Agriculture Law Commons^™

Climate Change And Federal Crop Insurance, Chad G. Marzen, Grant Ballard

Chad G. Marzen

Crop Insurance Bad Faith: Protection For America's Farmers, Chad G. Marzen

Chad G. Marzen

This article examines issues concerning the potential liability of crop insurers for insurance bad faith, and discusses cases to date on the issue of federal preemption of insurance bad faith claims under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA) and the development of a general rule that bad faith claims under state law are not preempted by the FCIA. The article argues that the crop insurance bad faith remedy is designed as a check against egregious, intentional and reckless misconduct of a crop insurer in the handling of a claim and should be preserved by the courts.

The Merrill Doctrine And Federally Reinsured Crop Insurers, Chad G. Marzen

Chad G. Marzen

Since 1947, the Federal Crop Ins. Corp. v. Merrill decision has operated to bar claims of equitable estoppel against agents of the federal government. However, the applicability of the Merrill doctrine to insurers is unclear. There is a split of authority on this significant issue and it remains largely unresolved in numerous jurisdictions. An early trend developed where the courts applied the Merrill doctrine to alleged misrepresentations of agents of the FCIC as well as the agents of private insurers. In the early to mid 2000s, the decisions of three state courts (in Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee) declined toe extend …