69-262. PROOF OF CLAIMS — PROCEDURE — HEARING — INSPECTION OF WAREHOUSE. In the event a warehouse or dealer fails, as defined in section 69-202(8), Idaho Code, the department shall process the claims of producers who have paid or owe assessments as required by this chapter. Claims against a failed warehouse or dealer shall include written evidence disclosing a storage obligation or a sale or delivery of commodities.

(1) The department shall give notice and provide a reasonable time of not less than thirty (30) days and not more than sixty (60) days to producers to file their written verified claims, including any written evidence, with the department.

(2) The department shall investigate each claim and prepare a staff report and recommendation as to the validity and amount of each claim. The department shall provide a copy of the staff report and recommendation to the commodity indemnity fund advisory committee, and make available for review by the advisory committee any documentation upon which the department relied in preparing the staff report and recommendation. No later than two (2) weeks following issuance of the staff report and recommendation, the advisory committee shall provide the director with the committee’s written comments regarding the staff report, recommendation and payment of claims from the fund.

(3) Following the receipt of the staff report, recommendation and the commodity indemnity fund advisory committee’s written comments, if any, the director shall issue a determination regarding the validity and amount of each claim.

(4) The director shall notify each claimant, the warehouseman or dealer, and the advisory committee of the department’s determination as to the validity and amount of each claimant’s claim. A claimant or warehouseman or dealer may request a hearing on the department’s determination within twenty (20) days of receipt of written notification and a hearing shall be held by the department pursuant to chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code. Upon determining the amount and validity of the claim, the director shall pay to the claimant an amount equal to ninety percent (90%) of the approved claim from the commodity indemnity fund. Prior to any payment from the fund to a claimant, the claimant shall be required to subrogate and assign his right to recover from any other source. The department may then pay up to ninety percent (90%) of the approved claim to the claimant. The department shall have a priority claim for that amount. The claimant shall be entitled to seek recovery of the remaining ten percent (10%) which was not originally assigned to the department. For the purpose of determining the amount of the producer’s claim, the value of a producer’s commodity shall be the lesser of: (a) the value of the commodity on the date the director declared the warehouse or dealer to have failed or to have failed to comply with the provisions of this chapter or rules promulgated thereunder; (b) the contract price as listed on a valid contract; or (c) the value of the commodity represented on the contract on the date the contract was signed. The value shall be determined by a survey of the available market price reports or markets of similar facilities within the same geographic location as the failed facility.

(5) The department may inspect and audit a failed warehouseman or dealer. In the event of a shortage, the department shall determine each producer’s pro rata share of available commodities and the deficiency shall be considered as a claim of the producer. Each type of commodity shall be treated separately for the purpose of determining shortages.

(6) The director shall not approve or pay any claim made on the commodity indemnity fund if the claim is based on losses resulting from the deposit, sale or storage of commodities in an unlicensed warehouse or dealer.

(7) The fund shall not be liable for claims filed against a warehouse or dealer in good standing who has voluntarily relinquished their license if such claims are not filed with the department within six (6) months of the closing.

(8) The fund shall not be liable for claims that result from losses due to uninsurable physical perils.

History:

[69-262, added 1988, ch. 350, sec. 2, p. 1038; am 1989, ch. 320, sec. 7, p. 831; am. 1990, ch. 183, sec. 10, p. 406; am. 1991, ch. 223, sec. 3, p. 533; am. 1999, ch. 203, sec. 2, p. 549; am. 2001, ch. 304, sec. 13, p. 1109; am. 2002, ch. 259, sec. 43, p. 778; am. 2009, ch. 39, sec. 1, p. 112; am. 2014, ch. 285, sec. 2, p. 724.]