95% of Claims from 2006 Ind. Hail Storm Closed, Industry Group Says

Industry trade group the Insurance Institute of Indiana reported that more than 95 percent of claims from the April 14, 2006, hail storm have been resolved, and complaints have been filed in less than one out of every 200 cases. Indiana’s April 14, 2006, hail storm was the largest catastrophic weather event in the nation in 2006.

According to insurance statistical firm, ISO, the storm resulted in more than $1.3 billion in damage and about 282,500 claims filed.

In a comparison of the five states with the most 2006 catastrophe losses, Indiana ranked first.

State: Loss ($)
Indiana: $1.5 billion
Missouri: $878 million
Tennessee: $873 million
Texas: $688 million
Kansas: $601 million

Steve Williams, president of the Insurance Institute of Indiana said the industry’s response was impressive. Especially considering Indiana normally does not incur such large-scale events.

“Indiana is not a Florida or Louisiana, where insurance companies expect large storms annually,” Williams said. “The industry was surprised by this event, but yet the satisfaction rate was astonishingly high.”

The Insurance Institute does not release company-specific statistics, but a sampling of both large and small companies shows that in 70,000 claims (25 percent of all claims), only 352 complaints were lodged. That’s about one complaint in every 200 claims.

In addition to that success rate, several companies said their work on this storm has allowed them to find efficiencies for future claims.

“During our response to these events we were able to improve the time it takes to resolve claims,” said Marc Fairchild, vice president of Claims for Indiana Farmers Mutual. “And that improvement was borne out in positive customer satisfaction results.”

The Insurance Institute of Indiana is a non-profit trade association representing insurance companies in the state of Indiana.

Source: Insurance Institute of Indiana, www.insuranceinstitute.org