Section 26: Assessment of compensation

26. Assessment of compensation (1) Subject to subsection (4) and sections 28, 32 and 33, where an event year has been declared, every insured within the prescribed area shall be eligible for compensation on the shortfall due to any cyclone, drought or excessive rainfall. (2) The Board shall determine the amount of compensation payable to an insured by reference to— (a) the sugar price at which general insurance premium was paid for the relevant crop year; and (b) the value percentage set out in the fourth column of the Second Schedule opposite the ranking assigned to the insured. (3) Compensation under subsection (2) shall be calculated to the nearest rupee and payable in such instalments as the Board may determine. (4) Where a registered planter has the majority or controlling interest in a cane plantation registered in the name of another person, any compensation payable in respect of that cane plantation shall, for the purpose of subsection (1), be assessed and paid to the registered planter who holds the majority or controlling interest in the cane plantation as if it were part of the other cane plantations registered in his name. (5) Where a person holds the majority or controlling interest in some plantations registered in the name of 2 or more different planters in the same factory area, any compensation payable in respect of these plantations shall, for the purpose of subsection (1), be assessed as if he were the registered owner of all these plantations and shall be paid to the registered planters in proportion to the harvested acreage of each of these registered plantations. S54 – 13 [Issue 10] Sugar Insurance Fund Act (6) The Board may deduct, from any money payable to an insured by way of compensation, any sum— (a) due to the Board in respect of a general insurance premium payable by the insured; and (b) unduly paid by way of compensation to the insured in respect of a previous crop year. (7) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) and subject to subsection (8), where a cane plantation has been partly or totally destroyed by any cyclone, drought or excessive rainfall, compensation net of premium on the extent destroyed shall be payable in respect of— (a) such prescribed area as the Board may determine; and (b) each tonne of insurable sugar short produced at such rate as the Board may determine and as the Minister may approve. (8) For the purpose of subsection (7), the insurable sugar short produced shall be determined by reference to section 22 and shall not be aggregated with the total insurable sugar determined under section 23. (9) Where the destroyed plantation is under the system of métayage, the compensation payable under subsection (7) shall be apportioned between the métayer and the owner of the land in the proportion of their respective shares of sugar. (10) The compensation net of premium on the extent destroyed shall be shared, in respect of cane plantations of a growing unit, among the planters and métayers in the growing unit in the proportion of their respective extent destroyed. [S. 26 amended by Act 36 of 1991; s. 6 of Act 1 of 2012 w.e.f. 12 May 2012; s. 50 (c) of Act 9 of 2015 w.e.f. 1 June 2014; s. 67 (g) of Act 11 of 2018 w.e.f. 1 June 2017.]