when to let go of tractor insurance

[Code54]

I do not post much anymore because I do not like to type, but there is misinformation here that I can just not let slide.

I owned an Erie Insurance agency for 22+ years, have sold it and retired 6 years ago.

For starters Erie has 3 levels of home policies, for simplicity I will refer to them as basic, mid, and premium. The basic and mid cover personal property on a NAMED peril basis, think fire, lightning, theft, vandalism etc. The premium covers personal property on an ALL RISK basis, with only the named exclusions, acts of war, nuclear perils, intentional acts, earthquake and one or two others that may escape me at the moment.

Erie does not in ANY manor limit what you can use to maintain your property so the comments about they would not cover my BX etc are simply wrong. During my tenure as an agent we paid several claims where policyholders had losses on very expensive tractors from fires etc.

What is limited is BUSINESS personal property, things you make money with. So if you charge your neighbor to mow his field or dig a ditch, all bets are off. There is then a limit of $5,000 for BUSINESS personal property.

Now personal property has a limit which is stated on your policy. In the event of a total loss there is a distinct probability that you could exceed that limit and perhaps fall short but you can increase that limit to be sure you are covered.

Erie covers you for liabilty and physical damage on and off your premises. Where the misunderstanding comes in is dependent on what level of policy you have, remember when I referred to basic, mid and premium? Basic and mid policies will not cover your tractor if you are towing it and run off the road, however the premium one would.

I have 4 tractors, the biggest is an 80 HP 4WD and numerous attachments, and I do not have any riders for them. I do not use any of them for business. I do favors for friends and neighbors but will not accept any money. I have a premium policy and sufficient personal property coverage in the event of a total loss.

There are agents out there looking to get all the premium dollars they can, and some that just do not know their business. Covering an expensive tractor on an inland marine rider is not a bad thing, but not always necessary.

When I spoke to our agent they called the underwriter (while I was there) and researched it - The underwriter (think that was the name at least) said that the only way to cover 100K+ in eqpt was the inland marine policy and no home owners would cover it. All are machines are personal use, and used at our home or friends/neighbors houses for free (Nonbusiness). I also can concern with trailering the eqpt - say for repairs so I wanted to make sure if something happened it would be covered.
Could this be a state by state thing? Saying it is misinformation is incorrect - in my case this is how it is working where we live, don't know why, but two separate agents said my homeowners would not cover it and the ONLY option was that inland marine policy. I had State Farm before we got Erie and when I asked them they also said they would not cover my eqpt under a home owners policy??

 

[ovrszd]

Same here. Have to purchase separate coverage. I use Inland Marine.

 

[HillStreet]

People pay $7 for a paperback book and read it cover to cover. They pay $400 for an insurance policy and throw it in a drawer unread.

You have to know the PERILS that are covered. Homeowners Insurance will probably pay for damage if your tractor was in a barn that burned, will probably pay for theft also. Inland marine coverage will pay for tip overs, and physical damage caused by trees falling on it. Have the talk with your agent and buy what you think you need.

 

[Storm56]

You may want to check that a premium is being charged for liabilty on your tractor, if not then you do not have it. I could not do that in PA. Liability for a piece of equipment came from a BOP, business owners policy.

Was walking out the door, my fingers got ahead of my brain.

I could not add a tractor to a commercial auto policy, for liability or physical damage. Remember I said equipment used for business was a whole different animal. I would cover such on a BOP type policy for physical damage and liability or sometimes I would use a CGL, commercial general liability which handled the liability and an inland marine for physical damage, depended on the risk.

 

[Fallon]

I've got an umbrella policy on addition to my homeowners insurance. A separate business policy for the tractor work. KTAC for the machine itself. Not sure if my impliments are covered under any of the policies. Dependin on circumstance they might be covered by homeowners, but I'm not counting on it & can deal with it if bad things happen & they aren't.

Loosing the $8000 trailer or mower & not having them covered would really suck, but it wouldn't kill or bankrupt me. So I haven't gone out of my way to make sure they are explicitly covered.

 

[Redbug]

I have had the KTAC insurance for more than 10 years. I think if you use the tractor off your property you need to get insurance for it especially.

 

[oosik]

To the point - you let go of any insurance when you have nothing to loose. Otherwise - without insurance you will be sued right into the poor house/debtors prison.

My philosophy - if you have a lot to loose; you better cover it all with insurance. You have nothing to loose; don't worry about insurance.

 

[Storm56]

When I spoke to our agent they called the underwriter (while I was there) and researched it - The underwriter (think that was the name at least) said that the only way to cover 100K+ in eqpt was the inland marine policy and no home owners would cover it. All are machines are personal use, and used at our home or friends/neighbors houses for free (Nonbusiness). I also can concern with trailering the eqpt - say for repairs so I wanted to make sure if something happened it would be covered.
Could this be a state by state thing? Saying it is misinformation is incorrect - in my case this is how it is working where we live, don't know why, but two separate agents said my homeowners would not cover it and the ONLY option was that inland marine policy. I had State Farm before we got Erie and when I asked them they also said they would not cover my eqpt under a home owners policy??

Underwriter is the correct term. Different states, different underwriters, different rules and opinions. That said I wrote a couple policies for people in your situation without resorting to inland marine coverage with the underwriters approval. We simply worked with the insured to make sure there was enough coverage for them in the event of a total loss. You obviously had a different outcome.

 

[bdog]

Liability and property insurance are two completely different animals. I would carry as much liability insurance as you can afford.

With property insurance it comes down to what you can afford to replace and your perceived risk of something happening and this holds true regardless if it is a car or tractor. There were times in my life where I had full coverage on a $4000 pickup because if something happened it would have been devastating to me but now I don’t have property insurance on my 25k tractor because it wouldn’t ruin me to have to replace it. It would stink if something happened to it, but I feel the risk of something happening is very low and I am capable of paying for it in the event it did.

Insurance is a transfer of risk and the insurer charges you for this. The decision on if it is a good choice or not varies from person to person and the value of the item being insured relative to your financial picture.

 

[finn1]

State Farm covers my tractor under my homeowners policy. I financed part of the purchase price with the credit union, and put them in contact with the agent to confirm coverage.. No issues (small town).

I do need separate policies for the boat, side by side and fifth wheel, but not the tractor.