tractor insurance queston ?

LJH · Nov 28, 2012

murphy1244 said:
What about baby john???

Her little green heart would be broken at first. But she's a hard-working, beautiful little girl and extremely adoptable. No doubt she'd find a good new home before I was even cold, and eventually forget all about me.

JD 4520 · Nov 28, 2012

woodlandfarms said:
In our state, a Tractor is covered under home owners when outside a farming operation (legit, incorporated, not gentleman). If the tractor ever leaves the property, outside of driving too and from addtional parcels, you are not covered. The idea is to keep people from using it as an income device, where it would then be more of a risk.

Living in the same state (Washington), I concur with this summary. I will also add another dimension. If the tractor is damaged on my property, lets say I rolled it, a tree fell on it or some damage occurred, our homeowners policy would not cover that loss for damage. We would have to obtain separate insurance for damage to the tractor.

Also understand the difference in "gap coverage" and "lender coverage" such as you may obtain from JD financing as an example.

schmism · Nov 29, 2012

shelter insurance would cover any personal property any place my personal property was.

I asked all these questions.

My personal property (aka tractor) is on the back of my trailer being towed behind my truck, truck crashes tractor is totaled, what pays for it? response, homeowners (this is the same coverage you ahve if you pack up all your house belongings in a Uhaul and it crashes and burns)

my personal property (aka tractor) is over at my neighbors house helping him ______(fill in the blank) tree falls on it or burns up is it covered? as long as you werent getting paid to help him ____ yes covered under your home owners.

my tractor (and my tools) in my barn on my property. tornado comes through blows it over then catches on fire. is my stuff covered? yes as part of your homeowners personal property contents. Mind you if your contents policy is only for 100K and you try to claim 200K worth of stuff, you will only get 100K.

My wife got a job in another city couple years ago. We moved her into an apt there while we looked for a house. I stayed behind to watch our property. When asking about a renters policy, they simply wrote and extension to include the personal property at the aprtment and included like $30 a year more for fire coverage for the unit she was in. no addtional cost for my personal property because it was already included in the 100K worth of personal property onthe coverage of my "base" property.

in short, i suppose it depends on the insurance company on how they want to treat it.

kiotiken · Nov 30, 2012

schmism said:
shelter insurance would cover any personal property any place my personal property was.

I asked all these questions.

My personal property (aka tractor) is on the back of my trailer being towed behind my truck, truck crashes tractor is totaled, what pays for it? response, homeowners (this is the same coverage you ahve if you pack up all your house belongings in a Uhaul and it crashes and burns)

my personal property (aka tractor) is over at my neighbors house helping him ______(fill in the blank) tree falls on it or burns up is it covered? as long as you werent getting paid to help him ____ yes covered under your home owners.

my tractor (and my tools) in my barn on my property. tornado comes through blows it over then catches on fire. is my stuff covered? yes as part of your homeowners personal property contents. Mind you if your contents policy is only for 100K and you try to claim 200K worth of stuff, you will only get 100K.

My wife got a job in another city couple years ago. We moved her into an apt there while we looked for a house. I stayed behind to watch our property. When asking about a renters policy, they simply wrote and extension to include the personal property at the aprtment and included like $30 a year more for fire coverage for the unit she was in. no addtional cost for my personal property because it was already included in the 100K worth of personal property onthe coverage of my "base" property.

in short, i suppose it depends on the insurance company on how they want to treat it.

In addition to those questions, I want to know what happens if I'm on the road and hit something/somebody or if I'm helping a neighbour and an unthinkable accident happens and somebody is hurt/killed. I want to make sure I'm going to be covered if somebody tries to sue me.

rbro7752 · Nov 30, 2012

I just used state farm to insure a 2006 new holland tn70a, I have 19000 coverage with 500 deductible at 210 yr

JD 4520 · Nov 30, 2012

kiotiken said:
In addition to those questions, I want to know what happens if I'm on the road and hit something/somebody or if I'm helping a neighbour and an unthinkable accident happens and somebody is hurt/killed. I want to make sure I'm going to be covered if somebody tries to sue me.

Great questions that are too specific to rely on any general information the we could likely tell you. I would suggest you get a specific quote from your carrier of choice. So much of the variance has to due with state insurance law and regulation and there is a lot of differences among the states. I for one would be interested in the answer you get or the quote you get from your carrier.

woodlandfarms · Nov 30, 2012

Insurance isn't too difficult to understand. I am not an agent, just buy complicated policies all the time for various projects. The answer depends on the insurance you have. For me and my tractor, absolutely not. My tractor is not covered off the property, and any dammage it does is not, But I do maintain a significant umbrella policy, and while my tractor and my body would not be covered, the other party would be.

