In response to the rising number of rural thefts, insurance experts are encouraging farmers across the Western region to not only have monitoring systems installed on their properties, but also to secure adequate coverage.
“I understand how frustrated the farmers are because this is probably the worst year that we’ve ever seen, quite literally, in terms of farm theft,” said Barry Andrew of Kindersley Insurance. “I understand what they’re going through because we deal with it on an insurance side — a P&C side (property and casualty).”
Andrew told
The Western Producer that rural homeowners need to educate themselves about the various security systems available on the market. Although there are many solutions on the market, not all are equal, he noted.
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Another expert highly suggested that farmers should get in touch first with an insurance broker before investing in a security system.
“That’s where we’d really recommend for farmers or homeowners who are contemplating installing some sort of lost mitigation device like this to contact their broker,” commented
SGI Canada personal lines segment director Kurtis Reeder.
“The broker can quote it with the device and without the device and they can see the premium savings if they do install it.… Have them play out a few different options for you is the best strategy on that one.”
Andrew also advised that farmers must carefully consider which companies to purchase security systems from.
“What we find a lot is the people that are selling these security systems, I don’t want to say they’re misleading, but they don’t disclose all the information,” he explained. “They’ll say, ‘well your insurance policy pretty much pays for the security system,’ which is a long way from the truth.”
Security systems can lead to insurance premium reductions, but experts noted that the discounters work a little differently in rural areas.
“In town, depending on your system and how it’s monitored it’s a 20% discount, but in rural areas most of the insurance companies are only giving a 5% discount,” Andrew commented.
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