Farm workers’ compensation can be one of the trickier pieces of an agribusiness insurance account.
Unlike property coverage, where the agent can generally identify the buildings, equipment, and other assets that need to be insured, workers’ comp requires a much closer look at:
- who is working
- what they’re doing
- how the operation is structured
And that’s where things can get complicated. We’ve created this guide to help agents understand the ways Stroud can help secure farm workers’ comp, and the ways we can’t.
Two Types of Ag Policies
A farm and ranch policy is a bundle built for a farm. It covers the barns and equipment sheds, the tractors and combines, the livestock, liability for farm activities, and any personal property, such as a family home.
Having a home and farming operation on the same policy is one of the distinguishing features of this type of policy.
A commercial agribusiness policy is a package built for an ag-related business and covers a wider scope of property, such as a warehouse or plant, delivery trucks, and liability to customers.
Payroll is a Signal
Most farms start out on a farm and ranch policy, using family labor and a few seasonal hands.
As operations expand, they may take on additional commercial exposure. For example:
- A grain farmer starts buying and reselling neighbors’ grain, and is now effectively a grain dealer.
- A vegetable operation builds a packing house and cold storage, and now packs for other farms too.
Once you’re serving customers instead of just producing, you need employees.
Employees mean payroll, payroll means workers’ comp, and a farm policy was never designed to carry that.
Adding payroll* is a signal that it’s time to re-evaluate coverage, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the farm has “outgrown” its farm policy.
The grain dealer still farms. He still lives on the property and owns tractors. Commercial activity was added on top of the farm; it didn’t replace it.
At Stroud, that would likely mean two policies:
- keeping a farm and ranch policy with Travelers or Liberty Mutual
- adding a Chubb Commercial Agribusiness policy that includes workers’ comp
*Payroll includes W-2 employees, independent contractors, and seasonal workers. The worker’s comp policy should be written to the entity that writes the checks for payroll. This may be different from the farm DBA.
Package Policy v. Monoline Coverage
As a rule, farm workers’ comp is available through Stroud as part of a package policy. In our context, Chubb will only write workers’ comp if it’s also writing a commercial agribusiness policy for the same account.
However, exceptions exist. Stroud’s partnership with AIC allows for monoline farm workers’ comp coverage in five states:
- Oklahoma
- New Mexico
- Missouri
- Arkansas
- Arizona
Quick Reference Guide to Stroud’s Farm Workers Comp Options
| Market | Best Fit | Includes Farm Workers Comp |
| Travelers | Farm and ranch operations | No |
| Liberty Mutual | Farm and ranch operations | No |
| ARU | Farm and ranch operations | No |
| AIC | Farms in Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, and Oklahoma; does not write operations using H-2A guest workers | Yes: Monoline policy |
| Chubb | Agricultural businesses that have developed a commercial operation | Yes: Package-only alongside commercial agribusiness policy |
Operations and Loss Control Matter
Farm workers’ comp can be difficult to secure, as there are a number of requirements and a host of exclusions. The nature of the work matters because underwriting is heavily influenced by the type and degree of exposure involved.
Chubb’s Agribusiness + Farm Workers’ Comp info:
Since Chubb writes farm workers’ comp only as part of a commercial agribusiness policy, the account has to qualify for that policy first:
- $25,000 minimum premium
- At least 45 days of lead time, with 60 to 90 days preferred
- In Texas, no property coverage within 75 miles of the Gulf
For target, restricted, and prohibited classes, see Commercial Ag Insurance from Chubb & Stroud.
Chubb Workers’ Comp Info
- Written with Chubb commercial agribusiness on the same account
- Experience mod of 1.05 or lower on new business
- Not available in every state
Those items are useful qualification tools. If the account doesn’t meet the basic parameters, there’s little value in spending an afternoon assembling a submission only to discover that it doesn’t fit.
Chubb Workers’ Comp Excluded Classes
Chubb won’t write workers’ comp for these operations, even when the rest of the account fits the commercial agribusiness policy:
- Cotton gins
- Feedlots
- Mushroom growers
Feedlots are a target market for the commercial agribusiness policy, so a feedlot can often place its property and liability with Chubb and will still need comp from another market.
What You Need for a Commercial Ag Submission
- ACORD applications
- Carrier-specific supplemental applications
- Three to five years of loss runs
- Comp experience mod worksheet for workers’ comp
- Drivers list
- A statement of values showing buildings, construction, square footage, year built, and use
- Photos and diagrams
- Expiring and target premium by line
- Financials
- A narrative covering operations and reason for marketing
Have a Farm Workers’ Comp Question? Start With Stroud
Workers’ compensation is complicated, particularly when agricultural operations don’t fit neatly into traditional classifications.
At Stroud, we’re happy to help agents determine whether a farm workers’ comp opportunity fits within our appetite before you spend time putting together a submission that isn’t likely to go anywhere.
If the risk fits, we’ll help you understand what information we need to evaluate it. If it doesn’t, we’ll be upfront about that, so you can focus your time on finding the right solution elsewhere.
That’s part of being a good MGA partner: helping agents understand not only what we can write, but also what we can’t.
If you’re unsure whether a farm workers’ comp risk fits, reach out to the Stroud team. We’re happy to talk through the account and help you determine the best next step.
