Crop Insurance Claims — the Legal Foundations
The legal basis of a crop insurance claim is the law on insurance. The state-subsidized agricultural insurance programme is a separate matter and is not the subject of this page: what is described here are the general norms on which every insurance claim rests — the figures of the insured and the beneficiary, the protection of consumer rights in the insurance sphere, and the sanctions with which the state answers violations of those rights.
The Insured and the Policyholder
The insured is the person with respect to whom insurance is carried out. The policyholder may at the same time be the insured, unless the insurance contract provides otherwise. In crop insurance this means that the farmer who concludes the contract is usually both the policyholder and the insured at once.
Legislation on compulsory insurance may oblige the policyholder to insure a third person. In voluntary insurance the policyholder may designate a third person as the insured; in that case the object of insurance is the property of the insured and the interests connected with it. In property insurance, the insured who is not the policyholder must have an interest in the preservation of that property.
In compulsory insurance the consent of the third person is not needed for concluding the contract in which they will be designated as insured; in voluntary insurance that person’s refusal makes the contract impossible to conclude, and if it was already concluded — leads to its modification or termination. In property insurance the policyholder is obliged to notify the third person of the intention to insure their property, with an exact definition of the objects.
The Beneficiary — Who Receives the Compensation
The beneficiary is a natural or legal person who receives insurance compensation according to the insurance contract or the legislation on insurance. A beneficiary may be determined both in personal and in property insurance. In compulsory insurance the beneficiary is determined by the legislation regulating the given type of insurance, while in voluntary insurance the beneficiary is determined by the policyholder. The insured is himself the beneficiary, unless legislation or the contract provides otherwise; and conversely — if no beneficiary is determined by the contract, the insured is deemed the beneficiary.
A contract of insurance of ownership for the benefit of a beneficiary may be concluded even without indicating the beneficiary’s name; on conclusion the policyholder is given an insurance certificate to bearer, and in that case the recipient of the benefit is the person who presents that document to the insurer. In crop insurance this determines who, and on the basis of which document, receives the compensation.