Insuring a tractor

[Dougster]

Doug - I believe State Farm won't because you are using it in your business.

That certainly would be the case now... but that question was asked of them last year well before I bought the red beast, before I was laid-off... and before I ever thought seriously about using a tractor and backhoe to try to make a modest post-layoff living.

In fact, at that time, I was inquiring specifically about what the insurance situation would be in regard to buying a little used John Deere TLB that I had found about 30 miles west of here that would have been strictly for personal use only.

Dougster

 

[b33b]

Insurance coverage varies by state, even with the same company, and is set by the state's insurance department. So basic coverage should be the same across companies within a state though companies compete by offering enhancements to the basic policy.

In Maine, the State Farm agent said a tractor was covered under the home owner's policy while on the property and not being used commercially, and was willing to have KCC named loss payee. Haven't seen the fine print yet.

Is KCC's insurance charge an average based on the declining monthly loan value? Even $15/month over three years would make a nice dent in the cost of a rake or bb.

 

[Cap-n-Cray]

I called my agent again and he told me that they use to cover tractors, but stop a few years ago. I asked for a rider and he said that they did not write that kind of insurance and had no idea where to get one. I know get a new agent. I just started a new policy both home and vehicles. Is there a farm service insurance or someone other that KTAC? I never like dealing with insurance.

Cary

 

[Dougster]

I called my agent again and he told me that they use to cover tractors, but stop a few years ago. I asked for a rider and he said that they did not write that kind of insurance and had no idea where to get one. I know get a new agent. I just started a new policy both home and vehicles. Is there a farm service insurance or someone other that KTAC? I never like dealing with insurance.
Cary

I say go with KTAC and be very thankful you've got that option!

Dougster

 

[8561]

The part I'm not getting is relative to a personal use only tractor and the seeming lack of coverage some of you describe. Let's say you go to Sears and spend $2000 on a riding lawnmower. That is personal use and its use is to service the insured property. That would be covered (even in Taxachusetts). Where and how are they drawing the line to a machine that is too large to be covered that way? Is a sub like a Kubota BX covered? How about a B series? An L series? An M? I just don't see how or where they draw a line between coverage and no coverage.

For those of you who have been told there is no homeowners coverage, ask them if that would be true of a standard Sears Garden tractor. If the answer is yes there is coverage for the Sears, ask them to detail exactly where the line is crossed into no coverage, and what triggers it.

 

[emmy71]

Wow, I feel pretty lucky. I went to my insurance agent and told him I wanted to insure my tractor. The only questions he asked me were how much coverage I wanted and if I wanted seperate policies for the tractor and loader. I got an inland marine policy with $20,000 coverage for $120 a year. Company is NC Farm Bureau.

Terry

 

[Dougster]

Wow, I feel pretty lucky. I went to my insurance agent and told him I wanted to insure my tractor. The only questions he asked me were how much coverage I wanted and if I wanted seperate policies for the tractor and loader. I got an inland marine policy with $20,000 coverage for $120 a year. Company is NC Farm Bureau.
Terry

That's because you live in a sane, farm-friendly, tractor-friendly state (well, sane all except for that Nifong charactor).

Be very glad that you are there and not here!

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

The part I'm not getting is relative to a personal use only tractor and the seeming lack of coverage some of you describe. Let's say you go to Sears and spend $2000 on a riding lawnmower. That is personal use and its use is to service the insured property. That would be covered (even in Taxachusetts). Where and how are they drawing the line to a machine that is too large to be covered that way? Is a sub like a Kubota BX covered? How about a B series? An L series? An M? I just don't see how or where they draw a line between coverage and no coverage. For those of you who have been told there is no homeowners coverage, ask them if that would be true of a standard Sears Garden tractor. If the answer is yes there is coverage for the Sears, ask them to detail exactly where the line is crossed into no coverage, and what triggers it.

Your point is a good one... at least academically... but I wouldn't go too far trying to pull a fast one on your insurance company by claiming that your CUT, UT or TLB is merely a very expensive lawnmower on steroids. I kinda tried to use that same line of logic down here... both with the insurance company on that original JD TLB (before my Mahindra) and more recently with the town on another matter ("yes officer, it's just my big red rider lawnmower")... but the insurance companies are in business to make money and they are very good at denying coverage on items or situations they never intended to insure... regardless of what any daffy agent might tell you.

Dougster

 

[ejnichol]

Thats a good point. I just got my Kubota Credit Insurance policy in the mail. I'm reading through it haven't finished. They are very direct about all the things they don't cover. I haven't finished yet, but will share what it says about diminishing payback in realtion to remaining prinicipal.

It reads that they have the right to repair it or pay you off with the then market value of what would then be a used tractor. It does cover it all over the country. You have to call and file a police report and report to Kubota Credit Insurance within so many days.

 

[MiserableOldFart]

Wow, hate to reopen an ancient thread here, but there are three questions involved here, I think, and they are equivalent to a car. A car has three types of insurance, normally. Comprehensive (and glass) covers your car if a tree falls on it. Collision covers it if you drive into the tree. Liability covers you if you drive the car into someone or something and cause damage or injury.

I am willing to self-insure on the tractor damage itself, but would like liability insurance for when I take it over the country road here, which I do occasionally. I don't think my homeowners liability ("personal liability") covers that at all. I would be willing to pay for collision and/or comprehensive coverage if I had to to get the liability, but my car insurance company doesn't cover tractors and I don't think homeowners' does either. A marine type policy is not really appropriate for liability because marine has strange liability laws. From what I understand, if you are at fault in a boat accident, if negligence cannot be established then you are only liable for the value of your craft prior to the accident. In a vehicular situation, or even say, the case of cutting someone's grass (as my sister's, not business) and, say the mower throws a rock and injures someone, I wouldn't be covered. This is the kind of thing that makes my blood boil. As an aside, homeowners' policies are skyrocketing in premiums, but if you look at your policy, you might be shocked to see that some things aren't covered. Floods never are, but things like earthquake or ground movement used to be and have been mostly excluded. Mold and rot have been severely curtailed in most policies that I've seen, often with only like a $10K limit. The insurance racket has become insanely crooked over the years, and it worries me, a lot.