Insurance lawyers who work in rural areas of Texas will see situations involving crop insurance.
Some insurance companies sell property coverage to mitigate against the risk of loss to farm crops caused by environmental perils including drought, flooding, hail or other weather conditions. Crops can be insured under various types of insuring agreements including coverage limited to losses caused specifically by hail. Crop insurance is also available through the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC), an agency of the federal government designed to facilitate the placement of crop insurance through private insurance companies. The placement of a policy through the FCIC does not automatically create a federal question jurisdiction over such claims. (Keep in mind that for most people, the local State District Courts and County Courts are more favorable venues to fight with an insurance company than is a Federal Court). The 1997, Eastern District of Texas opinion styled, Bullard v Southwest Crop Insurance Agency, is a case which decided that not all FCIC cases have to be heard in federal court. Insureds under crop policies maintain all of the traditional contractual and extra-contractual remedies against their crop insurance company. This also, was stated in the Bullard case. An insured may elect to sue the FCIC if a dispute develops over a crop claim, but any such suit must be brought in a United States district court otherwise possessing jurisdiction to hear the dispute.
Crop policies are usually sold with one of the traditional cause of loss forms — broad, special, or basic. Hail policies also frequently require the injured plants to be in a certain state of growth or development at the time of injury or damage from hail in order to be covered.