Does Your Farm Insurance Cover Snow Damage?

Home Blog Does Your Farm Insurance Cover Snow Damage?

Winter is on the horizon, so it’s time to prepare. Winter weather in Pennsylvania can vary from mild flurries to devastating blizzards. It’s tough to know exactly what to prepare for with this kind of variance, but a few constants remain, including but not limited to coating equipment to prevent rust, weatherizing doors and windows, draining water pipes in unheated buildings, or applying fuel additives to equipment. After years of completing the constants, certain things may be overlooked – like the roof. If another blizzard hits, will your roof hold?

Winter Weather and Your Roof

Farm owners don’t just have one roof to worry about, they have multiple. The barn, the equipment sheds, the commodity building: all of these buildings have roofs whose welfare sits squarely on the farm owners’ shoulders.

Many dangers can befall a roof, especially in the winter. Hail can bludgeon the shingles and hurt their structural integrity. The accumulation of ice on a roof can lead to ice damming, causing water from melting snow to dam up and get under shingles, causing interior damage to your home’s ceilings or walls.

Snow might be the most threatening to your roof, however, by adding substantial weight. As light as it seems, snow can amount to some serious heft. The roof will strain under the snow’s weight and may bow. It may even collapse.

Will your farm insurance cover the damages?

Snow Damage Coverage

Typical farm insurance covers a wide array of events, but not all events. Many plans begin with basic coverage, like reimbursement in the event of a fire or windstorm event. In order for your farm insurance to cover additional types of losses, however, you may need to purchase more coverage.

Fortunately, by taking a look at your plan you can determine if you have coverage. Does it include the terminology of “collapse due to weight of ice, sleet, or snow”? Either way, you may need to give your insurance agent a call.

Your insurance agent will be able to tell you for sure if you are covered in the event of severe structural damage from snow. He or she has all the information about your company’s coverages, and which plans would best suit your needs.

If you need more information, or are considering Farm Insurance, please give us a call at (717) 665-2283 or (800) 537-6880 or contact us today!

Disclaimer: Information and claims presented in this content are meant for informative, illustrative purposes and should not be considered legally binding.