insurance questions

JHinCA · #1 08/03/12, 11:27 PM

The insurance on our place (50+ acres, 2 houses and a cottage, barns) has been under my dad's name and not changed in any way for years. Both my parents have passed away recently and I am in the process of getting everything into my and my sister's names. The insurance agent wants to come out to the place and take a look to see what changes there have been. I have no idea what to expect.

We have cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese and 3 large dogs--2 Anatolians and 1 mutt.

Am hoping that some of you folks can give me an idea of what the agent will be looking for, questions to be ready for, coverages you wish you had, etc.

Thanks in advance.
Jean

Wendy · #2 08/04/12, 12:25 AM

Most likely will be looking for improvements on buildings, etc. They want to make sure you have enough coverage to cover the cost of rebuilding if needed. Or if a building is run down enough that they will not want to cover that building.

rambler · #3 08/04/12, 12:31 AM

With critters esp, liability is the big thing. Any fool can sue you for any reason, so you gotta have good liability that covers your situation.

In my case I have 11 buildings on the farm, several are old shacks, no point insuring them. Only have the house, barn, and newest machine shed insured. If the building ain't worth $5000, not woth insuring!

I do have the better pieces of equipment insures, so if they are in an old building and get harmed, the equipment is insured......

They have different options for wind, fire, hail.

They will not cover the paint or shingles of a building if those items are poor.

For me I'm comfortable saving the money on the chaper stuff, not covering those (I can replace them out of pocket, not happily but I can, and saving the insurance cost on those many piddly small things adds up over 10 years) but I really want the liability coverage from other idiots.

I get my farm insurance from a mutual company, the insurance agent can pick & choose from several different companies to find something that fits my situation. Often times a 'regualr' homeowners agent can't easily fit their product into the sort of insurance a farm or ruaral homesite with critters needs.....

--->Paul

Alice In TX/MO · #4 08/04/12, 06:26 AM

The will also be looking for fire risk from unmowed weed/grass, trees, brush, trash, etc. I have a friend who let the area in his exotic tree orchard go due to other circumstances, and the insurance cancelled because of fire risk. They said to call back after he cleaned up the yard and the orchard.

pancho · #5 08/04/12, 09:05 AM

They will be looking for ways to increase the cost of insurance. They could care less if you have enough insurance to rebuild.
Expect a rate increase.

JHinCA · #6 08/04/12, 10:12 AM

Ok, coverage for replacing the more costly stuff, including equipment. Liability.
We will make sure things are mowed before he comes to reduce fire risk.
Any other things like that that are easily fixable that we might not have thought of?
Is he going to be in all the buildings to inspect or will it probably be just a quick glance?

CarolT · #7 08/04/12, 11:17 AM

Don't know about easily fixable, but we have a bricked over flue and our rates went up when we switched to us from his parents on their old house because it _had_ the flue. Didn't matter if it was accessible, if we didn't tear it off, it counted. This was part of the brickwork on the outside and we didn't want to go through all the trouble of tearing it off and relaying the brick.

I second expecting the rates to go up. And don't say Anatolian Shepherds, just say Anatolians. Anything with "shepherd" in the name is a high-risk for bites for some companies.

rambler · #8 08/04/12, 11:41 AM

Mine takes an external photo of all insured buildings every 3 or is it 4 years.

I have a tin porch upstairs with 2 pipes as guard rail. It showed up on the picture, I had a few weeks to either bolt my door shut or add a proper guard with openings of less than 4 inches to the porch railing, so kids couldn't fall off the upstairs open porch. Didn't take me long with a roll of chain link to fence it up nice. Anyhow, they will look for hazards such as that.

Wood stoves. They change your fire insurance cost.

And so forth.

Sometimes if you rewire or do other improvements, it will lower your insurance costs.

It's good and normal to have a review every few years, and keep things updated. Don't try to hide stuff; if they end up causing a claim, you won't get anything. Might as well be up front about the stuff.

They like to encourage you to upgrade your insurance like any salesman, but at the same time a good agent will look for ways to save you money and fit your insurance to youre needs so you get a good value for your money. At least that is my experience with my agent, he retired and I did the review this spring with his don who took over, went well, son likewise din't push stuff, just reviewed and mentioned this or that and what direction I want to go.

Ponds, pools, 4-wheeler like a Polaris or such, all can add to your liability but it's real good to have those listed and covered, or else you really don't have insurance!

--->Paul

PaulNKS · #9 08/04/12, 01:29 PM

We use Farm Bureau. I think it's called Farm Master or something like that. They haven't been out and looked at anything in 20 years. If we get a new shed, we just call them and they add it on. When we've bought land, we call and they just add it on... never inspecting anything... and our rates are really low.

wogglebug · #10 08/05/12, 07:08 AM

You are likely to get a better deal from an insurance agent, who shops around and gets coverage to suit you; than from an insurance company whose main interest is to get their fees from you, or simply cancel if it looks too hard.

Their is a "Guard Animal" forum here. It may be worth asking them about whether there are likely to be any problems with your dogs. Sometimes they will take against a big dog (like the Anatolian) without taking into account that it is protecting the livestock.

luvrulz · #11 08/05/12, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

We use Farm Bureau. I think it's called Farm Master or something like that. They haven't been out and looked at anything in 20 years. If we get a new shed, we just call them and they add it on. When we've bought land, we call and they just add it on... never inspecting anything... and our rates are really low.

Ditto for me. Farm Bureau treats us really well. We have our auto, home and business through them. We don't get an increase except when we change vehicles or when we built the new barn. Call them and at least have something to compare your other quote with. Insurance is one thing I will shop around on occasionally and yet - I come back to Farm Bureau because they provide the best in rates and customer service.

Darn - I could do a commercial, eh???

nobrabbit · #12 08/05/12, 09:19 AM

Another Farm Bureau member here. We use them because they didn't charge us extra for a woodstove and they insure our livestock.

JHinCA · #13 08/07/12, 08:57 AM

Thanks for the responses. You have all given me some good tips.
Jean

rambler · #14 08/07/12, 09:36 AM

I believe Farm Buerau is different in each state, and is a very very good option in some states, and really kinda sucks in other states and doesn't serve homesteader types well at all in those states.

--->Paul