Crop insurance change leaves growers paying the price
Some growers are paying premiums on wiped out crops after a surprise change to crop insurance this year.
Frustrated growers are taking insurance companies to task after sudden changes to crop insurance this year has left some farmers paying premiums on wiped out crops.
Grain farmers were caught by surprise when a number of crop insurance providers brought forward the cut off date for taking out policies by as much as two months.
Grain Producers Australia chair and Rupanyup grower Andrew Weidemann said in many cases, applications were cut off at the end of July, when they are normally open until September or even October.
“There was a lot of frustration from growers that it was forced on them to make a decision in a hurry and estimate their potential yield values,” Mr Weidemann said.
“A lot were umming and ahhing over whether to insure.”
And with the closure date for final review also brought forward to the start of November in many cases, it’s left farmers flooded in the past few weeks paying out premiums on crops they cannot harvest.
The Weekly Times contacted several crop insurance providers directly but did not receive a response. The Insurance Council of Australia also did not respond by deadline.
Mr Weidemann speculated the change was prompted by the amount and quantity of exposure companies were facing with the increased cost of grain and potential yields.
Canola growers are already anticipating huge losses this season due to the ongoing heavy rain, while hail at the start of the month has seen losses as high as 80 to 90 per cent in some areas.
Meanwhile, extreme flooding in NSW and Queensland could see agricultural losses rise to as much as $2 billion.
Crop insurance does not include protection for flooding, focused instead on fire and hail damage, while multi-peril crop insurance products are largely unavailable, despite the previous federal government’s efforts to increase uptake.
Mr Weidemann said growers were increasingly frustrated by the limits of insurance, with some now choosing not to take it out.
“Generally speaking crop insurance is the golden oyster bar for a lot of insurance companies, it’s taken out as a regular thing done by farmers but there’s very little claims,” he said.
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