Most growers only ever see one side of a claim: the adjuster standing in their orchard. In Episode 03 of Dot the Trees, host Josh Benson sits down with Jared Witters, Pacific Northwest Claim Supervisor at Great American Insurance, to show you the other side, from the moment you call your agent to the day the check goes out.
Jared has spent more than thirteen years at Great American and still adjusts claims himself. He supervises a team working in a region with an exceptionally wide variety of specialty crops, each with its own procedures and requirements. This conversation offers a clear walkthrough of the claims process, and it ends with a message every grower should hear.
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What is in this episode
- What a claim supervisor actually does, and why Jared expects his adjusters to contact the agent and the grower within 24 hours of being assigned a claim
- The claims process step by step: notice of loss, assignment, inspection, production records, signatures, and Jared’s goal of having a check on its way roughly seven days after the claim is signed
- Replant, prevented planting and harvest claims, and why seed crop growers should consider filing during the insurance window before final germination results are available
- Why you should check your schedule of insurance as soon as it arrives. Early errors are easier to correct. Once a claim is open, corrections can be extremely difficult
- The recordkeeping habit that makes everything smoother: keep settlement sheets, bin counts and load records for about seven years
- Whole Farm Revenue Protection: if you think you have suffered a loss, report it promptly. Do not wait for your taxes
- Jared’s big three before any loss ever happens: answer the adjuster’s call (ignored messages send a claim to the bottom of the pile), keep good records, and bring a little kindness to a hard day. It goes both ways
Prefer it in writing? We unpacked the whole conversation, including the five costliest mistakes, in Crop Insurance Claims: Common Mistakes That Could Cost Growers.
The myth this episode retires
Filing a claim does not automatically raise your rates or cause your policy to be cancelled. Federal crop insurance is different from auto or homeowners insurance, and simply reporting a potential loss does not trigger a personal claims penalty. The program exists to keep America’s farmers farming. Or as Jared puts it: “A couple of frosty mornings, file a claim.”
So when in doubt, report the potential loss. If there is no payable loss, the claim can be withdrawn. Federal crop insurance deadlines are strict, and waiting too long to file could put your indemnity at risk.
His sign-off to growers says it all: “I hope you have a great production year. And I hope you don’t see me on your claim.”
About our guest
Jared Witters is the Pacific Northwest Claim Supervisor for Great American Insurance Company, an American-owned company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Great American Insurance Company is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Learn more about their crop division at greatamericancrop.com.
Dot the Trees is the insure.ag podcast. It covers specialty crops and the safety net behind them, in plain language. Find every episode on our podcast page.
This episode is for general educational purposes only and is not insurance advice.