Protecting the capital farmers need to boost production
Agriculture is a growth area. As a global leader in agricultural reinsurance, we protect the capital needed to increase production and serve our clients along the value chain in both mature and emerging markets*.
Agriculture reinsurance covers farmers' production and financial risks as well as related shortfall risks of interconnected stakeholders, such as input suppliers or grain processors. A dedicated global underwriting team supports you with tailored reinsurance risk solutions. We provide consulting on the design of direct insurance products and the use of technology for crop monitoring. We also deliver expertise in risk assessment, agriculture risk management technology, product innovation as well as multi-year reinsurance capacity.
We partner with insurers and governments to improve food security worldwide, addressing their needs and helping build a resilient food system.
Indemnity-based crop insurance products
Insurance pay-out is based on the actual loss at the insured unit level
Named-peril crop insurance covers losses due to specific perils such as hail, fire, windstorm, frost, or a combination of these. The indemnification is based on a physical damage degree applied to sum insured, less a deductible. Hail insurance is the most common named-peril product. It is widely available in North America, Europe, Argentina, South Africa and Australia.
Multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) covers losses from all natural, climatic and biological perils. The pay-out is the yield shortfall below a pre-agreed threshold, multiplied by a pre-agreed price. MPCI covers are most common in the United States, China, Brazil and in some European and African countries.
Revenue crop covers are an extension of MPCI covers and are based on yield assessment and crop prices. Farmers are paid when actual revenue falls short of expected/guaranteed revenue due to lower yield and/or crop prices. Revenue products are very common in the United States.
Index-based crop insurance products
Insurance pay-out is based on an index measurement
Area-yield insurance bases pay-out on the shortfall in realized yield of an area relative to the expected yield, which can be the average historical yield. The area can be defined as a group of villages or districts that are homogenous in crop production and yield.
Weather insurance products are based on one or more independently measured weather indices such as rainfall or temperature. Ideally, the index is closely correlated with the actual loss experience of the farmer. The insurance pay-out is often defined as a fixed amount, which is a function of the deviation of the actual weather parameter from the one previously agreed on.
Index insurance products for crop protection use remotely sensed data on crop health, energy absorption of the vegetation or soil moisture content. To build an accurate insurance protection, the index insurance products need to correlate strongly with the crop yield. In cooperation with the Dutch specialist company VanderSat, we offer drought insurance solutions based on remotely sensed soil moisture data.
Other types of agriculture insurance products
Livestock insurance traditionally covers cattle, swine, and poultry against mortality from non-epidemic diseases, fire, natural perils and accidents.
Bloodstock insurance covers leisure, breeding and racehorses against mortality due to accident or disease. Loss of use, infertility or consequential losses are ancillary covers for bloodstock.
Aquaculture insurance provides coverage for on- and off-shore fish production against losses from natural perils, diseases, algae bloom or predators.
Forestry insurance compensates the owners of commercial plantations (e.g. pines, eucalyptus) against fire and storm losses with claims payments based on pre-agreed timber values. The costs of firefighting and re-establishing the forestry areas can also be included.
Greenhouse insurance provides greenhouse structures with coverage against natural perils, plants against frost and debris from damaged greenhouse structures, and equipment against machinery breakdown or fire, as well as certain aspects of business interruption.