As stated, talk to your agent. Make them speak english. It is not complicated. Don't let them make you think it is.

kiotiken said:
In addition to those questions, I want to know what happens if I'm on the road and hit something/somebody or if I'm helping a neighbour and an unthinkable accident happens and somebody is hurt/killed. I want to make sure I'm going to be covered if somebody tries to sue me.

hillbilly rick · Dec 17, 2012

I went through this earlier this year. I ended up going with the State Farm personal affects policy. It was more expensive by itself than other tractor policies, but the other policies required to move at least my homeowners to that company. The total cost of the other companies' homeowners/tractor policy was more than the combined State Farm total. My homeowners is higher than most due to no nearby hydrants so others may have different results. I guess insuring everything with them since I was 16 pays off with the discounts I get from them - plus almost no claims over the years.

caver · Dec 17, 2012

$275 is way too high. Shop around and see if they can do a marine policy.

grsthegreat · Dec 17, 2012

i have a state farm policy on mine that allows commercial use. it covers $53,000 for tractor and implements. $300,000 business liability, $600,000 aggregate with $500.00 DEDUCTIBLE.

$315.00/ year

personally i didnt see a need for $0 deductible. I just wanted major damage coverage.

i believe its called inland marine coverage.

theres too much of a grey area concerning what is and what isnt covered with homeowners. and anyway, i snow plow other peoples driveways and our road. i needed the commercial coverage.

BIG DOOLEY · Dec 17, 2012

I just bought a 2012 John Deere 2320.
with attachments $20,000
AAA said it would be covered under my current home owners if it stays on my property.
I want to use it on public roads and transport it to other property to use.
I have a full coverage insurance policy with $50 deductable for comp. & $250 deductable for broad collision $376 a year.
I took advantage of 0% financing for 4 years.
My agent offered to reduce the rate once per year as the financing balance decreases lowering the amount i have to pay for coverage.
I think i will want to keep it at it's estimated value due to the fact that it will be trailered from location to location during summer months.

fieldman12 · Dec 20, 2012

BIG DOOLEY said:
I just bought a 2012 John Deere 2320.
with attachments $20,000
AAA said it would be covered under my current home owners if it stays on my property.
I want to use it on public roads and transport it to other property to use.
I have a full coverage insurance policy with $50 deductable for comp. & $250 deductable for broad collision $376 a year.
I took advantage of 0% financing for 4 years.
My agent offered to reduce the rate once per year as the financing balance decreases lowering the amount i have to pay for coverage.
I think i will want to keep it at it's estimated value due to the fact that it will be trailered from location to location during summer months.

All of our equipment,tools, and land (accidents) is covered under a farm plan. I think there was a minumum they like to cover as far as what they charge. I think 20,000 comes to mind plus so much for tools allowed. It's around $500.00 per year that covers the equipment by my name plus attachments.

brian9000 · Dec 22, 2012

kiotiken said:
In addition to those questions, I want to know what happens if I'm on the road and hit something/somebody or if I'm helping a neighbour and an unthinkable accident happens and somebody is hurt/killed. I want to make sure I'm going to be covered if somebody tries to sue me.

Lots of great questions and comments on this thread. As several guys have lender me a hand with so many topics, I have finally found one I can offer something in return.

Having been in insurance claims, underwriting and aaa an agent, I have a pretty good understanding of these issues. Likewise, having a nice Kubota M5040, I have a vested interest in protecting my baby!

Lots of variables to consider. In general, most Insurance policies are very similar, however a few companies will limit or exclude coverages more than some. I can speak to State Farm and several other main insurers.

So, the variables: 1) type of policy: Homeowners, Farm/Ranch, Personal Articles/Inland Marine, 2) Use of the tractor 3) Location of the tractor.

1. Homeowners (HO) will cover tractors and equipment used to maintain the residence and land. The key is what is covered, which is typically only the named perils for personal property. The primary concerns are theft, fire, tree falling on it. All of these are covered. Then you have the liability aspect, as long as the use is maintaining your property, you will be covered. If you are trailering your tractor and you lose your tractor off the trailer or have an accident, you will not likely have coverage aside from someone else causing the accident. Then good luck with them having enough insurance, a $35000 truck, $30-40000 tractor.....many people don't carry more than $50000 coverage. So you are out of luck. And we haven't even factored in the trailer.... Bottom line, if you are taking your tractor off your property for more than service, I would suggest getting coverage for the tractor specifically. Many of us with tractors have farm liability if we are haying, harvesting, running cattle, etc. which makes it extremely important to get a farm liability policy or and Farm/Ranch policy.

