Opinion ID: 2715781
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Allow us to remove samples of the insured

Text: crop; and (iii) Provide us with records and documents we request and permit us to make copies; and (5) Give us notice of your expected revenue loss not later than 45 days after the date the Harvest Price is released. .... (c) In addition to complying with the notice requirements, you must submit a claim for indemnity declaring the amount of your loss not later than 60 days after the Harvest Price is released unless you request an extension in writing and we agree to such extension. Extensions will only be granted if the amount of the loss cannot be determined within such time period because the information needed to (continued...) 5 Case: 13-10648 Date Filed: 08/06/2014 Page: 6 of 26 otherwise specify what Mr. Davis had failed to provide and what deadline he had not satisfied. It did, however, note that “[a]t our request, you are required to provide the following documentation in order for us to determine your loss.”4 The letter went on to list nine required items, including “proof of the cause or causes of loss that contributed to your reported loss and the time frames in which they occurred.”5 Because Mr. Davis had indicated that certain portions of his crop were not irrigated, the letter further requested an additional three items relating to 3 (...continued) determine the amount of the loss is not available. The claim for indemnity must include all information we require to settle the claim. Failure to submit a claim or provide the required information will result in no indemnity, prevented planting payment or replant payment (Even though no indemnity or other payment is due, you will still be required to pay the premium due under the policy for the unit). (d) You must: (1) Provide a complete harvesting and marketing record of each insured crop by unit including separate records showing the same information for production from any acreage not insured. . . . .... (e) You must establish the total production or value received for the insured crop on the unit, that any loss of production or value occurred during the insurance period, and that the loss of production or value was directly caused by one or more of the insured causes specified in the Crop Provisions. R.9-2 at 15-16 (Policy § 15(a)-(e)). The harvest price for cotton was released on December 10, 2008. 4 R.3-2 at 2. 5 Id. 6 Case: 13-10648 Date Filed: 08/06/2014 Page: 7 of 26 irrigation practices. The letter gave a thirty-day deadline for a response. The record does not disclose whether Mr. Davis took any action during the following thirty days. In a letter dated July 21, 2009, approximately forty days after its prior letter, ProAg formally denied Mr. Davis’s claim. This letter recited that “ProAg has not received a response in writing from you and /or any of the items we requested and that are required by the policy.”6 It further stated: Your claim has been denied due to, but not limited to, failure to comply with “Section 15 — Duties in the Event of Damage, Loss, Abandonment, Destruction, or Alternative Use of Crop or Acreage” of the [policy]. Specifically, you are required to assist us in the investigation of your claim, report[] all notices timely, and submit your claim for indemnity not later than 60 days after the End of Insurance Period. Since you did not respond to our request for more information we are simply not able to make any determinations as to the cause of loss, production to be counted or uninsured causes to be assessed, and unit eligibility based on Irrigated or Non-irrigated acreage reported. For future reference, please review all policy requirements.[7] The letter also advised Mr. Davis of his right to contest the determination in mediation or arbitration. By handwritten letter and accompanying documentation dated November 6 R.3-3 at 1. 7 Id. 7 Case: 13-10648 Date Filed: 08/06/2014 Page: 8 of 26 22, 2009, some four months after the claim was denied, Mr. Davis responded to ProAg’s request. Mr. Davis then filed for arbitration of his claim, demanding an award of $348,204.50.8