It was a warm day in spring and John was up and at it bright and early. He wanted to get a jump on some field prep before the crop goes in the ground. So, out he went to the tractor and did his circle check. One by one, he looked at the different mechanical systems- oil level- check! antifreeze level- check! hydraulic oil level- check! John fired up the New Holland he bought at Novlan Brothers, warmed it up then took off harrowing. There was a nice breeze and the straw began to break up nicely! Pass after pass, John striped his field with straight lines as the acre meter climbed continually.
There was one thing that John forgot to do in his haste that morning however. John wanted to get rolling and he did his basic checks, however he didn’t bother with cleaning his windows. There was a fair amount of dust accumulated on the glass all around his cab, but it didn’t look too bad, so he took off without a cleaning. Well, he worked all day, and as the sun began to set, the dust became more and more of an issue. Any time John would head back west, or make his way around the sloughs, he had a hard time seeing his harrow bar. The wind also had died down which added to the challenge. John was on his second last pass- one which required the maneuvering around a telephone pole. John started into his turn, and judged the distance the best that he could. He was staring right into the west out the window, so it was hard to see just where that implement ended. Then he felt it- there was a jerk on the hitch of the tractor, the harrow bar swung back, and the telephone pole started to fall.
John new what had happened the moment he felt the jerk on the tractor. He put his foot on the clutch, stopped the tractor and sat there surveying the damage in disbelief. He immediately began to wonder what the damage to his own unit would be, and also what the ramifications of a downed telephone line would entail. John began to worry, but he decided to call his insurance broker at Prairie Insurance. John told his broker everything, and asked what the next steps would be in fixing this mishap. His broker reassured him that everything would be looked after, and that the damage could be fixed. John got off the phone with his broker, then began to make phone calls to the telephone company to report the downed line, and then he placed a call to his brother who was also working in the area to come help him with the crippled equipment. With some help from the telephone company and John`s brother, the tractor was moved from the scene, and parked for the night. The harrow bar suffered damage, and was bent quite badly.
John went to bed that night with a lot on his mind, however concerns over the damage costs were not one of them as he had peace of mind that he had the right coverage to protect him from the financial impact of this accident.
Next week, we will take a look at what coverage John used to cover the damage to his own property, and how he resolved the damage that he caused to the telephone company.