animal husbandry insurance – cost and coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, animal husbandry insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what is going to happen in the future.

With the protection provided by liability insurance and all the other kinds of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unexpected happens.

Like any business owner, for your animal husbandry enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your animal husbandry business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a giant chance not just of losing some money but of a total wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the results of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for startup businesses to highlight what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where available, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your animal husbandry business?

What this means, for any animal husbandry business owner, is that if some customer claims that your business caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your animal husbandry business is not sheltered by laws in the same way as states are, where laws can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Texas, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a court can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the right of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a plaintiff more than they have sued for.

When you are running your animal husbandry operations, you can’t deny responsibility for the results of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent in advance the money necessary to have your business running as a corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as a person.

What does animal husbandry insurance protect you from?

For your animal husbandry business, the most important types of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

In addition there are some mandatory kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any animal husbandry business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your animal husbandry businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any animal husbandry business is dealing directly with customers, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them bodily or else something of theirs can be spoiled.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your animal husbandry business covers you against claims coming from injury to customers or damage to their property.

It protects your animal husbandry business from the claims themselves and in addition to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it will even help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts insist on proper liability insurance.

The usual level of general liability insurance for your animal husbandry business would be with a cap of $1 million for a single claim and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your animal husbandry insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your animal husbandry business

In the event where a buyer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your animal husbandry business for them, you can quickly be involved in a law suit.

Even if the lawsuit against you is judged in your favor, the cost of defense can be large, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Most small animal husbandry business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover an individual claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of animal husbandry insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your animal husbandry operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that buyers may claim that what they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice was basically incorrect.

You need to know the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for results caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any possible lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for animal husbandry

Only you can estimate exactly how much insurance you need.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for guidance.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your animal husbandry business

Be careful! – practically all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any occurrence like theft or accidental damage when the car is being used for business purposes.

The right way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a proper commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial truck policies cover the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

As well, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is insured if your van is involved in an accident.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, insist on this type of insurance.

The necessary value of the insurance is worked-out for the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your animal husbandry business needs unique and expensive equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The equipment may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unexpected acts.

As well, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can destroy your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy everything needed to keep your animal husbandry business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s really dependent on how much you have invested in your animal husbandry business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any animal husbandry business that owns or rents space in a building must have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the space, you may already have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Every physical building location must carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against criminal damages like theft and vandalism.

If your animal husbandry business works in areas of high risk, like Florida or North Carolina, extra coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Illinois, where unlimited cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of animal husbandry business premises, there is a need for more extra cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends entirely on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of animal husbandry insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your animal husbandry business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your animal husbandry business

Is your animal husbandry business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business seasonal?

Using short-term insurance makes good sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for animal husbandry – are special policies where you can cover a specific period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having lower premiums but still having adequate risk cover.

The essential feature of short-term insurance is that you purchase the cover for a defined period – a designated date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of better business activity, get the existing cover increased.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your animal husbandry business

You have the chance to combine several of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP combines commercial property and public liability insurance by amalgamating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will shield you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized animal husbandry businesses, such as yours.

There are two limits that will dictate whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle policies.

Also, the size of your business will dictate whether you are eligible to take out BOP cover.

The usual business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual revenue.

In addition, you must separately take out the mandated worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your animal husbandry business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your animal husbandry business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the enterprise against any costs that arise if a worker experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits include medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s requirements in this regard can leave you as the employer required to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only authorize coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you may not get your workers compensation obligations from private insurance corporations.

Workers compensation charges are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every animal husbandry insurance requirement is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an agent what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have gathered for the main types of insurance your animal husbandry businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your animal husbandry operations depends on many different factors.

We have estimated these figures for small freelance animal husbandry businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, but in smaller states like New Mexico, they will be about 20%-30% cheaper.

The location and size and type of your animal husbandry business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by enquiring about insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another useful source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for animal husbandry operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect animal husbandry business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my animal husbandry business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Some other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small animal husbandry business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a client for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The specific cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the most common policies for animal husbandry insurance.

How much will animal husbandry business insurance cost?

In addition to the size of the business, some other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should consult with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for animal husbandry , in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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