Plant insurance?

[spujr]

Has anyone looked into getting insurance coverage on their plants?

Google search said it is possible, wondering how much it would cost.

 

[littlefrog]

Has anyone looked into getting insurance coverage on their plants?

Google search said it is possible, wondering how much it would cost.

No idea, but it sounds like it should be expensive... I insure my best plants (if I can) by dividing them and finding them homes elsewhere.

I have had a few opportunities to return stud plants to breeders who lost theirs. And I'm happy to do it.

 

[big923cattleya]

I can’t see where this could be remotely possible.
Your plants under your control under your culture. How and under what circumstances could you collect. I would like to know under what theory could you expect payment?
I could see that maybe you could obtain a rider on your Homeowners policy insuring the contents of your greenhouse but that might only work if someone broke in and stole them. This policy might help you to get money back if your furnace failed and it was the manufacturer’s fault. But to collect insurance money on you failing to grow plants properly, that’s just silly.

Although nothing would surprise me. I can not imagine any insurance company that would underwrite such a policy? How could they possibly expect to make money by writing such a policy.

The only thing that I remotely can compare this to is a orchid grower fell down a remote gorge in Ecuador or Columbia and ended up being paralyzed for life.
He sued the AOS, every Orchid Society in the NY metro area, the manufacturer of the boots he wore and anyone else he could think of.
He essentially climbed out on an over hanging trunk of a tree trying to collect an orchid plant. He fell. It caused quite a stir back then in the early 80’s. He sued for millions!!!! Millions and millions!! He essentially claimed that the AOS and local club fostered his interest in orchids so much that he was driven to do this, to take the risk!
HOW DID IT TURN OUT?????


HE LOST! Got nothing.

 

[emydura]

I can’t see where this could be remotely possible.
Your plants under your control under your culture. How and under what circumstances could you collect. I would like to know under what theory could you expect payment?
I could see that maybe you could obtain a rider on your Homeowners policy insuring the contents of your greenhouse but that might only work if someone broke in and stole them. This policy might help you to get money back if your furnace failed and it was the manufacturer’s fault. But to collect insurance money on you failing to grow plants properly, that’s just silly.

Although nothing would surprise me. I can not imagine any insurance company that would underwrite such a policy? How could they possibly expect to make money by writing such a policy.

The only thing that I remotely can compare this to is a orchid grower fell down a remote gorge in Ecuador or Columbia and ended up being paralyzed for life.
He sued the AOS, every Orchid Society in the NY metro area, the manufacturer of the boots he wore and anyone else he could think of.
He essentially climbed out on an over hanging trunk of a tree trying to collect an orchid plant. He fell. It caused quite a stir back then in the early 80’s. He sued for millions!!!! Millions and millions!! He essentially claimed that the AOS and local club fostered his interest in orchids so much that he was driven to do this, to take the risk!
HOW DID IT TURN OUT?????


HE LOST! Got nothing.

I expect insurance would be for cases where your plants were stolen or were lost due to a natural disaster such as fire or flood. It would make no sense for the insurance to include negligence by the grower. The premiums would have to be so high, otherwise the insurance companies would go broke.

 

[Tom-DE]

That is the craziest idea that I have ever heard. You young guns have brought up some strange topics/questions lately.

 

[Ray]

Way back when, my homeowners insurance policy in PA included - at no additional cost - both my greenhouse and the shed where I stored the lawn tractor and gardening tools.

In January of 1994, I had a greenhouse heater failure on a 7F night, losing my entire 23-year collection. Ice sliding off the roof that winter had apparently also severed the alarm wire. (There was about 1/2” gap exposed before going underground in a conduit back to the house.)

I had the collection well catalogued, had looked up replacement costs (many were irreplaceable, as I had either purchased them from commercial or street vendors while overseas, or collected them myself pre-CITES), so contacted my insurance company asking how to file a claim.

“Was it vandalism?” No, it was freezing. “We only cover vandalism.” (Click)

Had I known that, I’d have kicked in the door and answered affirmatively.

 

[big923cattleya]

Wait. Google search said “it was possible”? That’s why you should not rely on google.

But like I said anything is possible.
I would not want to pay the premiums.
I feel it would be better to research plants, especially species before buying. Know 110% the ins and outs of your growing area, what you can or can not grow.
AND eliminate impulse buying. That is the real tricky one. Impulse buying versus good old common sense.

 

[Morja]

My insurance covers outbuildings as well as the contents of my house. If I had records of how much my plants were worth, along with the other things in my house, I imagine that would contribute to the total amount covered in the case of a big disaster like an all-destroying fire. Though with how high build prices are these days, I might be lucky to get enough just to rebuild, regardless of replacing my belongings...

 

[JustinR]

I had a greenhouse fire that killed everything > 10 years ago. It was covered by the insurance, plants included. But I imagine their willingness to payout would depend on the nature of the greenhouse (private / non-commercial), the conditions of the insurance and the cost of replacement.

 

[big923cattleya]

But I am not sure if that was the original question.
I took the question posed to mean just orchids.
It is an entirely different question if a heater malfunctions killing the plants or if fire destroys everything.

 

[Scott Ware]

Crop insurance is available to commercial nurseries through such entities as Hortica (formerly Florists' Mutual). I'm not aware of any coverage available to non-commercial growers.

 

[spujr]

Thank you for all your input! Yes, I realized it was a "off the wall" inquiry but was thinking for situations like the ones Ray and Justin described it would be nice to have some reimbursement from the tragedy.

Yes, I agree that it would be hard to find an insurance company willing to pay for a plant that died because it wasn't watered .

