A week ago a drunken 22 year-old driver ran a stop sign, crossed a county highway, entered my driveway and then slid sidewards about 150 feet striking a garage door, proceeding through the garage, exiting through the back wall of the garage, crossing a lawn and crashing through the door and wall of a tractor shed. He came to rest inside the shed. Other than a scalp cut he was uninjured and his drunken 22 year-old buddy was also uninjured. Both walked away. No one was home at the time of the crash but I was at a neighbor's home directly behind mine, heard the crash and raced home to see what had happened. The driver was operating on a license suspended only three weeks earlier for a previous operating-while-intoxicated conviction. He also had no insurance.My reason for sharing all this with you is to give you a heads up on insurance coverage. Of course it varies from state to state and policy to policy but in my case with a farm/ranch policy from American Family, I am not covered for any farm buildings or equipment losses unless they are specifically listed in the policy. My two tractors, a '46 2N and a Jubilee usually live in the shed that was heavily damaged but I had left them both out back because they've been getting a little extra use lately. Both were acquired after the insurance policy was written and neither was listed in the policy. Needless to say, if they had been in the shed they would have been destroyed and I would be out their value. As it is, a wagon running gear that I was getting ready to paint was in the garage, was totalled, and is not being covered by my insurance company. Overall, my insurance company has been very responsive in settling my claim and there was no injury to my family, so I'm feeling ok about all of this but... Don't drive drunk, don't let your kids drive drunk, don't tolerate others driving drunk and read your insurance policies. Like me, you may not be as well covered as you think you are. Click on the link to see a few pictures of the damage.
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