Did You Know?

Are They Covered?

As we gallop past Christmas and see Valentine’s Day in the home stretch, now is a great time to touch base with your insured about gifts they may have received during the holidays. It is important to think beyond the unwrapping and the celebration. Did they receive, or do they have valuable gifts that might need some additional coverage? Our Property Coverage form provides coverage for jewelry, watches, guns, cameras, musical instruments, and more, but there are some Special Limits of Insurance Under Coverage C. Please refer to our policy forms for specific information. To provide additional coverage above those Special Limits, it is necessary to list the individual valuable item under a scheduled personal property form, which shows an itemized description and a limit of insurance. Scheduling these items ensures that you protect not only their value but also their potential as future assets. Our policy can help cover these investments and may help the insured achieve peace-of-mind in the event of an unexpected loss. Talk to your clients about their coverage needs. The unendorsed Property coverage may not be enough. Contact your AgriBusiness® underwriter to discuss options for personal property coverage.

Be Prepared (Tips from the Humane Society of the United States)

The tragedy of the California wildfires is a good reminder of the need for equine disaster preparedness. Here are some tips for making sure that in the event of a disaster, the planning for the evacuation and care of our four-legged friends is already in hand.

• Call your county and ask if they have an emergency shelter or location for animals.
• Call local animal control to flag your property so it’s on the radar of emergency officials for assistance.
• If you have a horse or large animal at a boarding facility or barn, ensure there is a disaster plan in place to notify owners and provide evacuation, if necessary.
• Ensure locks on barn doors are operational and easily opened in the event of an emergency.
• Ensure you have enough vehicles/trailers to move the number of horses at your facility.
• Permanently identify each horse by tattoo, microchip, brand, or photograph. In your records, include the horse’s age, sex, breed, and color. Keep this information with your important papers.
• Keep halters ready for your horses. On each halter, attach a luggage tag with the following information: the horse's name, your name, email address, your telephone number, and another emergency telephone number where someone can be reached. At the time of evacuation, consider additional temporary identification, such as a leg band.
• Place your horses' Coggins tests, veterinary papers, identification photographs, and vital information (such as medical history, allergies, and emergency telephone numbers {veterinarian, family members, etc.}) in a watertight envelope. Store the envelope with your other important papers in a safe and easily accessible place, so you can take them with you when you and your horses evacuate.
• Make arrangements in advance to have your horse trailered in case of an emergency. If you don’t have your own trailer or don’t have enough room in your trailer for horses, be sure you have several people on standby to help evacuate your horses. Check with local haulers for availability during emergencies. When using emergency transport by unknown haulers during the emergency, collect contact information, vehicle identification, license plate, and driver’s license.
• Practice loading your horses into a trailer so they become comfortable with the procedure.
• Have a back-up plan in case it’s impossible to take your horse with you when you evacuate. Consider different types of disasters and whether your horses would be better off in a barn or loose in a field. Your local humane organization, agricultural extension agent, or local emergency management agency may be able to provide you with information about your community's disaster response plans.
• Share your evacuation plans with friends and neighbors. Post detailed instructions in several places, including the barn office or tack room, the horse trailer, and barn entrances, to ensure emergency workers can see them in case you are not able to evacuate your horses yourself.
• Prepare a basic first aid kit. Be sure to include enough water (12 to 20 gallons per day per horse), hay, feed, and medications for several days for each horse.
• Evacuate as soon as you can; if you wait until the last minute to evacuate, emergency management officials may tell you that you must leave your horses behind.

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

Is it a policy? Is it an endorsement? Is it done? The fastest way to get an answer is making sure you send EVERYTHING to the following: