Your farm trucks are critical to your everyday operations. Whether you haul supplies, move livestock, or sell produce at farmer’s markets, you depend on your farm trucks to get the job done. That’s why having the right truck insurance is so important. If you can’t get your vehicle repaired quickly after an accident or other incident, it could affect your ability to work, negatively impacting your bottom line. And few farmers can afford that in these challenging times.
In this article, we’ll reveal the best 6 farm truck insurance companies and explain coverage basics so you can get the right protection for your farm.
- The best 6 farm truck insurance companies
- Why cover farm vehicles?
- What coverages do farmers typically get?
- What’s the difference between a farm truck and a personal one?
- Is farm truck insurance less expensive than personal truck insurance?
- Does having farm plates automatically make a vehicle a farm truck?
- How much does farm truck insurance cost?
- How can I save money on my farm truck coverage?
The best 6 farm truck insurance companies
We have researched 20+ companies offering farm truck insurance and here are our top 6 picks for your consideration. We recommend working with 2-3 companies to compare quotes before making your final decision:
- Progressive: Best for farm truck insurance from a leading vehicle insurer
- Simply Business: Best for quickly comparing multiple quotes
- Nationwide: Best for insuring smaller trucks
- Farm Bureau Financial Services: Best overall insurer for farmers
- CoverWallet: Best for tech-driven truck insurance coverage
- Commercialinsurance.net: Best to connect farmers with multiple agents
Progressive: Best for farm truck insurance from a leading vehicle insurer
Progressive is the third-largest insurance carrier and the top commercial auto insurer in the United States. The firm was founded in 1937. The company is ranked number 74 on the Fortune 500 list of the top American corporations.
The company initially covered hard-to-insure drivers and is still known for all the types of vehicle insurance it offers. However, it has expanded into many other types of coverages, so it may be able to insure other aspects of your farm and personal property. Many farmers earn significant discounts for bundling their coverage with Progressive.
Progressive makes it easy to purchase insurance online, and it’s also fast and simple to connect with a company representative if you have questions about farm truck insurance.
Simply Business: Best for quickly comparing multiple quotes
Simply Business was founded in 2000. Five years later, the company decided to focus on small business insurance, launching a cutting-edge online quote comparison service. It makes it easy for farmers to get several truck insurance quotes from reputable providers all in a single place. In addition to buying coverage online, Simply Business has experienced representatives available to answer your questions about farm truck and other insurance coverages.
Nationwide: Best for insuring smaller trucks
Nationwide is a very reputable insurance company and one of the oldest vehicle insurers in the United States. It provides a high level of customer service and has earned the top customer satisfaction rating from J.D. Powers, a company that monitors insurers and reports on them.
Nationwide specializes in insuring smaller trucks. It’s worth asking your agent to get a quote from Nationwide because they offer significant discounts that could save you money.
Farm Bureau Financial Services: Best overall insurer for farmers
Farm Bureau Financial Services was started in 1939 in Des Moines, Iowa when the state Farm Bureau founded Iowa Farm Mutual Insurance Company. It was created to meet the unique liability insurance needs of farmers. As the company grew, it added coverages, including vehicle protection, home and property coverage, and life insurance.
Today, the firm’s agents build relationships with farmers to help them protect what matters most. The company has 1,600 employees and 4,000 field associates knowledgeable about farm insurance.
CoverWallet: Best for tech-driven truck insurance coverage
CoverWallet is an insurer that uses analytics and technology to offer lower insurance premiums to small businesses. The company was founded in 2016.
Unique features offered by the CoverWallet insurance platform include:
- automatic risk analysis
- document management
- benchmarking and data analytics
- intelligent data-driven risk and insurance assessments
- coverage recommendations
- peer risk comparisons
- claims support.
CoverWallet partners with many well-known business insurance companies, including:
- Liberty Mutual
- Starr Companies
- Blackboard
- Berkshire Hathaway
- AmTrust
- Chubb
- CNA
- Progressive
- Hiscox
- And more.
CoverWallet’s platform makes it easy to get farm truck insurance quotes from multiple providers in a single place. Busy farmers often find the speed and simplicity of working with CoverWallet very appealing.
Commercialinsurance.net: Best to connect farmers with multiple agents
Commercialinsurance.net is a national broker with one single goal, which is to help every truck owner in America get the best deal on their insurance and to make the buying process easy.
The online resource promises to help every type of trucker, including ones using trucks for farming and agricultural purposes. The firm’s unique value proposition is that it will connect you with three insurance agents who specialize in farm truck coverage. This provides access to experts who work with different insurance companies that offer coverage to farmers. This makes it more likely that you’ll find the right coverage at an affordable price.
Why cover farm vehicles?
