Farmers are not the only ones praying for rain. The drought has also meant big trouble for Chubb, the 16th largest U.S. property and casualty insurer (assets: $9.2 billion). Reason: the Warren, N.J., company inadvertently plunged too deep into the rain-insurance business. Chubb's policies, designed to reimburse farmers for crop damage due to low rainfall, sold faster than roadside lemonade in ten Midwestern and Southern states last June, before the full impact of the drought was apparent. By the June 15 application deadline, Chubb's independent managing agent, Good Weather International of Jericho, N.Y., had received more than 8,700 applications for $350...
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