Reading Time: 3 minutes Hail is probably the most feared and costly type of severe summer weather. If you’ve lived any significant amount of time on the Prairies, you have likely experienced a hailstorm. While hail can occur anywhere across North America, there are two main regions where incidence is significantly higher — the central United States and the […] Read more
Alberta leads country in dreaded hail
You don’t necessarily need a tall thunderstorm to produce hail stones
Growers urged to leave hail-damaged samples
Alberta again hit hardest in late-June storms
Reading Time: < 1 minute Members of the Canadian Crop Hail Association are asking hail-affected growers to leave adequate samples for adjusters. The CCHA said storms damaged crops with hail as large as baseballs across Western Canada in late July and member companies are investigating more than 1,500 claims. In a release, CCHA president Scott McQueen of Palliser Insurance said […] Read more
The severe weather event feared by farmers and new-car owners alike
Alberta’s higher elevation makes it the hail capital of Canada
Reading Time: 3 minutes Let’s look at what is probably the most feared and costly summer severe weather event: hail. How expensive can hail be? To put it into perspective, on June 13, 2020, a severe hailstorm hit Calgary, causing an estimated $1.2 billion in insurance damage, which ranks as one of the top five most expensive natural disasters […] Read more
Hail payouts exceed premiums in 2021
Reading Time: < 1 minute It was a near-record year for claims in Western Canada “despite a decrease in overall storm activity,” says the Canadian Crop Hail Association. Claim payments to Prairie farmers topped $322 million, and were up 78 per cent compared to the five-year average. It was the highest payout since 2008 and meant insurers, which collected $309 […] Read more
Alberta crop insurer taps reserve to cut premiums
AFSC to pare premiums by 20 per cent
The reserve at Alberta’s Crown crop insurance agency will be tapped to offset the premiums charged to farmers for the 2021 crop year, and possibly for longer. The province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) said Monday its farmer customers will get a 20 per cent discount on crop insurance premiums this year — which on […] Read more
Alberta weather disasters make Top 10 in 2020
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s an unwelcome honour, but Alberta has two of the top three spots in Environment Canada’s Top 10 weather stories of the year. The June 13 hailstorm in Calgary caused an estimated $1.3 billion in damage – $386 million in smashed or cracked windshields alone along with pummelling “hundreds of thousands of hectares” of grain […] Read more
Alberta suffered the most hail damage on the Prairies this year
Reading Time: < 1 minute This year was below the five-year average for hail claims for Prairie farmers but saw higher-than-average claim payments. Overall, the industry will record a near break-even type of year. Claims produced insurance payouts of over $192 million on more than 12,100 claims in Western Canada. Producer premiums totalled just over $300 million for an industry […] Read more
Hail claims about average
Reading Time: < 1 minute So far, it’s been an average season when it comes to hail damage, says the Canadian Crop Hail Association. There have been more than 10,000 claims this year, the association said in an Aug. 31 release. Alberta has about one-quarter of those claims. “Claims filed in Alberta are currently close to last year’s numbers, but […] Read more
Alberta’s AFSC to refund hail premiums on drowned crops
Agency taking applications until Sept. 11
Grain growers in Alberta’s Peace, northeastern and northwestern farming regions whose waterlogged crops are deemed “non-viable” can now file for full refunds on AFSC hail insurance premiums. AFSC, the province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, announced Wednesday it will accept such applications from eligible growers from now until Sept. 11. Applications will be available online through […] Read more
Assessing hail damage assessments
Reading Time: < 1 minute Agriculture Financial Services Corporation wants to see how its assessments of hail claims compares to the evaluation of farmers who assessed damage in their fields. The comparison will help “determine the future of adjustments at AFSC and may assist with adjusting speed in the future,” the crop insurer said. A link to the very brief […] Read more
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