Q&A: When cows escape and cause an accident, what coverages exist?
What coverage exists when the cows get loose and tangle with a motor vehicle?
I am working on a claim where the insured’s cows got out of the enclosure and involved in MVA. The location where the insured kept the cows is not scheduled on the policy. I don’t think it meets the definition of insured premises.
The insured leases the pasture from another person to keep his cows there in exchange for them keeping the grass down and the insured maintaining the fencing.
The policy has the below exclusionary language:
“We” do not pay for a loss if one or more of the following excluded events apply to the loss, regardless of other causes or events that contribute to or aggravate the loss, whether such causes or events act to produce the loss before, at the same time as, or after the excluded event.
1. Exclusions That Apply to Coverages L and M — This Personal Liability Coverage does not apply to:
i. “bodily injury” or “property damage” which results from premises that are owned, rented, or controlled by an ”insured” and that are not the “insured premises”. However, “we” do pay for ”bodily injury” to a person in the course of performing duties as a “domestic employee”.
And under the definition of insured premise is says this:
10. “Insured Premises” means:
b. the farm premises described on the ”declarations”; (not scheduled on the policy)
c. other land “you” use for “farming” purposes and new farm premises acquired by “you” during the policy period; (insured admits in his recorded statement that he has been leasing this location for 2-3 years)
e. all vacant land owned by or rented to an ”insured”. This includes land where a residence or farm structure is being built or the use of an “insured”;
I was wondering if a farmer keeps and maintains livestock on a parcel of land, if that would not be considered vacant land in GA. I checked with an attorney and since there is livestock on the land, he believes it would not legally be considered vacant as it is in use.
Definition c is more at issue.
If the insured is using the land for farming, does it need to be on the policy during the policy period or is that just for premises acquired. The word and in that provision is questionable in my view and I can’t tell if it means land the insured uses and acquires for farming must be on the policy (during the PP) or if it is just land the land the insured acquires. If it is both, I think the loss location is not an insured premise and is excluded for coverage.
Georgia Subscriber
The policy defines “farming” as follows:
“Farming” means the ownership, maintenance, or use of premises for the production of crops or the raising or care of livestock, including all necessary operations. “Farming” also includes the operations of roadside stands and farm markets maintained principally for the sale of the “insured’s” own farm products, but it does not include other retail activities.
Note that “farming” is not considered a business, so no business exclusions would apply. What exactly does the insured do with the cows? Does he sell them for beef or sell milk or cheese, or are they pet cows? If he sells any parts of the cow or uses them for breeding purposes, we would consider that farming.
So caring for cows is considered “farming”. Then the definition of “insured premises” includes: c. other land “you” use for “farming” purposes and new farm premises acquired by “you” during the policy period;
When we look at c. we see two separate clauses that are not dependent on each other. The other land used for farming is considered insured premises, and new farm premises acquired by the insured during the policy period are also considered insured premises. The wording is awkward, but other land is not necessarily newly acquired premises. With it being ambiguous, I think the insured gets the benefit of the doubt. Had the writers of the policy intended insured premises to mean newly acquired farm premises acquired during the policy period that is used for farming purposes, it could have been worded that way.