Hail insurance adjusters are hard at work after damaging storms swept through Saskatchewan earlier this month.
The Canadian Crop Hail Association reported more than 6,800 claims in the province as of July 15. That’s double the usual number and up from 1,000 claims just two weeks earlier.
Greg Reidy, association chair and vice-president of Henderson Hail Agencies in Moose Jaw, said adjusters aren’t usually so busy until later in the summer.
“I’ve talked to colleagues and none have seen this happen so early,” he said July 17, referring to the high number of claims.
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Clients should expect delays as adjusters cope. Reidy said in some cases adjusters will need to look at a crop once and then again three weeks later to assess damage.
Some crops will be able to recover, depending on their level of maturity. He can’t yet say how many might be total losses. Canola, for example, is resilient just before and during flowering, he said.
Most of the claims are from the southern third of the province where almost every rural municipality was hit by storms that occurred July 9, 10 and 11.
Reidy said because adjusters will be delayed in getting to fields producers should be aware of what to do if they want to put a crop to an alternative use. They can leave check strips in fields but the requirements vary depending on the size of the field.
“Talk to your insurance company,” he advised. “They will give you instructions on how many (check strips to leave) and where.”
The association estimates the wait for an adjuster could be one to four weeks.
The situation is similar in Alberta where claim numbers are ahead of last year and 2007 was a record.
Nearly 1,400 claims were registered as of July 15, not including those on the hail endorsement offered through Alberta’s crop insurance program.
Similar to Saskatchewan, major storms July 9 in Lacombe county and July 10 in the Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Taber regions caused significant damage.
The hail association said every available adjuster is working and producers have to be patient.
Manitoba producers are slightly better off. Claims total 1,250 as of July 15, which is about normal.
A July 10 storm including baseball-sized hail destroyed crops and resulted in claims between the Trans-Canada Highway and Riding Mountain National Park in the province’s west.
Reidy added that increased input costs along with higher commodity prices led producers to purchase more coverage this year. Hail companies are wondering how the season will play out.
“It’s a bit of a unique year,” he said.
