Hurricane Debby caused devasting damage across the southeast. The USDA has announced counties that have triggered for payment under the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement.

Producers do not need to file a claim to receive an indemnity payment under HIP-WI. If a county is triggered, the AIP will issue an indemnity payment in the coming weeks. Triggered counties were identified by RMA in Product Management Bulletin 24-052 and will also be available in the county’s actuarial documents. Eligible producers will receive a HIP-WI indemnity payment in addition to any applicable indemnity payments due to them through their underlying crop insurance policy. AIPs are using the standard notice of loss and claims process to process those underlying crop insurance policy claims in a timely manner.

HIP-WI covers a portion of the deductible of the underlying crop insurance policy when the county, or an adjacent one, is hit with sustained hurricane-force winds from a named hurricane based on data from the National Hurricane Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Tropical Storm Option covers named tropical storms, as reported by NOAA, with maximum sustained winds exceeding 34 knots and precipitation at least six inches over a four-day period. Both the wind trigger and precipitation trigger must occur for an indemnity to be paid.

Read more about the Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) endorsement here.