I'm sure for 98% of the orchids out there the costs would not be worth it. But for stud plants of a business that primarily sells seedlings of crosses, I could see it being worthwhile.

I'm not in that 2% but I was curious if this was something people looked into.

Also good to know plants could be included in the damages of a fire. Thanks Justin

 

[big923cattleya]

I thought of another case that might be pertinent. Some of our New Jersey friends might remember this incident from perhaps the early 90's.

There was a mall show in North Jersey one year, several displays were located on the floor. Well on Friday evening, as a mall movie theater let out, a fist fight broke out amongst patrons leaving the show, It was a really knock down, drag them around fist fight. A couple of floor displays were damaged and one was essentially completely destroyed. Long story short, owner made some exorbitant claims regarding some of their large Phalaenopsis that were ripped to shreds, crushed and rendered useless. Some individual claims on plants were well over $2,000. I have no idea what the total claim was in terms of dollars but they lost the case. Why?
Because it was hard to prove the true worth of 'run of the mill Phalaenopsis'. Was $2,000+ really an accurate assessment or was there a good deal of sentimental value attached? I have no idea. I am sure that the Mall's insurance paid something for the loss of the plants but it was no where near the $20,000++ that they were seeking originally.
Yes, expert witnesses, other commercial vendors, long time orchid growers were called. What is the old adage? Oh yeah, "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"!!!!

But getting insurance to cover the cost of one's poor culture will be prohibitively expensive in my opinion. You would essentially be asking some company to pay you for your mistakes in being a terrible grower. You want money to pay for your own mistakes culture wise. Does that make any sense?? I doubt that that would ever happen. If you are paying incredible premiums and then are saddled with a high deductible, making an insurance claim could be financial suicide.
Better just become a better grower and stay away from plants that you can not provide the conditions for.
You bought it, you killed it, why should insurance cover that? Disasters such as fire and theft, your homeowners policy or renter's insurance might cover catastrophic loss but individual plants, doubtful.

 

[Djthomp28]

I assumed the original question was for loss due to major incidents and catastrophic losses. I don't think it was about run of the mill cultural issues causing death to plants. The original question was pretty open. We interpreted it based on our own experiences.

I think about other collectibles. My insurance does not cover me accidentally dropping and breaking a Delft tile but it a pipe bursts and ruins my collection it might be covered to some degree depending on the insurance. After hearing about greenhouse fires and freezes ruining entire collections, it makes me wonder about insuring the collection or what my home insurance covers should catastrophe strike. As someone mentioned earlier, there is insurance for commercial growers to cover this type of damage, but I have not researched special insurance for the individual collector. It would likely be pretty pricey. Most specialty insurances are. I would imagine understanding what your home owners or renter's insurance covers would make the most sense. I need to get on that. Ha!

And no I don't collect Delft tiles but I have a couple of adorable figures. Collecting orchids is enough Collecting for the moment.

 

[Ray]

But getting insurance to cover the cost of one's poor culture will be prohibitively expensive in my opinion. You would essentially be asking some company to pay you for your mistakes in being a terrible grower. You want money to pay for your own mistakes culture wise. Does that make any sense?? I doubt that that would ever happen. If you are paying incredible premiums and then are saddled with a high deductible, making an insurance claim could be financial suicide.

I would characterize that as "stupidity insurance" and nobody would offer that.

Catastrophic loss, sure, but not stupidity.

 

[Ray]

And no I don't collect Delft tiles but I have a couple of adorable figures. Collecting orchids is enough Collecting for the moment.

A kids, starting with the first.

 

[Tom-DE]

Commercial growers should have business insurance that may cover the greenhouses, equipment, and perhaps even the inventory/plants to a certain limit(a fixed sum of money) if the policy allows...and that makes economic sense.
For hobbyists(99% if I may say), it makes no sense to pay expensive insurance premiums to cover the replacement value of the plants... What is the total replacement value for your small/medium collection, a few thousand dollars? Is it worth the insurance premiums that you have been paying over the years?...but if you have plenty of money to give to the insurance companies, go for it. For me, I would rather spend the money insuring something far more important or on the loved ones.
We are talking about plants here...I know some of you may love your plants more than your family but in the end, they are just plants...and the insurance doesn't bring back your original plants.
It is truly a crazy idea! Just saying!

 

[spujr]

I was watching a collector show on TV ( forget the name), and in it they showed baseball cards worth $10k and up. Other crazy things, like the sweaty shirt someone wore when they did something news- worthy. A lot of these things were insured and in fact there are companies who specialize in insurance on collectors items.

I know FCC plants can easy go for $5k and up, so I don't think it is too much of a stretch of imagination that people might want to insure these.

However, I agree, 99%, sure, of orchids owners don't need it and certainly there are higher priorities in life.

 

[big923cattleya]

We are still talking about insuring plants though, regardless if they are FCC’s or not.

So what becomes of an FCC??
In the hands of a hobby grower who happens to get an FCC, I doubt if they think about insuring it.
To my brain, an amateur hybridizer or a serious commercial breeder reacts different then the hobbyist. To me it becomes a case of selfing it, mericloning it or breeding with it. They operate more on a “how can I make money from this FCC??? How much and how often. I don’t know if they will think of insuring it. It seems like cloning or flasking it, getting seedlings from the FCC, would be more important from a business standpoint. As a breeder, from a $$$ potential, there is money to be made.
Baby plants to sell seems like a much better business plan then insuring the plant.

 

[NYEric]

Why not, especially if you have the receipts.