The president of Condifesa Catania Giuseppe Raimondi: "The torrential rains have left their mark. The number of insured will certainly increase."
Agriculture is increasingly falling victim to extreme weather events, and in light of the significant damages that recur over the years, managing these factors becomes a topic to be addressed from various perspectives. The flood rains that hit Sicily are too recent not to think about how to manage the situation also from an insurance perspective.
To provide an overview of the Sicilian situation, we consulted the Condifesa of the province of Catania. Regarding the subsidized insurance campaign for citrus fruits 2021/22, the insured member companies are 463, of which: 53 in Agrigento, 287 in Catania, 44 in Enna, 3 in Messina, 1 in Palermo, 7 in Ragusa, 66 in Syracuse, 1 in Catanzaro, 1 in Reggio Calabria for a total insured value of €35,055,817.
The events of recent weeks fall under the "excess rain" guarantee, which is added to the mandatory "hail + strong wind." The total claims were 320 for an insured value of €12,894,069, equivalent to 36.78% of the total assumed value.
Rains that have left their mark
"The events that occurred," says Condifesa Catania director Giuseppe Raimondi , "have left their mark on the perception of atmospheric dangers by the managers of small and large companies in our region. The number of insured will certainly increase for both the 'summer – fruit' insurance campaigns (summer cycle products such as fruit, olives, cereals) and 'winter – citrus' (winter cycle products, mainly citrus)."
In terms of risk management, greater involvement of regional institutions would be desirable to convey, through strategically targeted communication campaigns, the possibility of accessing coverage against natural disasters with the contribution of Agea. "Furthermore," continues Raimondi, "a decisive simplification of the current bureaucratic hurdles is necessary to make contributions accessible to companies associated with the consortia in reasonable times and ways."
Another aspect to address is allowing coverage for products defined by companies as "high risk," such as pistachios, which until now have been accepted only by some insurance companies that apply exorbitant deductibles and taxes.