Lake Forest Farm Insurance

Farms in the Lake Forest area are among the more than 300 farms and ranches that can be found in Lake County. If you own an agricultural business in northeastern Illinois, you can protect the investment you have made in your property against potential losses by purchasing a suitable farm insurance policy.

A local independent insurance agent can help you review policies and quotes from a selection of highly rated insurance companies. That way, you can be sure you are getting comprehensive farm insurance coverage at a competitive price. Contact an insurance agent in or near Lake Forest to learn more.

What Is Farm Insurance?

Farm insurance, which is often referred to as “farm and ranch insurance,” is specialized insurance that is designed to meet the unique coverage needs of farm and ranch owners.  It combines coverage for your home with coverage for your farming business in a single, customizable policy package.

Independent insurance agents can help you review offerings and rates from a few different farm insurance providers when you are shopping for coverage. That way, you can be sure you are purchasing a reasonably priced policy that covers you against all of the hazards you are likely to face as a farmer in the Lake Forest area.

Is Farm Insurance Required in Lake Forest, IL?

Farm insurance may be required by your lender if you are still paying on a mortgage for your farm property or if you have taken out a business loan.

Otherwise, while a farm policy itself is optional, some of the coverage a farm insurance policy package may include is sometimes required. 

• Worker's compensation insurance is required by state law if the combined time worked by all of your farm employees exceeds 400 days.
• Commercial vehicle insurance is required for any farm vehicles that you or your workers drive outside your farm property.
• Product liability insurance may be required by farmers markets if you want to attend them to sell goods.

Whether or not it is required, farm insurance is a very good idea. Without a comprehensive policy in place, a major disaster like a fire or a tornado could cause you to lose your home, business, and livelihood.

Talk to a local independent insurance agent to learn more about the many benefits of carrying farm insurance.

How Much Does Farm Insurance Cost in Lake Forest, IL?

Prices for farm insurance can vary significantly from one farm to the next. Some of the many factors that can influence your cost for coverage include:

Every insurance company has its own way of calculating costs. It pays to comparison shop before choosing a policy. Independent insurance agents in Lake Forest can help by obtaining a variety customized farm insurance quotes on your behalf.

What Does Lake Forest Farm Insurance Cover?

As with home insurance and business insurance, farm insurance provides a combination of liability and property coverage.

Liability coverage for your Lake Forest farm

First and foremost, farms and ranches are businesses. As with any business, this means that they have a variety of liability risks. That is why all farm insurance policies offer liability coverage. Farm and agribusiness liability insurance is designed to pay for court costs, legal fees, and damages if you or your farm or ranch is sued for a covered event. 

The following are some of the many types of liability coverage that your insurance agent may recommend including in your farm insurance policy package:

• Premises liability insurance: This can pay for damage and injuries sustained by visitors, guests, or customers if they are involved in an accident while on your farm or ranch property and it can be attributed to negligence on your part.
• Product liability insurance: This can pay for third-party illnesses, injuries, or other damage if a product that your farm or ranch produces and/or sells is contaminated or defective in some way.
• Commercial vehicle liability insurance: This can pay for damage or injuries sustained by others if you or one of your employees is responsible for a collision while driving a farm-owned vehicle.
• Worker's compensation insurance: This can pay for the cost of treating work-related injuries and occupational illnesses as well as reimbursing workers for lost wages if they need to take time off to recuperate after being injured on the job. It also protects your farm from liability lawsuits related to these injuries.

An independent insurance agent can help determine which available liability insurance products are a good fit for your Lake Forest farm or ranch, and can help you find suitable coverage at an affordable price.

Property coverage for your Lake Forest farm

Although the risk of tornado activity in the Lake Forest area is lower than the average rate for the state, farmers should still be prepared for the possibility of loss or damage due to this hazard. In 1972, an F4 twister touched down just 3.3 miles from the Lake Forest city center, causing millions of dollars in damage.

Other damaging hazards that farm and ranch owners in the Lake Forest area are likely to experience include electrical storms, windstorms, hailstorms, and accidental fires. Fortunately, your farm insurance policy can provide coverage against each of these risks.

