# Liability Insurance.....



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

Whos got it for their bee business? Any suggestions? Or if you could do it over again, would you take a different approach?


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

Farm Family Casualty Insurance Company is who I have mine through. The Special Farm Package is the policy type.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I know this will very but what abouts do you pay for it?


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## dp (Jun 30, 2003)

Here is one answer to your question. I purchased my product liabality insurance last month from The Hartford. The cost is $350 per year. The coverage is 1 million if some one gets injured at your business and 2 million in product liabality. Any less coverage amount will still cost $350. This is cheap compared to local companies wanting to charge me $650. If interested call Jerry Cantu at 1-800-447-7649 Ext. 4355.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Chef Isaac said:


> I know this will very but what abouts do you pay for it?


What do you want to cover? You can discuss this with your agent, and decide on a package.

I have a farm policy. Covers my house, and outbuildings (honey house) for fire, liability, etc that any homeowners policy would cover. Also covered are my beehives in the field...vandalism and theft and liability. It includes all my honey house equipment, and supers, etc in storage. Covers all the honey I have stored in my HH. I graduated this throughout the year, as sometimes I have 30,000 lbs on hand, and sometimes I have 100,000. I also have product liability. My truck and skidsteer are covered if they burn up in the honey house.

One recommendation. Make sure you have enough coverage for replacement costs if your building burns. Replacement costs will shock you, and you better re-evaluate your coverage from time to time. For example...my house is valued at around 250,000, most of which I built myself. But, replacement cost is over 400,000. Same with the honey house. I built and equipped it for around 100,000, but replacement cost would be a good deal more. My friend's HH burned a couple years ago, and he was way under insured. I think he got around 50,000, but the extracting line was worth more than 25,000, and the building was way more than that.


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

I also have a farm policy. Covers my home, buildings, equipment etc. I needed to separate the Bee business with an LLC to limit liability because of some other investments etc... So I have a special rider for the LLC. I have $1mil liability for each. 

They will not cover the loss of the bees themselves but will cover the cost of the equipment etc. 

Talk carefully with your agent. Some would not cover me if I sold candles... others would not cover me if I sold say honey candy if I didn't produce it myself etc... make sure you are both on the same page and everything is in writing.


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## danno1800 (Mar 13, 2004)

*Anpac*

Like, Jeff, I have mine through the special farm package with American National. I switched my homeowners to them & it was cheaper than what I had by a few dollars, but it provided liability coverage for the bee business. Don't leave home without it!


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

ANPAC is also who I have. I couldn't remember the name yesterday


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## adamf (Jan 28, 2006)

These are excellent posts! Thank you so much for sharing this information.

Does actual crop insurance (loss of bees) exist for beekeepers? 

Thanks in advance,
Adam Finkelstein
[email protected]


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

adamf said:


> These are excellent posts! Thank you so much for sharing this information.
> 
> Does actual crop insurance (loss of bees) exist for beekeepers?
> 
> ...


I believe you can get crop insurance. Didn't someone advertise crop insurance in the bee mags within the last year or two? I think so.


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I have the insurance that dp listed in post #4. Great deal.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

For folks who DO have insurance, did getting it require a DBA or LLC setup? Or could a hobbyist/sideliner get insured with one of these farm-type insurances?


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

adamf said:


> These are excellent posts! Thank you so much for sharing this information.
> 
> Does actual crop insurance (loss of bees) exist for beekeepers?
> 
> ...


I could not get insurance on the bees thru my agent... They would cover most everything else but not the bees themselves. 

Frankly, given the news coverage of CCD, I think it would be hard to find anyone willing to insure your bees. If you did find it... I imagine that it would be cost prohibitive.


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## Grant (Jun 12, 2004)

Nope, no dba or llc.

I got insurance for me as a sole proprietor and it was no big deal. I did, however, open a bank account as a dba and they simply used my social security number so there was no real difference between a dba and me personally. 

Grant
Jackson, MO


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

Ben Brewcat said:


> For folks who DO have insurance, did getting it require a DBA or LLC setup? Or could a hobbyist/sideliner get insured with one of these farm-type insurances?


Ben,

Not sure I know the answer. And even if I did, it could vary by insurance companies and states... My honey business is under an LLC and I had no problem.

I think you'll need to call around to various agents to get an answer.


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## Durandal (Sep 5, 2007)

We have a fairly large liability insurance package. We board horses and have about 300 acres with close to 3 miles of bridle trail for our boarders so it is pretty much a necessity (even though there are state laws designed to protect such businesses). Anything ag related is covered under it, including beekeeping.

I have a single cut out scheduled and what I am not is bonded. That is not an issue for this job, but I think it would be for residential stuff and businesses that do not know me.

I am trying to figure out right now if the part of our farm insurance which includes coverage when farming someone else's property (for that is mainly for baling hay) would include doing cut outs. I don't think it will, but who knows.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

I'm thinking about coverage for cutouts too.


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## Scott J. (Feb 6, 2007)

*Contractor License?*

I would think you would have to have a Contractors License and be bonded to do cutouts to have insurance coverage. If a person works on my house, such as tearing into it, I would want some type of assurance that they know that they know something about how to take it apart with the least amount of damage. Just my thoughts.


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## CSbees (Aug 7, 2007)

As well as having liability insurance on your honey businesses, do you pay taxes as well on your income from the business? Do you place a sales tax on your product? Just wondering.


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## John Gesner (Dec 17, 2005)

For lack of knowing what else to do, two years ago I contacted my agent that handles our cars and home. She set me up with a $1 mil liability insurance policy that only helps me if I'm being sued by someone who either is injured on my property due to beekeeping or who is injured thru consuming my products (reaction, piece of glass, etc.) The coverage runs me about $280 a year.

As for your question, CS, I file a tax return for my business. And I put a sign on my honey stand that states "Tax is figured into the price". Of course, if I were asked, I'd have to reverse calculate what the heck the tax really is on a $4.00 honey bear....


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## Otter (Feb 20, 2008)

Short answer on sales tax: Check with your state Department of Revenue, or whatever they call the agency in charge of taxes. 

Longer: Sales tax on honey is going to depend on where you are - growing up in Michigan, pretty much all food was untaxed (that may have changed by now). Here in IL we have a tax on some food items (I don't know off the top of my head what food does and does not get taxed), and some counties/municipalities have additional local sales tax in addition to the base rate, collected through the state Department of Revenue.


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## jerry (Jan 12, 2006)

jeff do you have phone number or web address for farmfamily casualty jerry


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## jerry (Jan 12, 2006)

*insurance*

john who do go threw to get insurance ? robnett apairys wa Jerry Robnett


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

Keep in mind each LLC requires a separate tax filing and a separate insurance policy and a separate checking account. That's what it takes to limit it's liability. I'm considering protecting Hawk's Nest Farms from the liability of Hawk's Nest Apiaries. Some other business considerations too.

Today was the first business day of March. After spending money all day, tomorrow will bee an apiary day. Well, it could be if I'd done all my carpentry work this winter. Anyway, if your hives are nowhere near other people and local kids have to trespass to get multiple stings, you could just keep 'em under your Ag policy. 

If your bees are in town, they need to be an LLC to protect your home, etc. Sorry for the ramble. It's late.

Hawk


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## pgayle (Jan 27, 2008)

I don't have my bees yet, still in the class and building hives.

How many of you have actually had trouble with neighbors? What happened?


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