Tractors can be found just about anywhere: on farms, at construction sites, along the road, and even in your neighbor’s backyard. With about 300,000 new tractors sold each year in the United States, they are the go-to equipment for plowing, planting, and moving big items around on farms and elsewhere.
Interestingly, there is no legal requirement for you to insure your tractor. Lenders often require tractor insurance for the length of the loan. But your coverage usually ends when the loan is repaid, leaving your expensive and much-needed tractor without protection.
However, just like other insurance in your life — for your home, your car, and your health — tractor insurance can be there to help you and your family avoid huge expenses if there is an accident or incident.
This is especially true if you’re a production farmer whose tractor is the lifeblood of your farming operation and one of the most expensive pieces of equipment you own. Your tractor is a workhorse and essential to the success of your farm.
If you’re wondering whether you need tractor insurance, keep reading to find out why tractor insurance is important for you to add to your farm insurance coverage.
Farming Is a Dangerous Business
Farm insurance may cover your tractor, but there are limitations on what and where. Tractor insurance helps guard against damage to the tractor and expenses that result from incidents in which your tractor damages another property or a person, all of which can be extremely expensive for you to cover.
Agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries, putting farmers, their family members, and their employees at a high risk of injury, including death, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Agriculture, which is grouped with forestry, fishing, and hunting as an industry, had one of the highest fatal injury rates at 20 deaths per 100,000 employees in 2021, according to NIOSH. All other U.S. industries combined had a death rate of 3.6 per 100,000 employees, NIOSH statistics say.
Transportation incidents, which include tractors that overturned or crashed in roadways, were the leading cause of death for those farmers and their workers, the website for NIOSH shows.
Helping to Keep Your Farm Running
Farm and ranch insurance is highly customizable because every farm is unique. Working closely with your farm insurance agent, you can get the coverage you need for your operation.
But even with farm insurance, tractor insurance is a wise choice because it adds protections that can help keep your farm running or help return it to operations faster if something happens to your tractor.
With farm insurance, your tractor is covered on your property, and it is covered against certain types of damage listed in the policy. However, if you drive your tractor off your property, you’re doing so at the risk of your livelihood.
If you have an accident while driving your tractor on roadways off your property, your farm and ranch insurance may not cover the cost of the damage to your tractor or any liability for the damage to someone’s property or person.
Tractor insurance can help you pay the bills for repairing your tractor or purchasing a new one. It may also cover the liability claim for damaged property or injuries someone suffered.
With tractor insurance, you can feel confident you have help to pay to get your equipment and workers up and running again after an accident or incident.
Repairing Your Tractor
While an accident can leave your tractor damaged and in need of repair, other hazards may not be covered by a farm and ranch insurance policy but can be added to a tractor insurance policy. They include:
- Cab glass damage
- Contact with the ground
- Damage during hitching and towing
- Damage from foreign objects
- Damage from vermin
- Fire
- Hail
- Lightning
- Smoke
- Windstorms
A farm insurance policy is also not likely to pay for repairs to a tractor that has been poorly maintained or has a technical problem. These issues also can be covered under tractor insurance.
Guarding Against Theft
Your tractor is one of the most expensive pieces of equipment you have on your farm. Unfortunately, tractors happen to be one of the biggest targets for theft in rural America, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).
About 1,000 pieces of heavy equipment, including tractors, are reported stolen every month, and Verisk, formerly the National Equipment Register, says tractors are the third most stolen piece of heavy equipment.
Your tractor may be covered for theft under your homeowner’s policy. However, your tractor is not covered if it is not on your property. Unless authorities recover your tractor, you will be solely responsible for the cost of buying a new one. Tractor insurance may help you pay for replacing your tractor.
Getting the Coverage You Need
Purchasing tractor insurance can get complex, but working closely with your agent can help you find the coverage you need to help protect one of the most valuable pieces of equipment on your farm. If you’re ready to help protect your farming operation with tractor insurance, contact Garrett Insurance.