WA storms reveal flood cover issues
Hailstorms in southern WA late last month have devastated farms around Esperance and Salmon Gums and again raised issues over flood insurance and underinsurance.
Hail flattened thousands of hectares of crops in the area, while others were flooded with heavy rain, many again battered by further downpours last week.
Esperance broker Rod Parsons from Austnet Insurance Brokers told insuranceNEWS.com.au those who were affected by the hail are probably far more fortunate than those whose crops were inundated with rain, as they will not be covered for flood.
“Unfortunately rain has also devastated the value of the crops, with an enormous amount of staining and sprouting,” he said. “The buyers of grain have various penalties for damage done to the crops.”
Mr Parsons says while it is still early days, he has heard reports of farmers losing 75% of their crops in some cases and 100% in others with the majority of crops in the area affected.
“We don’t normally get hail out here, it’s so infrequent. Some farmers wouldn’t have insured their crops for hail,” he said.
Mr Parsons says loss adjusters have been run off their feet to meet the demand, with every day of rain resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses.
“With a year like this it is an absolute wake-up call to why we have hail insurance,” he said. “That’s the tragedy of this. To go through the dry spell and weeds and bugs, and now to have this – it’s just heartbreaking.”
Hail flattened thousands of hectares of crops in the area, while others were flooded with heavy rain, many again battered by further downpours last week.
Esperance broker Rod Parsons from Austnet Insurance Brokers told insuranceNEWS.com.au those who were affected by the hail are probably far more fortunate than those whose crops were inundated with rain, as they will not be covered for flood.
“Unfortunately rain has also devastated the value of the crops, with an enormous amount of staining and sprouting,” he said. “The buyers of grain have various penalties for damage done to the crops.”
Mr Parsons says while it is still early days, he has heard reports of farmers losing 75% of their crops in some cases and 100% in others with the majority of crops in the area affected.
“We don’t normally get hail out here, it’s so infrequent. Some farmers wouldn’t have insured their crops for hail,” he said.
Mr Parsons says loss adjusters have been run off their feet to meet the demand, with every day of rain resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses.
“With a year like this it is an absolute wake-up call to why we have hail insurance,” he said. “That’s the tragedy of this. To go through the dry spell and weeds and bugs, and now to have this – it’s just heartbreaking.”