HAEL INSURANCE ON FARM CROPS. 31 



member directly to participate in the management, and hence the 

 control of the company must of necessity be left to a relatively small 

 group of men. Most hail mutuals, in fact, have their directors all 

 living in the same locality, while the average member takes no part 

 either in the annual elections or in the decision of other problems of 

 management. 



As yet another problem in hail insurance not to be- met with in the 

 same degree in fire insurance, may be cited the difficulty of determin- 

 ing the loss caused to a growing crop by hail. Frequently hail will 

 occur before the crop has reached a stage at which its occurrence will 

 result in permanent or material damage. At certain stages the entire 

 crop above the ground may be entirely beaten down and the farmer 

 claim a total loss, when as a matter of fact, with favorable weather 

 conditions following the hail storm, a partial or even a complete re- 

 covery of the crop may take place. In other instances, the crops may 

 have been partially damaged by certain plant diseases or insect pests 

 before the hail occurred. Only an expert on these matters may be 

 able to determine whether or not the damage pointed out by the claim- 

 ant is directly due to the occurrence of hail or to the other natural 

 agencies mentioned. When a difference arising between the company 

 and the claimant for loss involves the extent to which a damaged 

 crop will recover, the adjustment may be postponed until harvest by 

 which time nature will in part have answered the question in dispute. 

 When the difference, on the other hand, hinges upon the cause of the 

 damage rather than the extent thereof, postponement of the settle- 

 ment is likely to increase the difficulty rather than to remove it. Be- 

 cause of the greater uncertainty as to the amount of damage suffered 

 by hail, it is considerably more difficult, as a rule, to satisfy the claim- 

 ant for loss than is the case in fire insurance. 



While unscrupulous adjusters have at times attempted to browbeat 

 claimants and to settle for less than a fair indemnity, it is probable 

 that in hail insurance as in fire insurance more losses have been over- 

 paid than underpaid. Willfully unfair adjustments have at times 

 been resorted to in order to injure or ruin a competing company and 

 have resulted in profit to the claimant. A number of companies will, 

 of course, carry risks in the same locality, and in the case of con- 

 current insurance two or more companies will be involved in a loss 

 on the same field. A hail storm striking such a locality may cause 

 total damage in some areas and partial damage in others. Certain 

 companies operating in this territory will be found to liave suffered 

 a large number of heavy losses, while other companies will have 

 suffered but few minor losses. The representative of an organization 

 with only a few risks affected, knowing the situation in which the 

 competing companies find themselves, may arrive on the scene 

 promptly following the loss and make an extremely liberal adjust- 

 ment with the few claimants against his company, paying perhaps 

 three or four times the actual damage suffered. The same farmers 



