Farm Property Coverage

Farm Property Coverage

September 2012

New Forms and Declarations Page

Summary. The current ISO farm program now covers farm property in three forms, a conditions form, and a causes of loss form. The new arrangement has served to simplify and shorten the farm form, eliminating many of the cross references. The previous program attempted to include the coverage agreements formerly provided under five separate monoline or seven farmowners-ranchowners package forms, making its complexity inevitable.

Though “simplified” in terms of more informal language of the “we,” “us,” and “our” (insurer) and the “you” or “your” (insured) variety, the contract is actually quite complex.

Also, users of the farm form who are accustomed to working with homeowners will find it awkward that the definitions section is placed in a separate form, FP 00 90 09 03, “Farm Property—Other Farm Provisions.” In addition, the causes of loss provisions for all levels of coverage—basic, broad, and special—are all on another form, FP 10 60 02 09, with only the declarations pages signaling what provisions apply to which property items.

Topics covered: Arrangement of the coverage Farm property declarations Farm property rules

Arrangement of the Coverage

Within each of the seven property coverages, distributed over three forms, there is a list of accompanying provisions. These provisions have all been pared to just three: covered property; property not covered; and special limits of liability (if any). The previously remaining four provisions (covered causes of loss, additional coverages, coverage extensions, and coverage conditions) have been moved to different forms.

Farm Property Declarations

ISO has drafted five different advisory farm property coverage declarations that member insurers are invited to adopt or adapt for their individual use. These forms fill several sheets with very small print. Individual insurers are free, however, to redesign the declarations to a more readable form if they wish.