registered or tagged by the DMV. This protection extends for a limited radius of fifty miles from the farm and is only liability protection. Physical damage to the vehicle is not included. Protected vehicles can include farm-use equipment such as pickups, trucks with hydra beds, dump trucks, and road tractors.
Unlicensed Recreational Vehicles
Extends farm liability for off premises coverage of ATV’s and UTV’s.
Incidental Business Activities
Protects against liability for a variety of farm-related activities such as roadside fruit stands, produce stands, farmers’ markets, dog breeding, firewood sales, horse training, or bait shops.
Limited Pollution Liability
Broadens coverage to include damages and cleanup costs for a short-term pollution event such as spilled fuel or leaked farm chemicals.
Animal Collision
Covers death of livestock when hit by a vehicle not operated by your farm. At the time of the collision, the animal must be on a public road and not be being transported.
How To Purchase Farm Liability Insurance
Farm liability insurance can either be added to an existing homeowners policy or be included in a separate farmowners insurance policy. Adding it to a homeowners policy is best suited for hobby farmers with minimal activity. It provides basic farm liability insurance protection, but often limits the number of acres farmed, limits farm income, does not allow for farming at locations away from the home, and does not allow for unlicensed farm vehicles. It also limits how much coverage is available for farm structures.
For better protection, if you perform farm operations we recommend the purchase of a farmowners insurance policy which provides not only farm liability, but also homeowners and farm property coverage. This solution provides broader liability protection as well as coverage for the home and farm structures. It is flexible and can be expanded to include a variety of farm operations both on and off the home premises.
Questions on farm insurance? Contact your Bankers Insurance agent . We will help determine your risks and advise how to cover them. Not a client of ours? Let us earn your business! Each client is assigned a personal insurance agent and provided their email address as well as a phone number that rings right on their desk.
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I don’t see anything here about scheduling farm equipment such as tractors, mowers, or for insuring hay against fire loss. Are these things covered under this kind of policy?
Merry, great question. We didn’t touch on farm property/equipment in this article, but all of those items can be listed or covered on a farmowners policy. There is limited coverage available for farm equipment on a homeowners policy. Farmowners is better at that point. Feel free to reach out to Kim Welcher directly with more specific questions: kwelcher@bankersinsurance.netcreate new email (540) 213-2333