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Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm
- From: KAKerby AT aol.com
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm
- Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2011 11:49:41 -0400 (EDT)
We had to take the plunge a number of months ago because a tree came down
and hit our house during a windstorm in May 2010. Our homeowner's
insurance covered everything and there was no problem there, but when the
adjustor came by to see that all the work was done, somehow it suddenly occurred
to him that we were a farm (I wonder if the cows gave us away???) and State Farm
here doesn't cover farms (go figure). We started talking about switching
policies when we got the formal notice in the mail that State Farm had summarily
dumped us, so at that point we had to find something else.
We talked to three different insurance groups which supposedly covered
farms; the first didn't even bother returning phone calls after their site visit
confirmed that yes we're really truly a farm and not just some recreational
couple-of-chickens-and-a-horse-for-the-kiddies. The second worked really
hard but their corporate headquarters just couldn't quite see a way to cover
such high-risk activities as selling eggs at market, selling meat, selling
dairy. You know, toxic substances that can kill people dead just by
looking at 'em. I was about ready to give up. Then we called
Nationwide, and the guy on the phone said "if you can sell it legally, we can
probably insure it." And they were true to their word. Produce at
market? Sure. Eggs? No problem. Dairy? Just
let 'em know when we get that part of our operation set up and it's a go.
Meat? Go sell your heart out and we'll cover it. The only thing they
wouldn't cover was hunting on our property. They also did a top-to-bottom
appraisal of our farm that helped us "see" the financial value of what we've
built here and what it's really "worth" on paper, which we'd never done
before. It took a long time to find them, but we were thrilled when we
did.
It's a slog, to be sure, to wade through all that effort. If the
adjustor comes out in his nice shoes and his nice sportscar for that first
conversation, and looks like he's afraid to walk around for all the cooties he's
bound to inhale, keep looking. But if you can find someone who really
understands small scale ag in your area and understands that you're not selling
nuclear waste, hang onto those folks because they're worth their weight in
gold.
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
In a message dated 9/5/2011 5:59:59 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
rrobinson AT nasw.org writes:
I wonder how those of you with smaller farms handle insurance. We are a two-person |
-
[Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm,
Richard Robinson, 09/05/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm, Andy Fellenz, 09/05/2011
-
Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm,
Beth Spaugh, 09/05/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm, Road's End Farm, 09/05/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm, Richard Stewart, 09/05/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm, michelleann7, 09/06/2011
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
-
Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm,
SaladG, 09/05/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm, Beth Spaugh, 09/05/2011
- Re: [Market-farming] Insurance for the little farm, KAKerby, 09/05/2011
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