1. Hail claims climb
by Neil Billinger
The Canadian Crop Hail Association reports its members paid $280 million in damage claims to Prairie farmers this year.
It was still a profitable year for most companies as growers spent $341 million in premiums for an industry-wide loss ratio of just over 82 per cent.
Crop hail damage was much higher than 2011, when $164 million was paid out for a loss ratio of just over 61 per cent.
Alberta was the only province to have hail claim payouts exceed premiums. The loss ratio was 113 per cent based on nearly $90 million in payments and just over $79 million in premiums. Crop hail claim payouts were $36 million in 2011 and $38 million in 2010. There was a record 5,500 losses spread mainly over central and southern Alberta.
Saskatchewan farmers received $159 million from crop hail insurance payments on 13,500 losses. Both of those numbers are higher than 2011 when there were 11,800 losses and total payouts of nearly $121 million.
The big difference was the value of hail insurance purchased. Saskatchewan farmers spent $212 million on premiums compared to $168 million last year.
"We sold more insurance this year than I think we ever have," says Rodney Schoettler, CEO of the Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance. "The crops were worth a lot more money, so they insure to the value of the crops. We probably wrote about 25 per cent more business than we thought we would write."
Schoettler says more money was spent on crop inputs so farmers needed to protect their expenses in the event of a hail storm.
June was a busy month with three times the usual number of crop hail claims. However, severe storms in August and early September caused the most financial losses. The cost per claim was higher than average.
The largest number of hail storms occurred in the Unity, North Battleford, Biggar, Rosetown and Kindersley areas.
"If you go to the west side of the province, we had growers with three to five storms on a piece of land," Schoettler says.
Manitoba producers received over $31 million on about 2,500 losses. Producer premiums were nearly $49 million resulting in a loss ratio of 64.5 per cent. In 2011, there were fewer than 1,100 losses with payouts of approximately $6.9 million.
The most significant storm activity happened during the first week of July in the southern part of the province.
http://www.fcc-fac.ca/newsletters/en/express/articles/20121102_e.asp#story_1
by Neil Billinger
The Canadian Crop Hail Association reports its members paid $280 million in damage claims to Prairie farmers this year.
It was still a profitable year for most companies as growers spent $341 million in premiums for an industry-wide loss ratio of just over 82 per cent.
Crop hail damage was much higher than 2011, when $164 million was paid out for a loss ratio of just over 61 per cent.
Alberta was the only province to have hail claim payouts exceed premiums. The loss ratio was 113 per cent based on nearly $90 million in payments and just over $79 million in premiums. Crop hail claim payouts were $36 million in 2011 and $38 million in 2010. There was a record 5,500 losses spread mainly over central and southern Alberta.
Saskatchewan farmers received $159 million from crop hail insurance payments on 13,500 losses. Both of those numbers are higher than 2011 when there were 11,800 losses and total payouts of nearly $121 million.
The big difference was the value of hail insurance purchased. Saskatchewan farmers spent $212 million on premiums compared to $168 million last year.
"We sold more insurance this year than I think we ever have," says Rodney Schoettler, CEO of the Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance. "The crops were worth a lot more money, so they insure to the value of the crops. We probably wrote about 25 per cent more business than we thought we would write."
Schoettler says more money was spent on crop inputs so farmers needed to protect their expenses in the event of a hail storm.
June was a busy month with three times the usual number of crop hail claims. However, severe storms in August and early September caused the most financial losses. The cost per claim was higher than average.
The largest number of hail storms occurred in the Unity, North Battleford, Biggar, Rosetown and Kindersley areas.
"If you go to the west side of the province, we had growers with three to five storms on a piece of land," Schoettler says.
Manitoba producers received over $31 million on about 2,500 losses. Producer premiums were nearly $49 million resulting in a loss ratio of 64.5 per cent. In 2011, there were fewer than 1,100 losses with payouts of approximately $6.9 million.
The most significant storm activity happened during the first week of July in the southern part of the province.
http://www.fcc-fac.ca/newsletters/en/express/articles/20121102_e.asp#story_1
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