Rural Community Insurance Company issued the following announcement on Dec. 20.
The 2019 growing season was a wake-up call for many people in U.S. agriculture.
Extreme weather, uncertain trade situations and a still-sluggish farm economy created a “perfect storm” of challenges. For the most part, farmers who had crop insurance were thankful—and farmers who had MORE crop insurance were even more thankful.
Cory Sundell, crop insurance agent and owner of Cornerstone Ag Services in St. Stephen, Minn., says many of his clients were affected by weather.
“In a year when you have good yields and good prices, crop insurance premiums are inexpensive,” he says. “But when you don’t have those perfect outcomes, you need a good risk management plan.”
“2019 was a great reminder of why crop insurance is important to all operations,” says Sundell. “Farms that have rarely had crop insurance claims suffered large claims in 2019.”
“After 2019 we discovered that no farm is immune to poor growing conditions.”
How crop insurance agents can help
At this time of year, agents are attending farm bill update meetings at their local Farm Services Agency (FSA) offices, Sundell says. His agency also attends meetings at university extension offices.
“The FSA meetings are more about the processes farmers use for signing up, while the extension office meetings do a great job of updating us on farm bill changes.”
Cornerstone Ag Services agents use these meetings to prepare for educating their clients when they meet to update their risk management plans.
“This year, we’ll go through the federal Risk Management Agency (RMA) plans along with RCIS named peril products,” says Sundell. “We want to make sure everyone understands that you get what you pay for—keeping a ‘plan for the worst and hope for the best’ mentality.”
“Basically, cutting a few pennies on their crop insurance premium could cost them dollars in the fall,” he adds.
At this time of year, crop insurance agents can also visit with prospective clients. “Farming is a small community,” Sundell says. “We know where things are going well and where things aren’t going well and let them know about us.”
“We have multiple companies that we contract within our agency,” he says. “RCIS is standing out head and shoulders above the rest. And thatʼs one thing weʼre doing is asking the farmers, ‘How did it go for you in 2019?’ Thatʼs kind of where weʼre concentrating right now.”
Why does RCIS stand out?
Sundell was very pleased with how RCIS responded to client problems in 2019.
“RCIS’s response was fantastic. Their adjusters, in a very busy season, got to the field in a timely manner, and if they weren’t able to, they communicated well with the producer,” Sundell says.
“And then once that claim is in the RCIS office, theyʼre doing a good job of getting that payment out to the farmer quickly,” he says. “So, from the beginning to the end of the claim process, it’s going very well right now for RCIS, and for us, their customer.”
It’s important to Sundell that his clients have a positive experience with their insurer. His clients have placed their trust in Cornerstone Ag Services, and good service should extend throughout all client interactions.
“Providing agents with the tools and the people to deliver at or above our customerʼs expectations,” says Sundell. “And thatʼs what RCIS is doing right now.”
The technology tools that RCIS provides are valuable, Sundell says. But where RCIS shines brightest, for him, is with their people.
“RCIS employs a professional group of crop insurance adjusters. Thatʼs probably the most important key to the success of RCIS in our farming communities. Without this, all the technology and other efforts are meaningless.”
“Any company can send out a schedule of insurance and every company has a presence on the internet,” Sundell says. “But not everybody can take care of that claim when things have gone wrong on the farm. RCIS is getting out there timely and theyʼre paying the claim timely and professionally.”
Original source can be found here.
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