Help, small farm insurance, who do you use?

[Donnalynn]

I'm looking for the silver lining here and it is still just plain cloudy.

Mom had a small stroke in October. She lives with us and has forgotten more about horseflesh than I'll ever know. Carotid surgery and recovery have left her weak, startled and sloooowly getting better.

Business has fallen off some, but that has an upside with the new level of care Mom needs. Sent training TBs home and lay ups are staying and all doing great.

Now, today, in the mail....we are looking at our property insurance going bye-bye in March. They are getting out of the risk industry evidently. Sheesh.

So, I'm thinking of the Farm Bureau now. Any and all ideas are welcome. I mean, we pay less than 3K a year to insure our little slice of heaven. What are you all going through?

Thanks for reading. It's just hard today.

[justdandy]

Have you tried calling Nationwide. Believe it or not, they are one of the largest farm insurers around. I know....I thought that was odd, too. I thought the person who was telling me that was off their rocker, but....nope....it's true.:winkgrin:

Here's a link to their farm liability insurance:

http://www.nationwide.com/farm-liability-insurance.jsp

Good luck!

[Robin@DHH]

We got a very good deal from Equine Insurance Specialists
of Muncie, Indiana 765-282-0894. They were several hundred
dollars lower than American Bankers, our previous insurer.
I can't say how they would be handling a claim, we have never
had one. But the company was very responsive when I had
a problem getting a document I needed and the agent was
dropping the ball. If they offer coverage in your area, I would
suggest they are worth a call to see what they can do for you.

[Valentina_32926]

I use State farm - but we're not a business.

[Sparky Boy]

United Farm Family Insurance

[horsetales]

We use Nationwide. Our Nationwide person is familiar with the horse world as his daughter is a H/J. Knocking on wood, no claims but they've been very helpful going from a home to a farm/business

[IronwoodFarm]

State Farm has terrible farm coverage; forget them. (And I am a long time State Farm customer who has her auto, trailer, homeowners and umbrella coverages with them.) I shopped them for a CGL on the farm and it was difficult to get a quote AND it was 3 times the price of other carriers. State Farm is not looking for farm business IMO.

I would urge you to go to an equine insurance or farm specialist. The Farm Bureau is fine. There are a small number of carriers which specialize in farm CGL coverage. Go with somebody who understands your business, its risks and knows the market. I am pretty sure you'll be able to find what you want in an affordable price range.

[JSwan]

Sorry to learn that you're having a rough time.

I heartily recommend Farm Bureau.

I have not looked into Nationwide farm coverage, but used to have them for auto and home insurance many years ago. I did have one claim with them and found the service acceptable.

Hope things look up for you soon.

[SandyHTF]

We finally managed to get a Farm Bureau policy this year. Here in FL, not easy to get much of anything especially if you have horses and dogs. It cut my premiums in half and provided liability for the horses that I had previously been buying separately. They were incredibly picky in the inspection process, but worth every weed I had to pull around the house (set the place up like you are trying to sell it for the underwriting pictures they said).

[austin]

We are in Florida too. Insurance is hard to come by these days. but Great American did our farm which is also a small training facility.

[Donnalynn]

Thanks for sharing. Have calls in to agent- they got the notice and have been looking around already - but am going to look on my own, too.

Great motivation for getting the chores done that we missed this fall. Your post made me think about how the place looks to outsiders who aren't customers and we could use some tree trimming for sure.

Without sounding too sappy, it's more than a small relief to have you guys to look to for advice. I mean, I am practically ancient in horse terms, but have relied on my "Mommy" all my life for her opinions about my riding, management, etc. and while DH is practically perfect, he isn't the horsey guy. It will be some time before her mouth catches up with her brain and in some ways it's like having part of me missing. For her, she has a great sense of humor about it - and confidence in me that is maybe not so well placed....

So, thanks again. It means more to me than I can say in any non-sappy way.

[ridenslide]

Star H meets ALL of my equine insurance needs-small farm included. they do a great job!