As part of a one time offer, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) will offer farmers who have flooded fields refunds on their hail insurance premiums for the year, AFSC says in a news release on Aug. 19.
“We realize this won’t fix the problem, but it is something AFSC can do to help farmers impacted by these extreme moisture conditions,” Jerry Bouma, AFSC interim CEO, says in the release.
Producers in the north east, north west and Peace areas, have dealt with consecutive years of excessive moisture. By offering this refund it will give relief to these farmers who have drowned out crops that are no long viable and would be ineligible for a hail claim, the release says.
Between Aug. 19 to Sept. 11 AFSC will accept applications for a premium refund from impacted clients for the full amount of the 2020 hail premiums on crops deemed non-viable. Refunds will only be offered for non-viable acres.
Non-viable crops are those where the yield possible is not considered to be worth the cost of the harvesting, the release notes. Any non-viable acres which an indemnity has already been paid by AFSC for hail damage, are not eligible for the refund.
Refunds will be issued in the fall as part of Harvested Production Report and Post-Harvest activities.
This is a special refund, in response to the excessive moisture in the northern part of Alberta, the release says. Generally, there are no refunds after July 31 of the insured year.
Application process
Applications for the hail premium refund will be available online through AFSC Connect. Producers will need an AFSC Connect account to begin the application process. If you need assistance setting up an AFSC Connect account, call AFSC at 1.877.899.2372 or reach out to any branch office, the release says.
For each affected field, clients will need to report provide legal land descriptions, part, crop type, acres insured and non-viable acres. Clients must apply by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 11, 2020 to participate in the refund initiative.
