Advanced planning and communication is the key to having a successful claims season. The following information should answer many of your questions pertaining to a variety of claim situations.

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If you have further questions or need to file a Notice of Loss or Damage (NOL) please contact us as at 1-888-417-8623 soon as possible.

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Topics covered on this page include:

• General Claim Facts

• Aflatoxin & Vomitoxin

• High Dollar Claims Review

• What is my Yield Guarantee?

 

General Claim Facts

 

• A NOL must be turned in within 72 hours of discovering the damage and no later than 15 days after the end of the insurance period; December 10th for most crops.

• A field appraisal is required if you elect to sell/chop a field for silage.

• Permission must be obtained before a crop may be destroyed or put to another use.

• Adjustments may be made for poor quality.

• If an adjuster cannot assess damage in a timely manner, permission to leave test strips may be given so harvest is not delayed.

 

Aflatoxin & Vomitoxin

 

Aflatoxin is a fungus most commonly found in corn, peanuts, and tree nuts and when a period of drought is followed by a period of high humidity. Aflatoxin crop damage may be caused by high temperatures, moisture, and insects.  Vomitoxin is a mycotoxin that can be found in corn, wheat and other grains.

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If you think you may have aflatoxin or vomitoxin damage you must turn in a NOL within 72 hours of discovering the damage. Once the loss is assigned, an adjuster will contact you to explain the procedures to ensure samples are acquired timely and correctly and are submitted to an approved testing facility. An approved testing facility is a disinterested third part commercial, governmental, or university testing laboratory that performs a Quantitative Test based on accepted industry standards. The elevator purchasing your production is not considered an approved testing facility.

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For aflatoxin, a NOL must be submitted before the grain is harvested, put in storage, or delivered for sale; a field inspection is required.

 In the case of vomitoxin, samples pulled from on farm storage facilities by an adjuster or those taken and stored on site when the grain is delivered to the elevator may be used.

Your adjuster will contact you to discuss your options once the test results are received from the approved testing facility.

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Note: Policy provisions do not provide quality adjustments for vomitoxin levels below five parts per million (ppm), aflatoxin levels below 20 parts per billion (ppb), losses due to increases in aflatoxin levels while in farm storage, or losses that cannot be determined because proper testing was not completed. The FDA may require crops with aflatoxin levels above 300 ppb to be destroyed.

 

High Dollar Claims Review

 

A High Dollar Claim is any single $200,000 or higher indemnity calculated on a per crop, per policy basis. As specified by RMA in the 2012 Standard Reinsurance Agreement, claims of this type require a field compliance review of all supporting documents validating the previous year’s production. You will also need to have an additional two years of APH history available as well.

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A Large Dollar Claim is one that has the potential to exceed $500,000 of indemnity. In such cases the insurance company must notify RMA immediately and the claim cannot be worked until RMA responds with intent and availability to participate in the loss process or they decline participation in the claim.

 

What is My Yield Guarantee?

 

If you have questions about your coverage and/or guarantee your Schedule of Insurance (SOI) is the place to look. Your SOI details your individual guarantee information which will allow you to determine if you have a bushel loss and possibly estimate  any  loss payments you may receive. The schedule was sent to you after you reported  your planted acres and may resemble a bill since it includes your premium costs.

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For Yield Protection (YP) policies, you will find your bushel guarantee per acres and the price  per bushel, as well as your total guarantee and total dollar amount of coverage listed by unit near the right hand side of the page.

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For Revenue Protection (RP), this information is the same, however, your dollar amount of coverage may be higher once the harvest price is set according to the Chicago Board of Trade in the month of October.