Vernon Hills Farm Insurance

Farms in the Vernon Hills area are among the more than 300 farms and ranches that can be found in Illinois’ Lake County. If you own an agricultural business in northeastern Illinois, you can protect the investment you have made in your farm by purchasing a comprehensive farm insurance policy.

A local independent insurance agent can help you review policies and quotes from a variety of the area’s top-rated insurance companies. That way, you can be sure you are getting the coverage you need at a competitive price. Contact an insurance agent in or near Vernon Hills to learn more.

What Is Farm Insurance?

Farm insurance, which is sometimes 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 policies and rates from a few different insurance providers when you are shopping for coverage. That way, you can be sure you are getting the coverage you need at a competitive rate.

Is Farm Insurance Required in Vernon Hills, 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, a farm policy is optional. However, 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 hired farmhands exceeds 400 days. (Only 26% of farms in Lake County hire employees.)
• Commercial vehicle insurance is required by the state for any farm vehicles that you or your workers drive outside your farm property. Your policy must meet or exceed Illinois minimum coverage requirements.
• Product liability insurance may be required by vendor sites like the Vernon Hills Park District Farmers Market if you want to attend them to sell goods.

Whether or not it is required, farm insurance can prove to be a very good idea. Without a comprehensive policy in place, a major disaster like a fire or a tornado could result in your losing your home, business, and livelihood.

Talk to a local independent insurance agent to learn more about how a farm insurance policy can protect the investment you have made in your Vernon Hills area farm.

How Much Does Farm Insurance Cost in Vernon Hills, IL?

The cost for farm insurance can vary significantly from one farm or ranch 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 can therefore save you money to comparison shop before choosing a policy. Independent insurance agents in Vernon Hills can help by obtaining a variety of customized farm insurance quotes on your behalf.

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What Does Vernon Hills Farm Insurance Cover?

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

Liability coverage

All farm insurance policies offer liability coverage. Farm liability insurance is designed to pay for court costs, legal fees, and damages if you or your farming business are 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 is designed to 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 is designed to 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 is designed to pay for damage or injuries sustained by others if you or one of your employees is responsible for a collision with someone else while driving a farm-owned vehicle.
• Worker's compensation insurance: This is designed to pay for the cost of treating work-related injuries and occupational illnesses and reimbursing workers for lost wages if they need to take time off to recuperate after being injured on the job. It can protect your farm from liability lawsuits related to worker injuries.

An independent insurance agent can help determine which available liability insurance products are a good fit for your Vernon Hills farm and can help you find the liability coverage you need at an affordable price.

Property coverage

Historically, more than 70 tornadoes with a magnitude of 2 or greater have touched down in the Vernon Hills area. One of the worst was an F4 twister that touched down about 8 miles from the Vernon Hills city center in 1972. This tornado left a 5.20-mile wide path of destruction and caused more than $2.5 million in damage.

Other hazards that can damage farm property in the Vernon Hills area include electrical storms, windstorms, hailstorms, accidental fires, and freezing temperatures. Fortunately, your farm insurance policy can provide coverage against each of these risks.

Farm property your policy can cover includes:

• Your farmhouse: If you live on your Vernon Hills farm or ranch, your 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 certain 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 well-maintained farm equipment and machinery, including tractors, plows, balers, cultivators, sprayers, and sprinkler systems.

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

What Additional Coverage Is Available for Vernon Hills Farm and Ranch 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. Some optional coverage that you may want to consider including in your farm insurance policy includes:

• 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 for things like electric fences, animal feed, and irrigation systems to be covered.
• Livestock insurance and poultry insurance: This is designed to cover losses related to animal deaths and illnesses caused by hazards like severe weather events, attacks by predatory animals, loading and unloading accidents, fires, and electrocution.
• Debris removal insurance: This is designed to 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 business 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 Vernon Hills area farm or ranch.

What Is Not Covered by Farm Insurance?

Farm insurance covers a lot of your farm and ranch property, but it does not cover everything.

It is important that farmers are aware that a farm insurance policy will not cover damage to crops, nor will it cover damage 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 tornado wipes out a significant portion of your crops, 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 get up to $500,000 in structural coverage and $500,000 in contents coverage for your farm by purchasing 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 insurance policy isn’t leaving you with any unintentional coverage gaps.

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

Farm insurance 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 different types of crop insurance. You can opt to buy just one type or a combination of coverage. A local independent insurance agent can talk to you about:

• 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.

Talk to your insurance agent to get more information about crop insurance and to get help finding a suitable policy to supplement your farm insurance coverage.

What Is the Best Way to Get Farm Insurance in Vernon Hills, IL?

When you are looking for the best insurance to cover your farm, you may find it beneficial to work with a local independent insurance agent. These insurance professionals 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 Vernon Hills area.

Also, because they are not tied to a single insurance company, independent agents are free to shop around 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 Vernon Hills to learn more about farm insurance.