Insurance Tractor Insurance

[ejb]

>>The solution was to get a separate Inland Marine policy

I got an inland marine policy when i bought my jd5410 with attachments...the premium was about $220 if I remember correctly...when the renewal came up in the fall, I got a letter that said they would no longer write and policies with a premium of less than $300/year so they upped the renewal premium to $300 min...I cancelled it because that would have been a 36% increase in one year...which I found unreasonable. Now I am self-insuring. Time will tell if that was the right decision or not.

Somethinbg to be aware of if you are using Inland marine.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Good point ejb. We have everything insured by Erie and I did not bother to investigate other companies.

 

[bigpete]

It's really important that everybody thinking about this topic understands that there are two very different considerations to insurance on a tractor. The first, is replacement insurance. As was mentioned, most of us could recover finacially from "self-insuring" our equipment if it were lost or damaged. Whether it's a $12,000 subcompact or $30,000 utility tractor, we could somehow find a way to put beans and bread on the table.

However, the second consideration is liability. Unless you guys are incredibly wealthy, liability self-insurance is a fallacy and could result in a loss of everything you have now, and everything you might earn in the future.

I know there are a few insurance agents here at TBN, and their sage advice would be to talk to your agent--period. Laws and policies vary so widely that no one situation posted here would ever be a safe answer. I have a little over $25,000 in outdoor power equipment, including a $13,000 sub-compact, that IS covered under my homeowner's policy for loss, damage, and liability. My use of the equipment IS covered anywhere I use it as long as it's not for profit. The accepting term in my policy and in the letter from my agent is "...non-commercial property maintenance, on or off the insured property, operated by the insured."

Don't forget, it's the liability issue that is the real "killer" here.

 

[Fireman_dcb]

I financed my JD 790. Deere asked for proof of insurance, I had to purchase "inland marina" insurance, costs about
$150.00 per year, but will cover ANYTHING I do, sink it a lake because I wanted to plow off the snow to go skating - its covered, want to roll it down the hill side over side because I wanted to find out what the max side hill grade is - I'm covered.

Take care, doug

 

[bigpete]

I financed too, and had to sign a statement certifying that I would maintain insurance, and I think JD Financial called my agent to verify the policy.

Hey, Fireman, I might recommend you visit the Safety Forum when you get a chance /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I really had to dig and ask my insurance agent the right questions to get the information I needed to determine what is covered and when, what is not covered and why, and how to get it covered. Thanks all for your comments and thought starters.

My homeowner's policy covers the tractor/attachments under the personal property coverage, and liability, without an additional endorsement. This holds true only if I don't use the tractor for commercial use (ie to make money). No problem there.

However, the homeowner's personal property coverage covers only those perils listed in the policy, such as fire, theft, hail, etc. It does not cover accidental damage, say if the tractor rolled-over into a ditch or slipped-off the trailer ramps during loading/unloading.

To get accidental damage coverage I purchased an endorsement on the homeowner’s for $120/year. The endorsement is like collision coverage for the tractor/attachments. It covers any accidental damage that occurs on my property, on other property (sans a mileage limit), loading/unloading, transporting, etc.

The mileage limit: Coverage is effective if the tractor is within 100 miles from my home. According to my agent, the insurance underwriter sets this /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. So if I wanted to work the tractor say at a friend's house 80 miles from my house, the tractor is covered; if it was 110 miles away, the tractor is not covered. I can live with the limit. My family lives within 100 miles from my house so if they needed work done I'm covered /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

 

[Soundguy]

""Don't forget, it's the liability issue that is the real "killer" here. ""

I upped the limits on my homeowners for that reason ( and because of my animals ) at the suggestion of my agent.

The agent brought up those same arguments...." Say you are mowing your field and your mower throws a rock and hits the neighbor.. etc.... also.... say your horse bites someone over the fence.. etc etc..

Remarkable enough... raising my policy limits from what they come basically issued at was very inexpensive...

Deffinately worth the time to talk to your agent just to be sure...

Soundguy

Like others, I get all my insurance through one insurer... Nationwide.. cars, home life, etc. They are usually pretty good to me.

 

[Hoeman00]

Back 15 yrs ago I had the D4D dozer on my farm policy for years then I got a backhoe and they wouldn't cover it (State Farm).
Their response was the hoe could dig up HI $$$$$$$$ liabilities.
So I had to go to commercial insurance so I figured might as
well do commercial work too.

 

[Mosey]

My homeowners insurance is with Secura. They said the tractor and implements are covered as long as I'm on my property or if it's on a trailer while on the road. But, if I'm driving it on the road or on someone else's property, it's not covered. It doesn't matter if I'm getting paid for the work or not.