“In Russia, the institution of insurance expertise for the purposes of agricultural insurance is being strengthened and expanded: a new mechanism for regulating the activities of independent experts is being introduced, which makes it easier for agricultural specialists to work in this area,” said Korney Bizhdov, President of the National Union of Agricultural Insurers, commenting on the change in the legal framework in the field of agricultural insurance.
The new procedure for the work of independent agricultural insurance experts is introduced by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 09.03.2022 No. 327 “On conducting an examination in order to confirm the fact of the occurrence of an insured event and determine the amount of damage caused under an agricultural insurance contract”. The document comes into force on September 1, 2022, and the rules and requirements approved by it will be valid for 6 years.
“The fundamental innovations that will come into force on September 1 are the rejection of paper certificates, the introduction of a unified electronic register of independent experts and the possibility of certification and registration of experts through personal accounts. A specialist who meets the certification requirements will be able to obtain the status of an independent insurance expert in 3 days in any region, while previously it required mail correspondence with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and took several weeks. The NSA welcomes this step, as it contributes to the development of the agricultural insurance system as a whole. The availability of independent expertise improves the quality and reliability of insurance protection, guarantees the observance of the interests of the insured agrarian,” said NSA President Korney Bizhdov.
An independent expert is a specialist whose role in the unified agricultural insurance system is provided for by the law on state support of insurance in the field of agricultural production (No. 260-FZ). If the farm notes the loss of the insured objects (it can be crops or crops, farm animals or fish stock), and it has disagreements with the insurer on the assessment of this event - whether it was an insured event, what kind of damage it caused, then the insurance company is obliged for involve an independent expert on your account. The expert must confirm the fact of the insured event and determine the amount of damage caused.
The work of independent experts is controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, which conducts their certification and maintains an archive of independent expert opinions on agricultural insurance. Any specialist who has graduated from a university or has a scientific degree in one of the agricultural specialties, which are specified in the requirements approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, can become an expert - if he has worked in this field for at least 5 years and is ready to pass certification - correspondence testing for knowledge of insurance legislation and the relevant field agricultural production. Previously, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, based on the results of successful attestation, issued a specialist a certificate certifying that its owner was included in the list of independent experts. With the entry into force of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 327, the issuance of certificates is abolished, and an extract from the unified register of independent experts will be a confirmation of the expert's authority. The information will be of a public nature and contained in a single register, which will be posted on the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation in the information and telecommunications network "Internet" and in the state information system.
“At the moment, a list of certified independent experts has been published on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, of which 69 specialize in crop insurance, 3 in commercial fish farming and 2 in animal husbandry. According to agricultural insurers, there are clearly not enough good specialists in this area, moreover, not all certified experts are engaged in insurance expertise in practice. Therefore, the NSA expects that the agricultural insurance expertise industry will develop,” said Korney Bizhdov, President of the NSA.