By Wade Shuler, SVP of Reinsurance and Special Products
As hailstorm season is in full swing for the summer, we would like to provide a few tips and reminders about submitting crop insurance claims, including Crop Hail claims. Feel free to share this information with your producers and contact your AgriSompo representative with any questions.
When is a claim submitted for a Crop Hail policy?
A Crop Hail claim should be submitted when a covered cause of loss such as hail, fire, vandalism or a covered transit loss has occurred and damaged the insured crop.
Optional Crop Hail endorsements or options may also apply, depending on availability in the applicable area and the insurance offering. These may include:
- Corn Wind Endorsement
- Extra Harvest Expense (EHE) Endorsement
- Fodder Endorsement
- Replant Endorsement
How to file a crop insurance claim
To initiate a claim for a damaged crop, policyholders should first contact their crop insurance agent and identify that the notice involves a Crop Hail policy.
The policyholder should notify their agent as soon as the crop damage is discovered and follow the notice requirements stated in the Crop Hail policy.
The agent should then notify AgriSompo of the claim no later than the first business day following the policyholder’s loss notification. AgriNet Connect, our mobile application, allows agents to submit a notice of loss from their phone. Both agents and policyholders may then use the app to track the status of the claim at any time.
Claim adjustment
Once an adjuster is assigned, the policyholder will normally be contacted within 24 hours to schedule an inspection. The adjuster will inspect the damaged crop, confirm whether the cause of loss is covered, and determine the extent of the damage and whether a claim payment is due.
For crops that have not reached maturity, the appraisal may need to be deferred, typically for seven to ten days from the date of damage, to allow the crop time to respond to the injury and enable the adjuster to evaluate its potential for recovery or confirm that it has been severely damaged or destroyed. The timing may vary based on the crop, its stage of growth, field conditions and the applicable loss-adjustment procedures.
The policyholder is encouraged to be present during the inspection and explain what damage was observed and when it was discovered. If available, Farm Service Agency (FSA) or Precision Farming documents should be provided to show the number of acres and locations of the insured crops.
While waiting for the adjuster to inspect the crop, it is very important that the policyholder DOES NOT:
- Destroy any of the crop.
- Disk or plow the field.
- Replant the crop.
Why you can trust AgriSompo's claims team
Adjusting a crop insurance claim is not guesswork; it is a precise and disciplined process. AgriSompo’s adjusters have extensive classroom and field training, and each adjuster is required to recertify every year. Our adjusters spend a great deal of time studying and attending additional training to maintain this certification.
Our adjusters carefully prepare for each claim before contacting the policyholder. When they arrive at the field, they will be familiar with the farmer’s policy and will be ready to explain the available options.
After the adjustment is complete, the rest of our claims team will work to ensure that any covered claim is paid accurately and as quickly as possible. Most claims are paid within 72 hours of the adjuster’s review.