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The Rural Voice, 2002-01, Page 18IN TIME OF NEED The value of liability insurance was brought home to Dave and Carolyn Biesenthal when they were named in a $550 million lawsuit over the Walkerton water tragedy. Unfortunately more farmers are likely to need an insurance company to come to their aid in future. By Keith Roulston Dave and Carolyn Biesenthal can still smile despite their ordeal which is changing the scope of farm liability. Dr. David Biesenthal admits that he never gave much thought to the liability coverage in his farm insurance policy until the fateful events of the spring of 2000 hit him hard. As a veterinarian he was aware of the value of liability insurance but as a farmer, he never gave it a second thought. But when E. coli infected the Walkerton water supply and Dr. Biesenthal and his wife Carolyn found themselves named as part of a $550 million lawsuit, the value of that forgotten part of their farm coverage suddenly became obvious. Though their $I million liability coverage couldn't begin to touch the level of compensation being sought in the suit, they immediately gained an ally in the form of their insurance company. Eventually the lawsuit was dropped as a condition of the 14 THE RURAL VOICE holo courtesy Kelly Daynard, Ontario Beef compensation package offered to victims of the water tragedy by the provincial government and insurance companies for the parties involved, but until that burden was lifted, the couple at least had the comfort of knowing someone was fighting on their behalf. Though they'd later find themselves in the middle of the public storm, the Biesenthals didn't even know what was going on when a series of unusual events came together to create the tragedy that made the name Walkerton synonymous internationally with the fear of unsafe water. There was a torrential downpour that flooded areas of Walkerton, there was an unsecure municipal well downhill just off the edge of the Biesenthal property that they didn't even know had been drilled, there was mismanagement of the municipal water utility and there was a reluctance for officials to tell the people of the town the worst. Eventually more than 2000 people would become ill and six would die. But the Biesenthals became the centre of attention after officials became aware that the municipal well, just 200 yards from their barn on the edge of Walkerton, was the source of the contaminated water. Next a team of five vets and technicians arrived to take fecal samples from their cattle. On August 3 the couple got their first news, through a reporter for a Toronto newspaper, that their farm had been identified -as the source of the E. coli. Within 24 hours their names were known nationally. But even before this news broke there had already been support from Formosa Mutual, with whom the Biesenthals had dealt for almost 30 years. Bryan Hicks had just signed on as in-house counsel for Formosa Mutual in the summer of 2000 after operating in private legal practice in Walkerton and so the situation was dear to his heart. Through his contacts in the legal community he was well aware of the number of class- action lawsuits that were in the works. It didn't take much, he said recently, to see which of the company's policy holders might be in danger of becoming involved. Local mutual insurance companies, being very close to the community, have an advantage in situations like this compared to larger, urban -based companies, Hicks says. The Biesenthals were invited to discuss the possibility of what might happen and to be assured the company would standby them. "It sure did give us peace of mind," Dave Biesenthal recalled recently. When the lawsuit was announced, the company took over, relieving the couple of that burden, though the pressure from the press and public still left them under tremendous strain. It's typical for the insurance company to step in when a liability claim is filed against a policy holder, says Alec Harmer, general manager of Downie Mutual in Sebringville. Since the insurance company will be on the hook for most of the money, it wants lawyers who it's familiar with and who it knows is knowledgeable about the wording of insurance policies and the laws that apply under that circumstance. Each company has a list of lawyers it's comfortable using, perhaps several different lawyers with expertise and experience in different areas of the law — for auto -related, property, etc.