Property that your farm insurance policy can cover includes:

• Your farmhouse: If you live on your farm or ranch, farm insurance can provide you with the same kind of coverage for your home as you would expect from a traditional homeowners insurance policy.
• Outbuildings: Farm insurance can cover the structure and contents of the other structures on your property, including barns, silos, stables, sheds, garages, and bunkhouses.
• Equipment and machinery: Farm insurance can cover the cost to repair damage to your farm equipment and machinery, including tractors, plows, balers, cultivators, sprayers, and sprinkler systems, as long as they have been properly maintained.

Talk to a local independent insurance agent to learn more about how farm insurance can cover your valuable farm property.

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What Additional Coverage Is Available for Lake Forest Farm Owners?

Farm insurance providers also offer a few policy options. This allows farm and ranch owners to customize their coverage to meet their specific coverage needs. Here is some optional coverage that you may want to consider including in your farm insurance policy:

• Specialized property insurance: Some of the property on your farm or ranch may be excluded from regular farm property insurance coverage. An independent agent can advise you if you need to purchase special endorsements to cover things like electric fences, animal feed, and irrigation systems.
• Livestock insurance and poultry insurance: This can cover losses related to animal deaths and illnesses caused by hazards like severe weather events, predatory animals, loading and unloading accidents, fires, and electrocution.
• Debris removal insurance: This can pay for the cost of timely cleanup of debris on your farm property following a severe weather event like a storm or tornado. That way, your farm can quickly return to normal operations.

Talk to an insurance agent near you to learn about these and other coverage options that may be available to you. Your agent can help you decide which, if any, are a good fit for your Lake Forest-area farm or ranch.

What Isn't Covered by Farm Insurance?

Farm insurance covers a lot of property, but it doesn't cover everything.

It is important to be aware that your farm insurance policy will not cover damage to your crops, nor will it cover damage to your farm caused by floods. To be covered against these hazards, you will need to purchase separate, supplementary policies.

• Crop insurance: Crop insurance is federally backed coverage that is designed to cover loss or damage to your crops. That way, if a severe weather event like a hailstorm wipes out a significant portion of your crops, or if your crops are wiped out by disease, your farm will not experience significant financial losses. An independent agent can help you find the best and most affordable policy.
• Flood insurance: As with traditional home and business insurance policies, flood damage is not covered by farm insurance. Fortunately, you can purchase up to $500,000 in structural coverage and $500,000 in contents coverage for your farm through a commercial flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

When you work with a local independent insurance agent, you can rest assured that your farm or ranch isn’t left with any unintended coverage gaps.

What Is Crop Insurance and How Is It Different from Farm Insurance?

Farm insurance is designed to cover your farm property, but it does not cover your crops. For that, you will need to purchase a separate crop insurance policy.

Crop insurance is designed to cover against damage to your crops as well as against significant drops in your crops’ commodity value. Coverage can be purchased through any insurance company that has been approved by and is working in conjunction with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC).

There are three types of crop insurance. You can opt to buy just one type or a combination of coverage:

• Multiple peril crop insurance (MPCI): This can cover your crops against a wide range of hazards including floods, droughts, severe storms, insect infestations, and plant diseases.
• Crop-hail insurance: This can cover your crops against hail damage only. While this coverage is much less expensive than multiple peril crop insurance, its coverage is very limited.
• Crop revenue insurance: This can cover against lost or lower-than-expected revenue due to a low crop yield or an extreme drop in the price of the commodities your farm produces.

A local independent agent can provide more information about crop insurance and can help you find a suitable policy to supplement your farm insurance coverage.

What Is the Best Way to Get Farm Insurance in Lake Forest, IL?

When you are looking for the best insurance to cover your Lake Forest farm, you can benefit from working with a local independent insurance agent. These agents live and work in your community, so they are familiar with the hazards you are likely to face as a farm or ranch owner in the Lake Forest area.

These experienced insurance professionals can help you obtain suitable coverage that can protect against all of your farm’s risks and exposures. Also, because they are not tied to a single insurance company, independent agents are free to shop around in order to find you the coverage you need at the most affordable price.

Set up a one-on-one consultation with an insurance agent in or near Lake Forest to learn more about your various options when it comes to farm insurance.