Agriculture Umbrella Insurance for Your Business, Dairy or Farm and your Peace of Mind
In a culture where litigation is commonplace, business owners have many more worries than making profits and retaining top employees. If your product injures a consumer, your organization could face a devastating lawsuit, exponential damages and a tainted reputation in the marketplace. To assist with the financial burden of a claim, many farm owners purchase agriculture umbrella insurance on top of their standard commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies.
Most CGL policies have an aggregate limit that, once exhausted, will not cover any other excess claims. Experienced business professionals understand that the litigious nature of our society combined with surmounting liability judgments are reason enough to purchase additional coverage through an agriculture umbrella insurance policy.
Protect Yourself Against Law Suits
Over the years, courts have reached multi-million dollar verdicts as the result of the following: a grain elevator explosion in which an individual suffered severe burns in Ohio; the use of a chemical inaccurately labeled as animal feed in which thousands of livestock died in Michigan; and a commercial truck accident in Florida in which many people lost their lives.
Businesses are also liable for the health and safety of their employees and for their employees’ behavior. For instance, your business could be held liable after your holiday party results in property damage to a rented banquet hall. You may also face litigation if your business office has a carbon monoxide leak that causes a number of employees to get extremely ill. To protect against an unforeseen claim similar to these, commercial umbrella insurance protection is a must.
Purpose of Umbrella Coverage
Umbrella coverage is designed to protect an organization against monumental liability claims that can demolish a business through a large financial judgment. Typically, an umbrella policy serves the following purposes:
- Provides coverage for potential damages and court defense fees that exceed underlying insurance policies (typically CGL policies).
- Provides coverage in situations that are not covered by underlying insurance policies but are not excluded from the umbrella policy. This benefit is subject to a self-insured retention (SIR), similar to a deductible, in which the policy holder is responsible for losses up to the SIR amount.
- Applies to claims where the aggregate limit of the underlying policy has been met. The umbrella policy will cover the portion of the claim that cannot be paid with the underlying policy because there are not enough funds available in the policy to cover the entire claim. For instance, if at the time of a claim your CGL policy has $500,000 remaining and the claim in question is $1.5 million, then the CGL policy will cover $500,000 and then the umbrella policy will cover the remaining $1 million.
GDI Trucking Insurance Agency Inc. Cost Savings Benefits
GDI Insurance Agency’s Tools Will Put You in the Driver’s Seat!
Our agency can help you build solid loss control and safety programs to help you stay on top of your biggest risk management and compliance challenges.
Workplace Safety Programs
Our transportation insurance industry safety manual and employee safety resources can provide your place of business with useful injury prevention information.
Compliance and Recordkeeping
You are responsible for complying with regulations from OSHA, DOT and more. Let us show you how to do so correctly.
Managing Risks
We have the risk management expertise to help you plan and control resources and activities in order to cost-effectively fulfill your objectives.
Building a Safety Culture
Our employee safety materials help you promote a safety-minded workplace. We have flyers, posters, payroll stuffers on such topics as hazardous material handling, defensive driving, obeying traffic controls, etc.
DOT/FMCSA Compliance
We have reference materials, forms and checklists that will help you remain in compliance with DOT/FMCSA regulations.
Prevent Fatalities. DOT Compliance. Employee Safety.
GDI Insurance Agency, Your Transportation Partner
Common Exclusions of Motor Truck Cargo Insurance
Since cargo insurance is so common, policies are usually available for a wide variety of operations and cargo. However, most policies will exclude coverage for the following:
- Any goods kept in a transporter’s warehouse for over 72 hours
- Shipping containers
- These types of vehicles:
- Garbage trucks
- Passenger vehicles such as buses and limousines
- Hearses
- These types of cargo:
- Art
- Jewelry
- Money
- Paper
- Animals
- Contraband
- Pharmaceuticals
- Alcohol
- Tobacco
- Explosives
- Radioactive material
Coverage Details
A typical umbrella policy has the following features:
- Offers coverage for worldwide; personal injury; blanket contractual liability protection; care, custody and control; non-owned aircraft liability; watercraft liability; advertisers liability; liquor law liability; and explosion, collapse and underground (XCU) liability.
- Offers an extension of insurance protection for additional insureds.
- Policies follow form, meaning they abide by similar provisions and cover similar losses as the underlying policy. If claims are not covered by an underlying policy, the umbrella policy makes the business responsible for the loss if it exceeds SIR limits. The damage must also involve personal injury, property damage or advertising injury.
- The insurer has the right to investigate all claims not covered by any underlying insurance.
- Policies either cover all individuals or cover parties that gain insured status within the contract. Policies also protect an organization’s executive officers, regular employees, directors and stockholders acting on behalf of the organization. Protection for additional insureds in typically excluded when claims involve motorized vehicles, watercrafts and aircrafts.
