Insurance

Before we get into insurance today, I have a report on the expected increase in land taxes in the county due to reappraisal. It looks like my assessment of taxes going up on farmland due to reappraisal was right on.

Insurance has been an important part of our farm operation. When we bought this place in 2004, I had my lifelong company Nationwide assess the property and recommend a policy that seemed what we wanted but was very expensive. The quote was so high I asked around to see who the neighbors used and I was recommended to Ron Trusty at Trusty Insurance in Wilmington.

He came to our farm and walked the property and came up with an even better policy at about half the quote from Nationwide. Upon further verification, we decided to buy our policy from Ron Trusty. It was a good move.

We had a tornado hit our farm on Good Friday of 2006. It lifted the garage off the pad and destroyed it and most of the barn doors and damage the roofs. I spent the entire summer cleaning up from that storm and working with the contractors who put each piece back into place. It was very tedious work but the property came out in even better shape than before the storm. Ron came the morning after the tornado and assured us everything would be OK and after several months, it was. You don't repair that kind of damage in a week or two.

Then in September of 2008 Hurricane Ike blew through the Ohio Valley and we had similar damage to the tornado. This time it was easier as I found better contractors but the damage total was about the same, over $30,000 each time. Ohio Mutual Insurance paid every penny through the work of our agent, Ron Trusty. I was so impressed I even gave my crop insurance business to him.

Nationwide had insured me since I was 18 so it was a big move for me but it was the right thing to do. Every time I see one of those catchy Nationwide is on your side commercials I am glad it is Trusty on my side. The man earns hisname.

Look at the picture. Tornados are strange storms. See how the garage is pushed in but See Rock City wasn't touched.

The moral of the story is to insure your property carefully. Know who you are dealing with. Compare prices and service and beware the big companies where you can fall through the crack. That happened to me with Nationwide when I was nearly killed by a dump truck on the Norwood Lateral in 1994. My truck was not totaled out and was never the same that day I bought it and was driving it home.

I have written on these stories in the past so don't be afraid to go dig in my archives. I have been finding some amazing stuff myself!

Tomorrow we need to go over soil sampling again before you buy or rent that farm.

Ed