Don’t Forget to Insure Your Outbuildings

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance agency manager Dennis Smith has one piece of advice when it comes to keeping insurance policies updated: “Don’t forget your barns and outbuildings.”

Smith, who is based in Lancaster, says homeowners often forget to inform their Agents when they get new additions or make renovations. You might not think to call your Agent if you convert a detached garage into a mother-in-law suite, or add a new storage shed, or raise a new grain silo miles away from your main farm.

That’s why Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agents make sure to have an annual 360 Review one on one with clients, in addition to their normal visits, just to catch up and hear how life is going. It’s those conversations that help ensure that crucial information gets communicated and that policies get updated.

Smith tells of one client who learned the importance of policy updates the hard way. Smith has a long relationship with the farmer, who is a friend as well as a Texas Farm Bureau member and policyholder. The man made a claim after his barn was destroyed by hail, which Texas Farm Bureau Insurance paid so he was able to replace the structure. But in their subsequent conversations, the ranch owner failed to tell Smith that he had actually had the damaged barn rebuilt. Which meant that, unfortunately, he never asked that it be listed on his latest insurance policy.

When a severe windstorm took down the newly built barn six months later, Smith had to break the news: It wasn’t covered. The member, a savvy agricultural businessman, knew how the policy worked and took the loss in stride. “He understood,” Smith says. He told Smith he had simply forgotten to call to add it to the policy. “We were not able to pay that claim on his behalf,” Smith says. “It’s the client’s responsibility to tell Agents about new things as they change.”

That’s why Texas Farm Bureau Insurance tailors its coverage to meet individual policyholder needs and makes it easy to share information by recommending an annual 360 Review to discuss changes to your policy. Whether you’re a city dweller or a resident in a rural area, an urban worker in a Dallas condo or a professional farmer in the Panhandle, customizable policies can offer comprehensive coverage.

Having confidence in the insurance you choose to protect your assets — including structures and outbuildings separate from your residence — comes down to the relationship between property owner and Agent. It’s about keeping open communication lines for policy questions and those annual reviews. “That’s really what sets Texas Farm Bureau Insurance apart,” Smith says. “When we do 360 Reviews, we go to our insured’s homes and ranches to see their operation so we can help protect their most valuable assets.”

Homeowners

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance helps homeowners keep track of what’s covered and what’s not — and helps them protect what’s important to them. That includes the residence, but also the detached carport and the cars inside, the storage shed and all the gear and equipment piled to the rafters, and the pool house where you installed a pool table for your teens.

A typical Texas Farm Bureau Insurance homeowners policy covers structures used in connection with the dwelling for up to 10 percent of insurance on the residence. However, if you have a residence where outbuildings on the property are used for business purposes, you’ll need to insure those separately.

Also be aware that certain property stored inside these outbuildings may need to be covered under a different policy — for instance, a vintage car may require classic car insurance.

Farm and Ranch Owners

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance has developed a program that assists professional farmers with tracking all their assets, from the latest equipment to the structures that house them. The Texas AgAdvantage for Farm and Ranch Owners (TAA) policy consolidates farming and ranch policies so you can easily manage your coverage. While the program covers structures related to your primary residence for up to 10 percent of the insurance on the dwelling, it also features other key advantages, such as:

• Coverage expansion for newly acquired areas during the policy period.
• A requirement that you only have to pay a single deductible for damage to multiple locations listed on your policy.
• A single deductible for damage to multiple machines or equipment listed on your policy.
• Automatic coverage for 30 days on newly built barns or other structures.

TAA is designed to help give you every benefit as a landowner and proud rancher, without worrying that an unforeseen disaster could wipe out what you’ve built. Unexpected events, from wildfires or tornadoes to accidents or theft, threaten Texas homeowners both in urban centers and beloved ranch lands. And it’s often the neglected sheds and barns that suffer the worst during stormy weather or when thieves look for easy targets.

Protecting What’s Yours

Barbed wire has become part of Texas’ iconic imagery, as a means of protecting fence lines and keeping trespassers out. But with today’s technology, there are other ways to secure the outbuildings on your farm. It may be worth investing in:

• Video surveillance; make the cameras obvious. Consider installing an ADT home security system (Texas Farm Bureau members get free equipment worth $850).
• Motion sensor lights; bright lights snapping on may make would-be thieves scurry.
• More secure gates and doors; fix the latches, install dead bolts, and consider electronic access instead of lock and key.
• Regular maintenance; that broken shed window that you’ve been ignoring may beckon burglars.

Today’s technology also can help you manage your property, with smartphone apps that can help you track gate openings and closings via sensors or alert you to security breaches on more remote parts of your property.

Protect structures around your property from natural disasters as you would your own residence. For instance, to guard against the spread of wildfire, the Institute for Business and Home Safety recommends keeping outbuildings 30 feet from your dwelling and building natural fire barriers around your home by pruning trees and removing “fuel” such as wood piles. The same sort of advice applies to structures on the land, as you’ll want to prevent the fast spreading of flames should a wildfire spark approach a building.

It’s natural to be a little more lax about smaller structures around the property than the prized dwelling, but small losses add up.

Smith says that the TAA program makes tracking your assets easy — down to the lawn mowers and farm implements. As a TAA participant, once you do an initial inventory and list what’s covered, you get to review the list annually to check off what you still have and add anything new.

“Some farmers have hundreds of pieces of equipment,” Smith says. “Texas Farm Bureau Insurance wants you to have every one of those items covered properly, along with the barns and outbuildings where they are stored.”

Call your Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agent today to schedule a 360 Review of your current policy and discuss any changes or necessary updates to what you need covered.

Coverage and discounts are subject to qualifications and policy terms and may vary by situation.