14. Duties in the Event of Damage, Loss, Abandonment, Destruction, or Alternative Use of Crop or Acreage.
Your Duties –
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(b) You must obtain consent from us before, and notify us after you:
(1) Destroy any of the insured crop that is not harvested;
(2) Put the insured crop to an alternative use;
(3) Put the acreage to another use; or
(4) Abandon any portion of the insured crop. We will not give consent for any of the actions in sections 14(b)(1)
through (4) if it is practical to replant the crop or until we have made an appraisal of the potential production of the crop.
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The Risk Management Agency (RMA) is requested to provide an interpretation for the type of consent the policyholder must
receive in order to undertake any of the four actions outlined in section 14(b)(Your Duties).
The requestor states that identical or nearly identical language is set forth in the Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC) and
Revenue Assurance (RA) policies and requests this Final Agency Determination (FAD) be made applicable to both policies.
Interpretation Submitted
The requestor interprets section 14(b)(Your Duties) of the Basic Provisions to mean that the consent given must
be written consent. That is, in order for an insured to either:
(1) Destroy any of the insured crop that is not harvested;
(2) Put the insured crop to an alternative use;
(3) Put the insured crop to another use; or
(4) Abandon any portion of the insured crop
The insured must first obtain written consent from the Approved Insurance Provider (AIP). Verbal consent or silence
which is construed by the insured as consent to take one of the identified actions is not sufficient. Rather, the AIP
must provide the policyholder with written consent.
The requestor believes that this interpretation is entirely consistent with the definition of “consent” found in
section 1 of the Basic Provisions.
Final Agency Determination
The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) agrees the insured must obtain written consent from the AIP in order to
undertake any of the actions listed in section 14(b)(Your Duties) of the Basic Provisions. FCIC also agrees verbal consent
or silence from the AIP is not acceptable consent in accordance with the definition contained in section 1 of the Basic Provisions.
FCIC believes item (3) in the requestor’s interpretation has the same meaning as item (2). The requestor did not include “put the
acreage to another use” from section 14(b)(3)(Your Duties) in their list of actions for which the insured must first obtain
written consent from the AIP. Although the requestor did not include this duty in the interpretation, it is one of the actions
specifically listed in section 14(b)(Your Duties) of the Basic Provisions so it also requires written consent from the AIP to
the insured before the insured can take the specified action.
Even though 7 C.F.R. part 400, subpart X is only applicable to provisions of the Federal Crop Insurance Act and the regulations
promulgated thereunder, and the CRC and RA policies have not yet been codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, to the extent
those provisions are identical or nearly identical, this Final Agency Determination applies accordingly to assure consistent,
uniform, and equitable treatment to all policyholders insured under the same policy provisions.
In accordance with 7 C.F.R. 400.765 (c), this Final Agency Determination is binding on all participants in the Federal crop
insurance program for the 2009 crop year. Any appeal of this decision must be in accordance with 7 C.F.R. 400.768(g).
Date of Issue: Nov 18, 2010
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