Pessl Instruments GmbH gladly announces collaboration with AXA Climate that will provide tailor-made insurance cover for actors of the Agriculture sector and therefore improve the crop protection against climate-related stresses.

In spring 2017, large parts of Europe were hit by a cold snap that resulted in a series of overnight frosts. The losses for fruit and wine growers reached historic levels, a big part of which was left uninsured leading to catastrophic consequences for the industries. Understanding the extent of these kinds of events and a will to offer the best protection against climate risks, such as frost, drought, and hail, lead AXA Climate to shape unique parametric insurance solutions to provide quick payouts to the insureds.

Pessl Instruments added the iMETOS ECO D3 to this equation – an environmental monitoring system for soil moisture monitoring, irrigation management and hydrology that sends user-defined SMS alerts when quick actions are needed. The innovation behind this collaboration is not just insurance that pays back the damage that might occur but alerting the farmer to take actions before the losses even happen as well. The use of an iMETOS weather station installed at the insured’s premises assures a better correlation between the fluctuations in temperature and the client’s financial losses.

“At Pessl Instruments we see this as a great opportunity for farmers to ensure their production against a wide-range of losses – money, resources, crops, yield, even business,” began explaining Gottfried Pessl, CEO and Founder of Pessl Instruments. “We thoroughly understand the importance of agricultural technology solutions and how they help diminish or even prevent the damage unpredictable natural disasters cause. Investing in Parametric frost insurance means investing in the new technologies as well. And keeping up with technological progress is the future of sustainable agriculture.”

Parametric FROST Protection insurance cover is structured using the Minimum Daily Temperature index since orchards and vineyards are particularly sensitive to freezing temperatures during the growing season. The index is monitored in real time and the payouts are triggered automatically as soon as the agreed-upon threshold is reached. This means that no costly farm visits are required to assess the losses and payouts can rapidly reached impacted farmers insuring quicker recovery after such climatic event strikes.

“The strategic partnership with Pessl Instruments will allow us to better address the devastating effects frost can have on the Agriculture sector,” added Clelia Duvoux, Business Developer for Europe’s Agriculture sector. “The technological advancements are at the core of our business hence the high precision data provided by Pessl Instruments will allow us to more accurately understand and control the risk from an insurance perspective.”