Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index (HIP-WI)

Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) covers a portion of the deductible of the underlying crop insurance policy when a county, or county adjacent, is within the area of sustained hurricane-force winds. The coverage provided by HIP-WI can be combined with the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) when acreage is also insured by a companion policy. The Tropical Storm Option (TS) is an option to the HIP-WI endorsement that provides coverage for tropical storm weather events as defined by the Hurricane Data Provisions (HDP).

HIP-WI provides coverage for 70 different crops and is available in counties in the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, as well as Hawaii. The deadline to purchase HIP-WI coverage for the 2021 crop year and beyond will be the same as for the underlying policy.

An administrative fee and premium for the crop covered by each HIP-WI Endorsement will be due in addition to any administrative fee and/or premium for the underlying policy. However, the HIP-WI administrative fee may be waived if the producer qualifies as a limited resource farmer, a Beginning Farmer Rancher (BFR) or a Veteran Farmer Rancher (VFR).

Sustained hurricane winds are the only cause of loss for HIP-WI and will be determined from NOAA hurricane wind extents data (refer to the Hurricane Data Provisions documents). If TS is elected, the county loss trigger will be amended to include coverage for a tropical storm weather event. This weather event must have sustained surface wind speeds of 34 knots (39 mph) and at least 6 inches of total precipitation received over four consecutive days (one day preceding the arrival of the tropical storm, the day of the tropical storm, and two days following the arrival of the tropical storm), according to NOAA IBTrACS and NOAA CPC data and as determined by RMA in accordance with the HDP and identified on the actuarial documents. Additional information on NOAA CPC’s interpolation and quality control process can be found in NOAA CPC’s Conceptual Description Paper.

NEWS: USDA’s New Crop Insurance for Tropical Storms – Created Because of Farmer Input – Protects Producers Impacted by Idalia 

• HIP WI and Tropical Storm Option Video
• HIP WI and Tropical Storm Option Video - Spanish
• HIP WI and Tropical Storm Option Podcast
• HIP WI and Tropical Storm Option Podcast - Spanish
• 2024 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Endorsement (HIP-WI) FAQs

• Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement CY 2023
• Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement CY 2022
• Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement CY 2021
• Hurricane Insurance Protection – Wind Index (HIP-WI) Endorsement CY 2020

• Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Endorsement (HIP-WI) CY 2024
• Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Endorsement (HIP-WI) CY 2023
• Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Endorsement (HIP-WI) CY 2021
• Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Endorsement (HIP-WI) CY 2020

• 2025 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook (April 2024)
• 2024 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook (June 2023)
• 2023 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook (February 2023)
• 2023 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook (June 2022)
• 2022 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook
• 2021 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook
• 2020 Hurricane Insurance Protection - Wind Index Handbook

• USDA’s New Crop Insurance for Tropical Storms – Created Because of Farmer Input – Protects Producers Impacted by Idalia (September 20, 2023)
• USDA Expands Hurricane Insurance Protection to Include Certain Tropical Storms
• USDA Offers New Hurricane Insurance Endorsement for Crop Year 2020

2025

• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 25-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Data Provisions (April 24, 2024)

2024

• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 24-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Data Provisions (February 17, 2023)

2023

• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 23.1-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 23-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Data Provisions (Revised February 22, 2023)
• Hurricane Data Provisions (June 27, 2022)

2022

• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 22-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Data Provisions (Revised June 30, 2021)

2021

• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 21-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Data Provisions (Revised September 30, 2020)
• Hurricane Data Provisions (August 28, 2020)

2020

• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 20-HIP-WI
• Hurricane Insurance Protection Wind - Index Endorsement 2020 HIP-WI End of Insurance Extension Coverage Option 20-HIP-WI-A
• Hurricane Data Provisions

Sample code can be run to show an example of the cyclone corridor intersections and rainfall triggers for the HIP-WI TS Option program by downloading the following R package, distributed as a zip file. To install, download the zip file and install via devtools::install_local("HIPWITSO-Triggers.zip"). The vignette within the package provides an example of determining the HIP-WI and TS Option program triggers. To run, unzip the archive and set R’s current working directory to the location of the unzipped archive. The vignette is in vignettes\hipwitso-triggers.Rmd.

• Hurricane Trigger Sample Code (ZIP)

Lists the dates/named storms for each state and county; this file is added as a courtesy and should not be considered an Actuarial record

• Historical HIP-WI County Trigger Data (Excel file)
• Historical Tropical Storm County Trigger Data (Excel file)