12/07/2018
Persistent adverse weather during the past several weeks has delayed corn and soybean harvest across much of the Midwest. With the December 10 End Of Insurance Period (EOIP) fast approaching, Great American would like to take this opportunity to provide you with the following important information so that you can protect the rights of policyholders who are currently facing harvest delays. Current procedure allows policyholders to request additional time to harvest crops in situations where they have been unable to harvest and/or complete harvest by the calendar date for the EOIP due to adverse weather. Upon such requests, RMA procedure allows for Approved Insurance Providers to authorize policyholders (on a case-by-case basis) additional time to harvest so that claims can be settled based on harvested production rather than by field appraisals at the EOIP.
Given the above-referenced information, Great American recommends that you perform the following steps for all policyholders that will be unable to harvest their crops by the EOIP:
• Submit a notice of loss (if you have not already done so) for all insureds that are currently unable to harvest and/or complete harvest by December 10. Within the applicable NOL, you will need to request additional time to harvest. For situations where a NOL for the applicable crop(s) has already been filed, you will need to contact us to make an official request for additional time to harvest.
• Assure that policyholders are able to demonstrate that harvest was not possible due to an insured cause of loss; and that the delay was not due to an uninsured cause of loss such as inadequate storage and/or insufficient equipment or manpower.
• Remind policyholders that they must continue to carry out normal and customary harvesting practices, if possible, utilizing available harvest windows of opportunity. If a policyholder has an opportunity to harvest during the extension period but does not, the acreage will be appraised and indemnified based on the appraisal.
Note: When authorization for additional time to harvest has been granted, the EOIP is not extended. Rather, the insured is granted additional time to harvest the crop in order to settle any loss on the basis of harvested production. During this time, any additional damage to the crop (by an insured cause of loss) is covered.