2. Farm/Ranch (FR) policies cover tractors if you have them scheduled or have blanket equipment coverage. You can also get ADPL coverage to cover if you roll the thing on a hill or back into it with your truck, etc. So you get even more coverage than you would under an HO. Plus your liability is getting you covered for farming activity. However, the liability off the property can be limited to taking it in for service or traveling between sections of ground. For those with 5 or 10 acres, you simply won't have liability traveling down the road to the mailbox. FR is by far the better option over HO if you can qualify for a farm. Without farming operations, it won't happen.

3. Personal Articles Policy (PAP) or Inland Marine (IM), same thing either way, but you can get a Personal IM or Commercial IM, just depends on your situation. So, these policies give you the absolute most coverage for your tractor, period. All peril coverage, meaning if it is stolen, burns up, tree falls on it, you roll it off your trailer or over a hill, hail damage, etc. It is the broadest coverage you can get. There is no liability from this policy, that would come from your HO or FR.

Use of the tractor determines HO or FR for liability, if truly farming then FR, otherwise HO. One side note, if you use it for Business in ANY way, you better have it covered under your Business/Contractor General Liability policy which would typically attach a Commercial IM to it. If you use it for business and only have it insured under a HO, you will likely only receive at most $1000. From a personal use standpoint, your HO policy will cover you should the unthinkable happen. FR example, you go over to help plow out your neighbors driveway, you are doing it without compensation, you run his kid over....your HO liability applies,

One thing to consider, just as the example above is worst case, it is a risk we create by owning machinery. A liability umbrella policy is critical in making sure we have enough to pay for these accidents, as well protect us from losing all we have worked for to accrue this stuff. A umbrella is typically $1 million policy that covers us in addition to our HO, FR, or even Auto policies. If you don't have an umbrella policy, also called a PLUP, get one. In today's worked, $1M isn't much, but it is a heck of a lot more than $100k on your HO or Auto. The difference of having an insurance company write a big check vs. you literally breaking out your own checkbook to pay out.

My apologies for the length, but it really is a very in depth topic. Hope my diatribe helps one person.

Kabuki Tractor · Dec 22, 2012

When I bought my new BX2660 the dealer quoted something outrageous like $400 through Kubota. I checked with my home owners insurance and they stated it would be covered only while on my property, but they could add it to my policy to be covered anywhere. I ended up getting it covered "anywhere" for "anything" for only $54 a year with a small deductible, which I thought was a great price. Just had to provide them with the model and serial numbers of the Tractor, FEL, MMM, and other implements.

Grumpy Old Man · Dec 22, 2012

Kabuki Tractor said:
When I bought my new BX2660 the dealer quoted something outrageous like $400 through Kubota. I checked with my home owners insurance and they stated it would be covered only while on my property, but they could add it to my policy to be covered anywhere. I ended up getting it covered "anywhere" for "anything" for only $54 a year with a small deductible, which I thought was a great price. Just had to provide them with the model and serial numbers of the Tractor, FEL, MMM, and other implements.

What insurance company is that ? I have been with state farm for 30 years and never had a claim or missed payment i am the op of this thread and I have a personal owned property policy because my tractor is on my future home an unimproved property with no building on it to store the tractor and I have a 0 deductible and $10,000.00 coverage and it cost me $275.00 a year !

for my John Deere 855 mfwd fel

JD 4520 · Dec 22, 2012

Brian - great overview on the details of insurance. Probably one of the best write ups on the topic.

grsthegreat · Dec 22, 2012

great post on insurance policies...and it mirrored the info my state farm agent gave me. I added an umbrella policy to my homeowners policy years ago...it only cost ab out 50-60 a year for additional 1,000,000 policy. it was a no brainer considering i have dogs and horses on my property... and todays sue happy people.

oldballs · Dec 22, 2012

:thumbsup:Many great posts here. Thanks everybody. It seems to me that liability is a bigger issue than tractor repair or replacement. My situation is non-commercial, non-farm. But I am often on the road or other peoples' property just to give them a hand. Ocassionally I trailer it to the son's place for mowing. I also take a bunch of neighborhood kids on hay rides in the fall. So it looks like I should get the tractor covered for liability (besides the homeowner policy) and throw in some replacement/repair costs as well. I just recently started an Umbrella policy. My insurer, who has all my coverages, wants $207 per year and will add $37 a year to the Umbrella quote. Sound reasonable to me $250 deduct for comprehensive.....$500 deduct for collision...been their customer for almost 40 years

David M · Dec 22, 2012

In Alabama, State Farm said it is covered under homeowners while on my property, whether it is where I live or where the farm is. It is covered by the towing vehicle's policy while being trailered. However, it will NOT be covered if I cut the church's grass even though no one gets paid to do that; we just share the burden and take turns.