The great white combine may have taken a record toll on Saskatchewan crops this year.
Hail claims numbered more than 19,000 as of Sept. 11, with more likely to come. Losses per claim are also much higher than usual.
Murray Otterson, chief executive officer of Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance, said more than 11,000 of the claims were made through that company.
“It’s just been a very busy year for hail writers, our office included,” he said Sept. 15.
It will be some time before hail insurers know the exact number of claims and payments, although the hail season should be over.
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Otterson said July 9 and 10 hailstorms alone cost SMHI $40 million. He expects the company will pay out more than $100 million.
Bad years back to back in 1994 and 1995 cost the company $150 million and loss ratios in excess of 200 percent of income, he said.
“This one’s going to be a bigger event for a single year as far as dollar values,” he said of 2008.
He estimated SMHI writes about half of the business in Saskatchewan. Farmers this year generally bought higher levels of insurance, according to the report released every two weeks by the Canadian Crop Hail Association.
Companies continue to investigate claims from Sept. 4, 5 and 6 storms. More than 100 rural municipalities were hit from Carnduff in the southeast to Lloydminster in the northwest.
Otterson said farmers have been patient waiting for adjusters to get to them. Farmers harvesting a crop before it can be adjusted must leave check strips that reflect the true crop condition.
To the east, Manitoba claim numbers are lower than normal, although they jumped by more than 700 to almost 3,000 in the last two weeks.
The western half of the province, including Swan River, Dauphin, Roblin, Virden, Birtle, Brookdale, Gilbert Plains, Minnedosa, Baldur, Neepawa, Shoal Lake, Somerset, Souris, Holland, Strathclair, Grandview, Sandy Lake and Treherne, was hit by the Sept. 5 and 6 storms that went through Saskatchewan.
In Alberta, hail claims were up moderately to 5,050 as of Sept. 11, not including claims on the hail endorsement through crop insurance.
About 400 claims were made, mostly in the Strathmore, Ponoka, Lacombe and St. Paul areas.
Although the activity isn’t as high in Manitoba and Alberta, farmers are still reminded to be patient while waiting for adjusters to look at their crops.
Otterson said a look back through 40 years of Saskatchewan records showed that hail claims are often heavy two years in a row, although he’s not wishing for a repeat in 2009.
“We had nine days of legitimate hail claims in the month of June and claims every single day in July,” he said.
There were more than 8,000 claims in July and Otterson said it was overwhelming for everyone involved.
Hail companies will have to adjust prices to recover from the losses.
“It’s all about pricing the product responsibly for recovery,” he said. “In the big picture, you’ve got to pay for the losses.”
