Farmers Legal Assistance Network

To visit the main page of the Farmers Legal Assistance Network, go to:  farmlawhelp.com



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Recent Jury Verdicts Confirm Your Liability Insurance Likely Not Enough to Save Your Farm

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If there is one thing I wish I could get clients to understand is the fact that even if your farm has liability insurance, you are likely under insured with your current liability coverage. Essentially, if you have a million dollars of coverage, or several million, the coverage is peanuts now days.How big a bag of peanuts? Well, here in Indiana we recently had a whopping 35 million dollar verdict against a defendant for causing an accident that left the plaintiff a quadriplegic.Similar verdicts have been handed down across the country as of late.   You can read about it here:  https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/45836-recent-35m-verdict-is-among-largest-indiana-jury-personal-injury-awards As one attorney stated “jurors are increasingly less offended by requests for million-dollar-plus verdicts”Whoa.Wasn’t it not too long ago society was up in arms about a woman in Texas getting several million for being burned by hot coffee?It sure was.But, as another attorney stated, “the shock …
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Avoiding a Denial of Crop Insurance Claims

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Crop insurance plays an ever increasing role in modern farming.  However, like any safety net, crop insurance can be wrought with holes.Over the years I’ve seen producers have their claims denied for many different reasons.Often times these reasons are really no fault of the producer.Simply stated, the federal crop insurance rules are very complex and can be unforgiving. Generally, when a producer believes they have a claim, they call up their agent.The agent then submits a claim and at some point an adjuster is assigned to the case.The adjuster comes out to the farm and evaluates the crop, measures bins, and so forth.Although the adjuster should be well versed in the procedures, sometimes such is not the case.We had a case a few years ago where the producer had frost kill the corn before it reached maturity.The producer wanted to have the corn salvaged for silage.The adjuster informed the producer that strips would have to be left in the field for further analysis.So, …
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Liability Insurance May Not Save Your Farm, but an LLC Can

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Using multiple LLC's can drastically increase the liability protection for a farm.  This article discusses the layout of doing so. 

First though:  I generally hate disclaimers, but I find it necessary to state a few.First, this article is for general information only and is written for the benefit of fellow farmers to consider in structuring their farms.Second, state laws vary, and this article is not state specific.Third, if you feel the need to comment on whether you disagree or that I’m wrong, please first go to:https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/ppp/ppp-91.pdf.It is an excellent publication from Purdue that is in line with what I am writing about in this article and gives some real life examples.
In the last article, I wrote about how liability insurance is a necessity, but with the trends in jury verdicts, it may not be enough to save the farm.In other words, you could get a judgment against your farm for more than the policy limits of the insurance.  Structuring the f…
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