I'm almost hesistant to say anything publically at this stage for fear of attracting the attention of He Who Must Not Be Named but I'm in a quandary and would like to cut out some legwork if I can.

After many years of working towards the goal my wife and I are finally on the verge of buying our own homestead! We've signed the contract, have already gotten our mortgage approval and I'm now beginning the search for home owner's insurance. I'd like to know what companys our homesteaders here in the Countryside board have found to be good to work with and those you'd avoid. I know this can vary state by state and probably even county by county but I figure this could give me a few leads of who to start with first. Basically what I'm wanting to insure is a frame built house built in 1984 with a detached workshop on 9+ acres in Levy county Florida. It's not on a flood plain and is zoned agricultural/rural residential. Ideally I'd like them to cover my future small scale (max 300 hens) free range egg operation as well but if that proves to be an insurmountable obstacle I'll sacrifice it if I must.

A little description of the homestead:

A two bedroom, one bath frame house on concrete footers for 980 square feet, a 24x36 workshop of galvanized tin with a concrete floor wired for 220 and with it's own plumbing & septic system. Land is sandy "loam" which I figure I'll spend the first two years liming, improving fertility and organic matter with cover crops. I'll have to refence everything before I can acquire the hens (more than I already have now) and the goats that we want. The house is a bit small but it has a one car carport we figure to enclose and an backporch we'll screen in to improve matters until we can add an extra bedroom and bathroom.

I'm meeting the house inspector tomorrow to give the place a thorough once over with a pro.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

={(Oak)-

-- Live Oak (oneliveoak@yahoo.com), August 27, 2001

Answers

Dear Live Oak- I purchased my frame home 4 years ago, in Hillsborough County, Fl. It was around the same time of year as now, and I had a real problem getting homeowner's insurance. Now, things may have settled down since then, as hurricane Andrew was fresh in the public consciousness and the insurance companies actually had to PAY OUT some money on the resultant claims. Go figure. At the time though, all the insurance companies had suspended underwriting of any new policies and I was told that the moratorium would continue until the end of hurricane season. I almost lost this house because I could not get insurance. I had just about given up on it when the insurance company who had the seller's policy called to say that they had decided to write my policy. And I don't mind telling you, it's expensive. The name of that company is Braishfield Associates and they are in Polk County, Fl. I don't have their number but it should not be hard to find if you're interested. Hopefully you will not encounter the problems I did. Be sure to have your soil checked before liming. There is so much limestone around here that I have never needed to add it. Not sure where Levy County is, though. Good luck and I hope you get everything sorted out. When do you plan to move in?

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 27, 2001.

Howdy Oak my house is a 1895 model and i have farm bureau insurance its high but the only one i could find that would let me have a wood stove. which they inspect ever 3 years. Bob se,ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@kans.com), August 27, 2001.

Don't have too much time top read your entire post, but we recently purchased a dairy here in aR, raise goats, and we got excellent ins through farmers ins, i know they ahve a website because I was checking out my e-mails one day and saw a banner ad. Also, try farm beureu (sp?) we used them in VA.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), August 27, 2001.

I would suggest you get it from a independent agent.The independent agent works for you and the agent from a mutual company works for the company. I got took twice by mutual companys and treated very well by the independent agent I have now. Seems like Farm Bureau has a habit of dropping people after they have a claim and then then they really have a hard time getting insurance.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), August 28, 2001.

I agree that an independent agent would probably get you the best deal. A word to the wise though, since you intend to run a business from home. Examine your policy closely. Many policies exclude not only business property from damage, they may also void coverage of any structure in which any aspect of business is conducted. I had Progressive pull this little cutie on me when I had a fire two years ago. Not only did they not want to cover my business equipment (which I expected them not to do), they refused to cover the building it was stored in and did not want to cover the damage to my house either, nor pay for the fire department call. I had a terrible time getting anything out of the policy and ended up losing a large amount of cash. This cute little clause was buried on page 33 of the policy and was only a nine word sentence. Their reasoning was that since the phone was in the house, likely some business was conducted there also so it would effectively let them out of paying off on any of the policy. Get a separate business rider.

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin @starband.net), August 30, 2001.