The Rural Voice, 1981-07, Page 8ance in the insurance business. "With
such a system," he noted, "It would be
extremely unsettling to the industry." It
has to do with internal competition.
Those companies with a revised system
would "be stealing better risks" and be
leaving those without a program with the
poorer ones. "You'd like to go that way.
but it's just bad taste," McIntyre
concluded.
A third difficulty, one that often arises
when changes are instituted, is that good
people get hurt. "It's great that you can
make these changes," noted McIntyre,
"but you've got to do it with precaution. 1
would be against doing such a thing too
rapidly, because it could hurt people. We
can't just simply decide we're going to do
this. What do you do with someone
you've insured for 30 years; good, honest
people and you come up with this new
system and their cost factor jumps by 40
or S0."
And further, though McIntyre didn't
specify it as a problem, insurance
companies need protection too, and they
establish that through their premium
structure. This he inferred in a reference
to Dillon's safety additions. "It still
doesn't mean his barn won't burn to the
ground. That's stupid. It could burn."
Ron Fleming, the engineer from the
OMAF office in Clinton who worked with
Dillon designing his barn, hints of
agreement with McIntyre. Though a
farmer can minimize the likelihood of fire
at his barn, there is never complete
certainty. "There's less chance of his
(Dillon's) barn burning than an old two
storey barn." The possibility remains,
although the engineer added, "it seems
legitimate he should get some breaks."
According to Fleming, Dillon is unique
among farmers because he made fire
safety his major concern when designing
his barn. Other farmers, continued the
engineer, are inclined to opt for different,
though perhaps equally important, con-
siderations. "There's cost. rodent con-
trol, but fire hazards, they're on people's
minds, but they're not at the top of the
list," when constructing a new barn,
explained the engineer.
"People want safe barns." he added,
"but aren't willing to spend more to
make it safe. I guess farmers want to
think there's a problem before they want
to do something about it."
To an extent. Fleming seems correct in
his assessment of the lack of concern in
the agricultural community. For one, the
Huron County Federation of Agriculture
has yet to jump on the bandwagon, but
Dillon only took up the matter with the
group this past winter. The federation is
interested, though, admitted John Nes-
bitt, chairman of the organization's
insurance committee. The committee's
original mandate was to deal mainly with
extended health care plans, but Nesbitt
has taken the initiative in laying the
groundwork for further study on the fire
safety issue.
"I was a bit disappointed when 1
phoned around (to various insurance
companies) to ask if they had policies for
newer barns," explained the chairman.
"But they don't have something for
newer barns. I can see (Dillon's) point. If
you had a new barn. you may get a
cheaper rate, but there's nothing about
safety features. But maybe we've started
something here."
Started, maybe, but as Peel Marybor-
ough's McIntyre noted, these changes
take time. If and when they do take place.
it will already be too late for Brad
Carnochan. "We're hoping to add fire
safety features as much as we can, like a
better heating system." he said, as
preparations were being made to begin
construction of his new barn. "But we're
trying not to spend any more money than
we have to."
For the man whose wife can't envision
him without his pigs, the priority has to
be getting his farm back into operation as
rapidly as possible. That means using the
funds available, which may not be
enough to provide the materials neces-
sary to minimize sufficiently the likeli-
hood of another fire. If a farmer knew
that by adding additional safety features
he could cut his insurance premiums and
regain his extra investment in years
ahead, perhaps that would be the
incentive to try to gather the money
needed to incorporate those changes in
his barn. Farmers can lobby for those
incentives. but the responsibility rests
with insurance companies to institute
them.
"All insurance companies now are
missing out because they are not involved
way, way back in the planning stages of
barns," calculated Dillon. "It could save
them pay -out costs. 1 don't object to
insurance companies making a profit. In
fact, I firmly believe they could increase
their profits by helping farmers reduce
risks. There'd be an up -front loss.
reductions in premiums. but in the long
run they could make more money.
That's the economic argument for
premium credits for farmers. Dillon will
take up that cause, but for him there is
still another, more important, considerat-
ion. "I'm interested in being a very old
farmer some day," he concluded.
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PG. 6 THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1981