Beyond these stipulations, an agriculture umbrella policy ascertains that an organization must hold an underlying insurance policy during the term of the policy. To learn more about averting your business risks with commercial umbrella insurance, contact GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. at 1-209-634-2929 today.
Protecting All Types of Agribusiness and Dairy Businesses!
GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. provides California Agriculture Insurance solutions specifically-tailored businesses exactly like yours!
You’ll Have The Support Of Our Experts On A Continuing Basis
We don’t just make a sale and leave you hanging, here are just a few of the added value items we provide:
- We review your contracts
- Review your certificates of insurance
- Additional insured endorsements
- Full OSHA compliant safety programs
Farm and Agriculture Safety
Our Agriculture Insurance Tools Will Put You in the Driver’s Seat!
Our agency can help you build solid loss control and safety programs to help you stay on top of your biggest risk management and compliance challenges, such as:
Interactive Risk Analysis Tools
Use these multifunctional tools to evaluate various pain points that are unique to the agriculture industry. Many of these tools can be customized for your organization’s specific needs, so you can see how your business is faring and learn ways to manage your risk exposures.
Injury and Illness Investigation Programs
Make sure that falls, chemical exposures and other injuries only cost you a single time. These resources can help you establish best practices for investigating the true sources of agriculture incidents and reduce the chance of costly reoccurrences.
Compliance Tools
OSHA, the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies often release rules specific to the agriculture industry, and mismanaging compliance topics can lead to costly fines and a tarnished reputation. Use these attorney-written compliance tools to understand your obligations and make sure your business stays in compliance.
Response Plans and Programs
To ensure your long-term success, your business needs to be ready to respond to a number of common agriculture and farming risk exposures. These programs and response plans can help you and your employees be ready for a wide variety of scenarios, such as heat illnesses, vehicle rollovers, equipment malfunctions and silo emergencies.
Employee Safety Communications
Promote various workplace topics with hundreds of employee-facing resources, including flyers, articles, bulletins and guides that will help keep health and safety top of mind.
OSHA Compliance Program for Agribusiness
Does your broker provide you with timely updates on new and revised OSHA regulations?
OSHA constantly updates its standards and requirements, and even a single update can drastically impact the construction industry and your regular operations. We can provide you with attorney-reviewed documents that outline your obligations, making it easy for you to focus on your agribusiness projects instead of complicated OSHA rules.
Are you prepared for an Unannounced OSHA inspection?
If an OSHA inspection finds violations at one of your construction sites, you could face fines and watch your reputation plummet. We can offer you agriculture-specific compliance resources and inspection guides to help you address potential issues before they occur.
Does your Agriculture business comply with OSHA’s hazard communication standards?
Agriculture employees often have to work with or around hazardous substances, and even one incident can lead to serious injuries and costly fines. Our clients have access to agriculture-specific toolbox talks and articles, as well as workplace posters and hazard communication programs that can ensure your business is compliant with OSHA standards.
Learn About the GDI Client Philosophy!
Safety and Compliance
- Employee Manual
- Base Safety Programs
- Human Resources
- Employee Training
Insurance & Risk Management
- Basic Policies - Liability
- Basic Policies - Employee Benefits
- Employee Benefits
- Contractual Transfers
Maximization of Efficiencies
- Accounting & Taxation
- Legal Guidance & Council
- Safety & Training
- Specialized EPA Inspections & Certifications
- Inspection Assistance
- Insurance Visit Support
If You Think This Sounds Too Good To Be True, Here Is What Just A Few Of Our Clients Have To Say about their Insurance:
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We looked hard at all our budget items, and insurance seemed to be a big fixed expense. GDI found us a policy for $385,000 less a year than we were paying”
-CA Home Builder
"…found me coverage for $140,000 less a year
When everyone else said that was the best they could do, I called GDI, and they found me coverage for $140,000 less a year than anyone else offered.”
-CA Cement Contractor
“Honesty and integrity are two qualities that mean the most to me. I have found that GDI has always put our interest first and has always given us outstanding service while saving us tens of thousands of dollars in premiums over the years. In fact, our family’s experience with GDI has been just the opposite of what our prior agent and another agent had said.”
GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. Your Trusted Business Insurance Experts
As one of the fastest growing agencies in California, GDI Insurance Agency, Inc. is able to provide its clients with the latest and greatest of what the insurance industry has to offer and much, much more.
We are headquartered in Turlock, CA, with locations across the heart of California’s Central Valley, Northern California and beyond to provide a local feel to the solutions and services we provide our clients. We pride ourselves on exceeding our client’s expectations in every interaction to make sure that our client’s know how much we value and appreciate their business. Contact us today 1-209-634-2929 for your comprehensive agribusiness insurance quote!
