What used to be considered a rare event historically speaking, seems like storms that can produce hail are becoming far more commonplace now in our area of the country. Hail is a separate policy from your multi-peril crop insurance coverage. Federal crop insurance covers hail damage as it relates to yield reduction, but producers can also purchase separate hail coverage for their crops from the same companies that offer federal crop insurance. As a bonus, your hail policy can provide coverage for fire, lightning, vandalism/malicious mischief and transit to the 1st place of storage.
Hail insurance is based on the percent of damage received at a particular growth stage, which allows insurance companies to perform adjustments and pay indemnities during a growing season, without having to wait until harvest. Rates and coverage vary by crop and county. Keep in mind, hail insurance must be purchased before damage occurs. Below are some other important items of note regarding hail coverage.
- Most hail insurance covers other perils above and beyond hail damage. Beyond hail, most policies also cover fire, vandalism and malicious mischief, transit to the first point of storage, and stored grain coverage if you happen to have a bin(s) at home.
- Hail coverage is available on most any crop; if you don’t have a Federal crop insurance option, we can generally at least get it covered for hail.
- A customer can carry a Federal MPCI policy as well as a hail policy and collect on both in the event of a loss.
- Hail coverage is based on a dollar amount of coverage per acre, with premium generally quoted per $100 of coverage. For example, if someone wanted to cover their corn at $700 per acre, and the premium was 60 cents per $100 of coverage, their premium for corn would be $4.20 per acre.
- One benefit to hail insurance over MPCI is that you can insure up to the total expected value of the crop, whereas on MPCI you’re limited to 85%.
- Hail coverage generally has many different endorsements available, including quality endorsements on crops intended for fresh market, canning reject endorsements, etc.
To learn more on how a hail policy works or what options are available and covered with a hail policy, contact your GreenStone crop insurance specialist today to set up an appointment to review your options.
To view the article in the online 2023 Spring Partners Magazine, click here.
