"The state’s two largest homeowner insurance companies have begun fielding thousands of claims for property damage from the weekend storms.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the state’s second-largest underwriter of home insurance, saw claims nearly double during the day Monday, jumping from 507 to 931, the company said.
“We will absolutely ramp up to take care of the situation,” said Rick Nelson, a spokesman for Farm Bureau, which closed its Martinsville office due to flooding.
State Farm Insurance, the biggest home insurer in Indiana with policies covering one of every four houses, had received 2,300 homeowner claims from Friday’s and Saturday’s storms by midday Monday.
“We expect the numbers to rise throughout the week,” said State Farm spokeswoman Missy Lundberg. State Farm has a mobile claims office in Edinburgh and was setting up a second unit.
Even as the number of claims mounts, many homeowners with the most severe damage from flooding may not be covered for flooding. Only 1 percent, or 28,000, of the state’s 2.3 million households were covered by flood insurance, according to the Indiana Department of Insurance." (Source:indystar.com) |