Insuring your farm trucks is a smart thing to do. It protects you, your farm, your family, and the other people who count on you against accidents and other vehicle-related incidents. The types and levels of coverage you need depend on the types of trucks you have and how they’re used.
What coverages do farmers typically get?
Here are some of the most common ones, along with a brief overview of each:
Vehicle or farm truck liability coverage
Also known as property damage and bodily injury liability protection, this insurance helps cover expenses resulting from damaging another person’s vehicle or property or injuring someone in an accident. Most states require liability coverage by law.
Trucking physical damage coverage
This coverage pays to repair or replace the farm trucks when they are damaged. There are two levels of coverage. Learn more at the best trucking physical damage insurance companies
Collision coverage
Collision coverage pays for damage to your farm trucks resulting from an accident.
Comprehensive vehicle insurance
This coverage helps pay for damage to your farm trucks resulting from vandalism, weather events, fire, theft, and accidents involving animals.
Uninsured or underinsured motorist protection
This covers you and your farm truck if you’re involved in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver or hit-and-run accident. This coverage is actually required by most states. Knowing that ~18% of vehicles on the US streets are with uninsured or underinsured motorists, you’ll understand why his coverage is required in most, if not all, states in the US. Whether it is required in your state or not, you should have this coverage.
Medical payments
This coverage helps cover medical costs related to an accident not paid for by regular health insurance, regardless of who’s at fault. This coverage is required in some states.
Personal injury protection insurance
This helps pay medical costs and lost wages that come out of a farm vehicle accident.
Gap insurance
Gap insurance helps cover the amount you owe on your farm truck if it’s totaled in an accident and it’s higher than the insurance payout.
Roadside assistance
This optional coverage helps out if you need a tow, run out of gas, or get a flat. You’ll be surprised to learn how often a farm truck needs roadside assistance. The coverage isn’t too expensive.
Towing and labor insurance
This coverage reimburses you for a tow and labor costs to get your vehicle operational.
Rental reimbursement insurance
This coverage pays for a rental vehicle if your’s can’t be driven after an accident.
Non-owned insurance
This coverage pays for repair of an employee’s vehicle if it’s damaged while being used for farm or ranch business.
You may not need all these types of coverage, but an expert in farm truck insurance can advise you on which ones make sense for you.
What’s the difference between a farm truck and a personal one?
A farm truck is explicitly used for work on the farm and is intended to remain on farm property all the time. A personal truck can be used for work on a farm but is also used outside of the farm for personal reasons, such as shopping and taking kids to school.
Is farm truck insurance less expensive than personal truck insurance?
In short, the answer is YES.
If your truck is a true farm truck and not a personal vehicle that gets used on the farm sometimes, the cost for truck insurance is usually lower.
The coverage required for a farm truck is for the actual cash value of the vehicle itself. Since it’s not driven on public roads, there is significantly less liability risk. That’s why the cost to insure a farm truck is almost always lower than that to cover a personal truck.
Does having farm plates automatically make a vehicle a farm truck?
Not really. While there are several important benefits of having farm plates, they do not determine if a truck is a farm truck.
A truck can only be classified as a farm truck and qualify for reduced farm commercial insurance policy rates is for it to stay on the property of an active farm and be used ONLY for farm-related work.
Be aware: If a farm only has one vehicle or truck, it cannot be classified as a commercial farm truck. Insurers assume that it is also used for personal purposes off the farm property. The farm commercial truck insurance rate usually applies to a farm’s second, third and more vehicles specifically used for on-farm work reasons only.
How much does farm truck insurance cost?
Depending on the use of the farm trucks, the farm truck insurance cost may vary a bit. A truck that is used exclusively on farm-related work only has cheaper insurance cost. On the other hand, a similar truck that is used for both farm-related work and personal purposes has more expensive insurance cost.
- Farm truck insurance cost is $2,000-$5,000 a year for trucks that are used exclusively for farm-related work
- Farm truck insurance cost is $3,000-$6,000 a year for trucks that are used both for farm-related work and personal purposes.
These are just the averages. Make sure you shop around with a few companies or work with a broker such as Simply Business, CoverWallet, or commercialinsurance.net to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you.
How can I save money on my farm truck coverage?
One of the best ways to do this is to bundle all your farm-related and personal coverage with a single provider, you may be able to earn a bundling or multi-policy discount. Depending on the size and structure of your farm, this could save you a significant amount of money on premiums.
You can also save on premium costs by having solid personal and business credit ratings, running a safe operation, and hiring experienced workers. Many insurers offer safety programs that, when implemented, could reduce insurance costs.
In the end, a farm truck insurance policy is often much cheaper than a standard vehicle or truck insurance policy. And if you use your truck for farming purposes only, it covers the costs of any accident you have, regardless of what you are using the truck for.
