Fewer hailstorms than expected in Alberta last summer means a $5.4 million hail insurance premium rebate for Alberta farmers.
Rebates aren’t new, said Merle Jacobson, senior manager of insurance services with Agriculture Financial Services Corporation. There have only been three or four years since hail insurance was started in 1938 that farmers haven’t received them.
But size is a factor.
“This one is relatively large, which is unusual,” Jacobson said.
All 8,100 farmers with hail insurance will receive a rebate. The farmers who did not have a claim will receive a 30 percent rebate on their premiums. Farmers with a claim will receive a 15 percent rebate.
In a news release, agriculture minister Ty Lund said the hail insurance program is well run.
“It’s entirely self-sustaining and operates without government funding.”
The same can’t be said for the provincial crop insurance program, which has been plagued with problems.
Last year Lund announced a review of the program, but little progress has been made.
“If everything was as simple as hail insurance, life would be simple,” said Jacobson.
